Stereo LOC'ed, Unlock method? 1992 Olds '88

[Jeff Walther]

I recently had the A/C fixed on my car and when I got it back the stereo
displayed LOC and will not work. My parents are the original owners and
know nothing about any anti-theft system. So I read the Owner's Manual
and there is no mention of this LOC "feature" anywhere in the manual.

I've done a bit of searching on the web and found a method that involves
holding down either the 2 & 3 keys or the Set key, but neither of these
methods appear to work on this model. I suspect those methods only work
on newer models.

Anyone know a way of unlocking this that will save me from paying the
dealership $40? I wouldn't mind paying if it was my oversight, but the
fact that there's no mention of any such system in the Owner's Manual just
steams me to no end. I called the GM "Customer Service" line but they
just referred me to paying bucks at the dealership. I explained to them
that this was hardly fair given that there was no mention of this system
in the documentation, and they blew me off.

Alternatively, if there's not a simple known method of unlocking the
thing, how do I remove it from the dash? I don't see any obvious joints
or screws. I bet the code is either maintained by NVRAM running off a
small internal battery or on an EEPROM or FLASH which I can erase with my
handy dandy EEPROM programmer.

Thank you for any helpful or humorous comments.

[Robert Hancock]

If the code is unknown, there's no way to unlock it other than calling up
Delco and getting the master unlock code for the radio. The trick with the 2
and 3 keys just gets you the number that you give Delco so that they can
give you the code. It's an automated telephone system that's used, but you
need a valid dealer code to access it.

If the radio has had too many attempts at the code, it won't even give you
that number, then you have to let it sit powered up for a full hour before
you can do anything more with it.

To get the radio out, you need to remove whatever dash trim covers the
outside edge of the radio. There will be some screws on the left and right
to hold it into the dash.

As far as unlocking it by nuking the memory chip, I would be surprised if
the chip were not soldered to the circuit board, and most likely erasing it
would just make the radio completely inoperative..

It's rather bizarre that the radio would have Theftlock on it but that it
wouldn't be mentioned in the manual. Are you sure it's the original radio?
Somebody would have to have programmed in a code to activate the Theftlock,
too..
--
Robert Hancock Saskatoon, SK, Canada
To email, remove "nospam" from ***@nospamshaw.ca
Home Page: http://www.roberthancock.com/

Post by Jeff Walther
I recently had the A/C fixed on my car and when I got it back the stereo
displayed LOC and will not work. My parents are the original owners and
know nothing about any anti-theft system. So I read the Owner's Manual
and there is no mention of this LOC "feature" anywhere in the manual.
I've done a bit of searching on the web and found a method that involves
holding down either the 2 & 3 keys or the Set key, but neither of these
methods appear to work on this model. I suspect those methods only work
on newer models.
Anyone know a way of unlocking this that will save me from paying the
dealership $40? I wouldn't mind paying if it was my oversight, but the
fact that there's no mention of any such system in the Owner's Manual just
steams me to no end. I called the GM "Customer Service" line but they
just referred me to paying bucks at the dealership. I explained to them
that this was hardly fair given that there was no mention of this system
in the documentation, and they blew me off.
Alternatively, if there's not a simple known method of unlocking the
thing, how do I remove it from the dash? I don't see any obvious joints
or screws. I bet the code is either maintained by NVRAM running off a
small internal battery or on an EEPROM or FLASH which I can erase with my
handy dandy EEPROM programmer.
Thank you for any helpful or humorous comments.
--
A friend will help you move. A real friend will help you move a body.

[Jeff Walther]

Post by Robert Hancock
To get the radio out, you need to remove whatever dash trim covers the
outside edge of the radio. There will be some screws on the left and right
to hold it into the dash.

I managed to get the dash trim off. It turns out there were five torx
screws holding it on, which I had overlooked before. I found the four
screws on the front of the stereo. But there seems to be a strap or
something on the inside holding it in, and I have no idea how to access
that. Maybe if I could get the ashtray out...But from feeling around
under the dash, it feels liek the thing is in a plastic sleeve, so I don't
think that will help. I hate working under the dash. Arghh.

Post by Robert Hancock
As far as unlocking it by nuking the memory chip, I would be surprised if
the chip were not soldered to the circuit board, and most likely erasing it
would just make the radio completely inoperative..

Desoldering the chip is no problem. Especially on something from 1992.
I would first copy the contents and then nuke the chip. If that is
catastrophic, I can then reprogram the chip with the original contents.
Having one's own chip programmer is expensive but very convenient.

Post by Robert Hancock
It's rather bizarre that the radio would have Theftlock on it but that it
wouldn't be mentioned in the manual. Are you sure it's the original radio?
Somebody would have to have programmed in a code to activate the Theftlock,
too..

Well, I think it is bizarre too. Yes, it's the original radio. My
parent's are the original owners. I don't think they've ever bought an
after-market radio in their entire lives.

A nice service rep at a local dealership told me that the code is
typically included on a little card with the car, but my parents were
never given that card. They have all the paperwork for every car they've
bought back to 1975. So the manual says nothing about theftlock and they
were never given the code (presumably factory programmed) and GM still
expects us to pay to get it unlocked. It's amazing so many folks
continue to buy GM...

The one mysterious bit is that somebody would have to have programmed in a
code to activate it. My parents never did as they had no idea the
feature existed. The service guy said they sometimes came with a code
programmed at the factory, so that would solve that mystery. However, my
father says he's replaced the battery himself a number of times and never
had this problem. So unless there's some capacitance in the thing and he
replaced the battery pretty quick, it sounds like the theftlock somehow
got activated on its own or the AC guys fiddled wtih it just wrong?

[Robert Hancock]

It's also possible the radio is somehow confused - it could be that some
models of the radio had the Theftlock on them and some didn't, just that the
option was turned off on some of them, and somehow this radio has decided
that it has Theftlock on it..

I've never heard of a radio having pre-programmed Theftlock on it - it
always comes disabled from the factory, and you have to enter in a code to
enable it.

Does it have the blinking Theftlock LED on the front of the radio?

As far as taking it out, it's likely that some of the cables on the back are
hung up and preventing it from coming out, you might have to reach in behind
to unplug them.
--
Robert Hancock Saskatoon, SK, Canada
To email, remove "nospam" from ***@nospamshaw.ca
Home Page: http://www.roberthancock.com/

Post by Jeff Walther

Post by Robert Hancock
To get the radio out, you need to remove whatever dash trim covers the
outside edge of the radio. There will be some screws on the left and right
to hold it into the dash.

I managed to get the dash trim off. It turns out there were five torx
screws holding it on, which I had overlooked before. I found the four
screws on the front of the stereo. But there seems to be a strap or
something on the inside holding it in, and I have no idea how to access
that. Maybe if I could get the ashtray out...But from feeling around
under the dash, it feels liek the thing is in a plastic sleeve, so I don't
think that will help. I hate working under the dash. Arghh.

Post by Robert Hancock
As far as unlocking it by nuking the memory chip, I would be surprised if
the chip were not soldered to the circuit board, and most likely erasing it
would just make the radio completely inoperative..

Desoldering the chip is no problem. Especially on something from 1992.
I would first copy the contents and then nuke the chip. If that is
catastrophic, I can then reprogram the chip with the original contents.
Having one's own chip programmer is expensive but very convenient.

Post by Robert Hancock
It's rather bizarre that the radio would have Theftlock on it but that it
wouldn't be mentioned in the manual. Are you sure it's the original radio?
Somebody would have to have programmed in a code to activate the Theftlock,
too..

Well, I think it is bizarre too. Yes, it's the original radio. My
parent's are the original owners. I don't think they've ever bought an
after-market radio in their entire lives.
A nice service rep at a local dealership told me that the code is
typically included on a little card with the car, but my parents were
never given that card. They have all the paperwork for every car they've
bought back to 1975. So the manual says nothing about theftlock and they
were never given the code (presumably factory programmed) and GM still
expects us to pay to get it unlocked. It's amazing so many folks
continue to buy GM...
The one mysterious bit is that somebody would have to have programmed in a
code to activate it. My parents never did as they had no idea the
feature existed. The service guy said they sometimes came with a code
programmed at the factory, so that would solve that mystery. However, my
father says he's replaced the battery himself a number of times and never
had this problem. So unless there's some capacitance in the thing and he
replaced the battery pretty quick, it sounds like the theftlock somehow
got activated on its own or the AC guys fiddled wtih it just wrong?
--
A friend will help you move. A real friend will help you move a body.

[David]

Working in the electronics engineering and service field for many years, I
can tell you first hand digital electronics designs get confused often. It
is a VERY common repair problem for many electronics manufactures.

Things like a glitch of noise on the power, bad ground connection, nearby
EMP (like that generated by an MRI machine), nearby static discharge at just
the wrong time, and many more can all cause electronics to be confused.
Actually it is a changed code in memory or the firmware that really fouls
things up.

David

On the other hand, electronics don't really get confused. They're fairly
deterministic things...mostly. I half-way suspect that someone at the AC
place installed a theft code on it while it was there, but why would they
bother? That doesn't make much sense either.

.

[crodriguez]

Here is a very good point.........


You have invested WAY MORE time and effort
then the 40 bucks the dealer wanted.

It's amazing reading you posts, talking about
desoldering the chip, fighting the dash board, calling
GM, writing posts, all over the course of two days.
And your still no where near finishing. You have
no idea if the chip nuking will work!!

Are you that cheap that $40 is worth this much effort?
You could have had this "problem" solved last week.

[Richard Yates]

I can understand where this guy is coming from. I do not think that it is so
much as the $40 but the principle of the whole situation. My keyless entry
remote to my car had been lost and I needed to replace it. The dealer wanted
$75 for the remote and $50 to program it. I turned to the Newsgroup for
suggestions. The final results were, I got the remotes on E-Bay for $10 and
a user in the Newsgroup gave me programming instructions and it took all of
5 seconds and a paperclip to make it work!

Post by crodriguez
Here is a very good point.........
You have invested WAY MORE time and effort
then the 40 bucks the dealer wanted.
It's amazing reading you posts, talking about
desoldering the chip, fighting the dash board, calling
GM, writing posts, all over the course of two days.
And your still no where near finishing. You have
no idea if the chip nuking will work!!
Are you that cheap that $40 is worth this much effort?
You could have had this "problem" solved last week.

[crodriguez]

Well.....

Maybe he will let us know if a paper clip helps him............

and it took all of 5 seconds and a paperclip to make it work!