Good morning friends. I've never had a car with a security system before, and while I love my '96 Saturn, it's given me no end of problems. I've found different key relearns and passlock resets online, but to my knowledge none of them have ever worked, and certainly not consistently. The only thing I've seen work (which I don't understand) is sometimes after a week or so the car will just start again without me having done anything! Side question: is my car haunted?

I'm sadly about to get another parking ticket because I can't start it up, but I've resigned myself to that. Here are my main questions, though:

1. Where is the security light? I've seen pictures online, but I can't see any light on my dashboard that would refer to the security system. Just the lights I normally see in non-passlock cars. (I do know that I have some sort of security system, I just can't find an indicator.)

2. I've tried both the 10 minute and 30 minute relearn procedures many times over the last year and a half, but I've never gotten that to work. Some places online said it had to be exactly 10 minutes a pop, but I've tried versions where I went 9 and 11 just to make sure. I've never had it work. Possibly I'm confused by "keep the key in the ON position," since it doesn't literally say on. It just means your interior electrics without actually starting the car, right? If so, I've never had any luck.

3. So far the only way "I've" gotten the security cleared is whenever I take it to a mechanic - which has been constant, it's my grandmother's car and just has one problem after the other - and the mechanics just happen to fix it when they're addressing whatever else. So I've never seen how to do it. I've tried to find videos online, but none of them have related or worked. As I mentioned at the top sometimes it just starts working again, but it's always after the better part of a week; when I try to solve it a little each day, it still prevents me from starting it.

4. I did have a past issue where the battery was drained. My dad got me a charging unit, and bringing it back to full juice got the security to work again. I didn't realize this at the time because I still had lights and such, but it felt like the security system needed a bare minimum to successfully operate. (While that could be what's happening now, I don't believe so. A friend tried to open the driver's side last night, but wasn't familar with the dongle and hit lock instead of unlock. They told me specifically that the handle wouldn't work. They then figured it out, but the car wouldn't start, something I verified a little later.)

4. I have the old user's manual, but I haven't found anything in there about a security system. I did see some unbound sheets referencing changes that happened after it was printed, but I haven't seen anything about security. I thought that might also explain why I don't see a light for it, but I'm no Saturn expert (could you tell?)

5. Could I pay a mechanic to just remove the security system? Some videos online insisted that this would prevent the Saturn from operating, claiming all its electrical systems are connected.

Personally I really, really hate this passlock or (whatever it is, if somehow different). The only thing it's ever done is prevent me from starting the car. Unfortunately this Saturn has had a lot of work put into it since I got it: about $4000 at the mechanics, with transmission trouble on the horizon. It was a nice gift and I was lulled by a '96 having less than 100k on it. If I'd known it had this many health issues, though, I probably would have passed. The issues all happened separately, where the costs seemed smaller and more manageable.

Many thanks for all your help!

~Megan

 

I read your post up to 1996. 1996 s series Saturn's did not have passlock 2 or any other version of passlock. That was not added until 2000.

There is another reason your car is not starting

Let's start from scratch.

Does the engine rotate AKA crank when you turn the key to the crank position?

If not, do you hear a clicking sound from under the hood?

If not do you hear nothing at all?

Do the dash lights dim when you turn the key to crank?

The Saturn security system on a 1996 S car consists of a starter disable system. When the alarm is activated, the horn honks quickly 10 times then about once every 2 seconds for 1 minute. If this is not happening to you, you are not setting off the alarm. In the old days, if you tripped the alarm , you could wait 30 minutes and the system would re-enable itself. Not sure if that is true for 96.

Make sure battery terminals are tight and clean.
Make sure the ground connection at the other end of the negative battery lead is clean and free of corrosion.

Try jiggling the gear shifter around in park if the engine is not spinning. With the key in the on position, shift of the vehicle into neutral, hold your foot on the brake, and try to crank the engine.

I saw some mention of your mechanic re setting the security. If you are not getting the Horn honks, the security system has not been tripped and I have no idea what you are paying him for other than to periodically walk over to the car and try to start it.

He either has no idea how Saturn's work, or is generally dishonest and it's charging you for nothing. The only exception maybe that there may be an aftermarket alarm system in the car. Can you confirm ?

Does does the service engine soon light remain on if you turn the key to on and wait for the other lights to go out? Has your mechanic checked the vehicle for codes?

There are several common components that fail on these cars. Some fail intermittently and some fell completely. There is no point in guessing until we have answers to the questions posed above.

Looking forward to your responses.

 

I should mention that the VIN says it's a 1996 SW, though with SW2 "trim" (?). Unfortunately I was not able to get much information from my grandmother before she passed; even the California DMV had some momentary confusion before the teller there said "I'll just put this." A bit confusing and unusual, I know.

Also since writing the original post, I got the security clicking sound (similar to how hazard lights sound) to suddenly come up once when it continued to not turn over. Pressing unlock on the dongle - something a mechanic told me to do - did stop that sound, but did not help the car to actually start like he thought it would. Generally speaking, this time around that clicking sound does not actually occur.

 

Before proceeding, please reply to rest of the questions in my post. For example, you did not directly say the car never cranks. Only that it didn't this time.

It could be as simple as a battery, battery lead, bad ground, starter.

The purpose of the questions is to avoid a wild goose chase, throwing parts at the car with no logical plan. not only is it silly and avoidable, it is also expensive for you.

Looking forward to your replies.

 

I'm sorry, I understand but I cannot find the post you mention. I am looking in the stickied ones but haven't found one regarding formating. Please link me to the post in question, thank you.

 

Well that was completely bizarre. I responded to your first post, but both your initial post and my response got flagged by the system and did not display.

Therefore you didn't answer my questions because you never saw them. They should now be visible as Post number 2 in this thread. Sorry for the goof

 

Thank you, it mentioned when I first posted that it would have to be held for moderator review, something must have gone wonky there.

Original situation: The key caused the engine to crank but not start. (I tried to minimize testing until I learned more here, but did try it a couple times.)
A moment ago: The key only caused the engine to click (dash lights turn off completely during key turn).
Now: After three brief attempts, the key now causes no sound at all (dash lights turn off completely during key turn).

I tried jiggling the gear shifter, and turning the key while in neutral, but by the time I tried both the car was already making no sounds (and continued to do so).

The battery looks clean to me. I replaced it last year, though with the cheapest one at the store. I also own a charging unit that I have used in the past.

I saw the alarm work when I first received the car. I have had past experiences when I could not get past the enable system, and the draining battery reduced the volume of the alarm over time to a barely perceptible level (if I put my ear to the hood). That is not consistent, however, and this time around I've never heard the alarm. In fact, I have not heard it for quite some time, 9 months or more. I never thought about that until now.

Further, after a battery drain last year that I caused (due to leaving an interior light on) I now permanently keep both my interior lights (one by the driver, and one in the "trunk") set to off. I just verified these remain that way. If my battery has drained since the initial disturbance, I'm not sure what could have caused it. Is there any way that the alarm could be expending battery, while not being audible? If part of it were somehow worn out or damaged? I cannot perceive a way for this battery to have drained over the last 2 to 3 days, unless the battery itself is bad.

Unfortunately my grandmother has now passed and I was given no documentation mentioning any aftermarket alarm. I have only the Saturn key fob with buttons for lock, unlock and the station wagon's "trunk." I have no alarm hardware on the dash would like to assume there is no aftermarket security system, but I cannot officially verify this.

I have never taken it to the mechanic to address this security issue. My grandmother left this car in her garage for years, essentially undriven (I am not sure if she had someone drive it regularly or not). I received the car last year but it has needed constant repair: the starter, the brake master cylinder; we know that it will require a transmission overhaul soon (currently only sticking momentarily in reverse, though this should worsen) and my dad suspects head gasket trouble might be on the horizon. As a result, my check engine light is on until we (at least) fix the transmission.

During some of our mechanic visits this issue has come up, requiring a tow, but in those cases the mechanic always addressed it while fixing the other issue. Unfortunately my mechanics do not speak English very well, and I have not been able to have them successfully describe their process to me yet. I have not had a mechanic check for codes this time around as I was hoping to drive to them myself; if I cannot get the car started I will have to add a tow to the repair costs. Admittedly I'm not sure how many I can afford to fix right now, but I have secured off-street parking if I must save up more.

I was initially hopeful that this was merely the disable system giving me more grief, and the only current issue was a transmission on its way out. I am hoping that I can recharge this battery (or buy a new one, if the last is unreliable) and that might still be the case. My car knowledge is meager, though, and I'm certainly planning for the worst. Sometimes in the past, even after recharging the battery, I still faced the same inability to start.

The only clue I have ever been given is, if this occurs, to press unlock on the fob once while the key is in the On position. I have not seen this in the manual, though, and I have personally never gotten this to work.

Thanks to all for any assistance.

 

Pretty sure your battery is history, especially if it dies after so few cranks. you can attempt to charge a bad battery, but because of the chemistry inside, it can no longer hold all of the charge you are trying to give it. If it's draining overnight, it's bad unless the current is draining back through a defective alternator. Have you ever had the battery charging light come on on the dash?

Can you jump start the vehicle? I'm assuming no based on the fact that you have to get a tow but right now I do not want to assume anything. That is how things get overlooked in troubleshooting. I would be very surprised if you cannot jump start this vehicle. Or at least have it crank. Please try to jumpstartand let me know what happens

And please replace your battery. I have had good luck with the mid grade AutoZone battery. I think it is the duralast. The highest quality one is the duralast gold. It is one step below that. As with everything else you get what you pay for.

If you can get the car started, please look at the dash and see if any of the malfunction indicator lights are lit once the vehicle is running.

Hitting unlock on the fob at any time disables the alarm if it is active. That is a basic design feature. Lock it with the fob and that enables the theft deterrent system. Unlock it with the fob that disables the theft deterrent system. Those are the only two things you can really do with it.

I have never heard of nor seen an S car jump into theft deterrent mode immediately after the battery died and was replaced. Based on what I said above, there really isn't any way for that to happen. This is a very simple theft deterrent system. By design, it never arms itself unless something is very defective. But I highly doubt that.

The symptoms you reported above are consistent with a bad battery or possibly something draining the battery. How long has it been draining to nothing overnight?

If you get the car jump-started, immediately measure the DC voltage across the battery terminals with a multimeter and report back here. It should be on the order of 14.4 volts with the car running. If part of the alternator is damaged it will be less. Significantly less. If so, this opens the door 4 possible alternator issues. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Please report the voltage. With the new battery. Please do not perform any testing with the old battery as the results are not representative of anything useful at this point.

We we really need to have the codes read. Places like AutoZone will do this for free but obviously you have to have the car there. They will also load test your charging system. I highly recommend you do that after you get the new battery if you can get the vehicle started.

When the vehicle is cranking, does it sound as though it is intermittently firing, meaning there is combustion in the cylinders but not consistent enough for the car to keep running on its own?

The the answer to that question will point us down one of two paths so after you get the new battery, please respond to that question. Right now you do not need to get a tow. Just replace the battery at home or wherever the car is. If you need guidance please let us know.

If this car has reverse slam setting in there are a few things that can be done but it's getting way too late to do any real transmission work on a vehicle like this. Parts are hard to come by and knowledge even harder.

Let's take one step at a time and get the vehicle running. We'll address all the codes we can if it makes sense, then figure out the future.

 

Hello! I'm sorry for not coming in sooner. It was taking me awhile to get through the list. I'm afraid my boyfriend circumvented part of it without my knowledge... claiming he could figure it out on his own, before he had towed to a mechanic. I was only able to get through about half the suggestions before I discovered he did this.

First off, I verified that I truly do own an SW2 instead of an SW1, as my MPH goes to 130 instead of 110. This has been shockingly difficult for anyone to tell me over the last year.
I bought the car battery mentioned (this one, one step below the gold).
I ordered a multimeter from Amazon, but as I was waiting for it to arrive, my boyfriend... surprised me without telling me.
I am in the process of getting the codes.

His mechanic was able to determine the electrical issue, though. Apparently, it has an aftermarket alarm that was constantly going off - preventing the car from starting - but no one could hear it because the speaker was dead. This was only proven by lifting the hood and pressing your ear to the speaker; you could hear the alarm very (very) faintly this way. I'd actually considered this as a possibility (among a thousand others), but of course I don't know about cars and didn't know I even had that sort of alarm. Unfortunately my grandfather must have had it installed, he died, my grandmother had the car stored for years, she died, and no one left knows anything about the car, so none knew about the alarm.

(I do not have any obvious alarm or light on the dash, the mechanic described it as a "small" and "partial" alarm. The installer also rotated the car battery to face 180 degrees from how it is supposed to, just to allow room for this alarm; I merely thought the battery placement was awkward as this alarm just looks like the rest of the engine to me: black and nondescript.) This sounds like it was the cause of multiple battery drains, though. Over the last year I've recharged the battery multiple times, in my apartment using a 36 hour unit, but it sounds like this was the cause.

Anyway, the mechanic was able to snip this alarm. The car has no longer has a starting issue.

I am still experiencing potential engine trouble, as well as the reverse slamming issue, but I can put those in other threads if it is more appropriate to do so? My initial question about the inability to start has been solved.
My boyfriend continues to not understand why I'm pretty ticked at him.

Many thanks for all the help,
~Megan

 

No problem. That's why we are here.
As as difficult as it is for you to see the alarm under the hood, our ability to see it is that much more limited. We can only go by what you describe. And you described the situation very well. So be proud of yourself.

The reverse slam issue can be addressed by replacing the output shaft nut. Replace. Not tighten. if it was able to stay tight enough it would not have moved in the first place. This can be done without opening the transmission. It's all over the Saturn forums so I'm not going to go into it here. Replace. Do not just tighten or it will back off again.

What other engine issues are you having?