When i try to start the car, itll try to start, but then die which causes
the theft light to come on. Ill have to wait around ten min for it to go
off and try again...usually starts the 2nd or 3rd time. Any idea why this
might be? I replaced the positive terminal battery post and that helped
for awhile...maybe an issue of getting enough power through?

Steve

"Steveman34" <steveman34 (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote

I've heard of this happening with 97 and 98s and what I think you have to do
is replace the ignition or some kind of ignition coil or something.
Apparently it wears down and the car thinks it is stolen even though it
isn't. I would wait though to see what someone more knowledgable here says
as I am new to both car repair and Malibu ownership.

right on...thanks. I breplaced the ignition switch awhile back..the old
key was worn and there were some weird computer problems...so theres a new
one in there..ill probably run it to autozone tomorrow to get
diagnosed(sp).

Passlock sensor on the ignition cylinder is bad.
Common problem, I've replaced it on a '01 and a '02 car already.
Sensor gets erratic before it fully goes.
--
John
"anything you say can & will be misquoted & used against you"
'01 FLHR ''Red"
'04 MXZ 600ho
'99 XC700
BRC mem
"Steveman34" <steveman34 (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote

Low voltage, corrosion on battery terminals,
Resistance in the battery cables, Bad ignition switch, bad passlock
sensor, Will all cause this concern....Most of the time its just the
passlock sensor....Which isn't hard to change if you know ow to code the
key cylinder....Most of the time people just change the cylinder
caseing..But the passlock sensor is a hall effect switch which uses
magnets both the cylinder and the case have a magnet and once they pass
each other give a signal saying its ok to start......Thus after repairs
will give you an intermitted theft problem..So make sure the cylinder
and the casing are changed ....They come together but most people get
lazy and just swap out the caseing ..Seen it too many time where the
caseing was good and the cylinder looked like it was through a war...If
you know a locksmith who will code the cylinder for you not a hard job
at all....
S Cook



Re: Chevy Malibu 97 Starting issues

Group: alt.autos.chevrolet.malibu Date: Tue, Jun 7, 2005, 12:37pm
(CDT+5) From: repairman54 (AT) earthlink (DOT) net (Repairman)
Passlock sensor on the ignition cylinder is bad. Common problem, I've
replaced it on a '01 and a '02 car already. Sensor gets erratic before
it fully goes.
--
John
"anything you say can & will be misquoted & used against you" '01 FLHR
''Red"
'04 MXZ 600ho
'99 XC700
BRC mem
"Steveman34" <steveman34 (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote

When i try to start the car, itll try to start, but then die which
causes the theft light to come on. Ill have to wait around ten min for
it to go off and try again...usually starts the 2nd or 3rd time. Any
idea why this might be? I replaced the positive terminal battery post
and that helped for awhile...maybe an issue of getting enough power
through?
Steve

I to have had the same problem a month or two ago try to start then it will
die and the theft light would come on would have to wait a little while
till the light goes off then it would start back up I never did anything
and the problem went away now when I try to start my car if the gas gauge
dosent go up on the start position my when i try to start it it turns over
then dies over & over again there for a week I'd just have to keep turn it
to the start position till the guage went up to start it my problem now is
that it wont go up anymore and will not start w/o it dieing afterwards any
help would be greatly apperciated thank you btw I have a 97 chevy malibu
2.4

Am I the only one on this forum? Or is everyone as retarded as me when it
come to cars here?

Wonder if you have a problem with the ignition switch?

"bearboy79" <bearboy79 (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

Not sure someone suggested that it might be the passlock. That would'nt
have anything to do with my gas gauge I'd think. Beleive the ignition
switch would cause that?

My thinking was that one of the contacts in the ignition switch that powers
up the dash in the ON position might be bad along with other contacts that
do other things.

"bearboy79" <bearboy79 (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote