[Frost__2001]

ok wonderful problem that just occured with my car tonight I just got home from shopping a few minutes ago, turned off the car took the key out of the ignition and the car locked itself, and then tried to start itself 3 times before I jumped out of the car and disconnected the battery. About minute later I reconneced the battery and now when I use the only key I have for the car it will turn on everything but will not start at all, and the ODO display is acting like it's been tampered with and only displaying - - - - - - for mileage, even though it shows numbers when the dash lights come on.

I bought the car used and it only came with one key, I have no idea if it has a remote starter in the car or not, there was a wire on the side of the dash but it's been pulled appart and never traced back to anything... so what do I do?

[ZTWsquared]

Geez Philip that's a real funny one ... even if the car was equipped with remote start, it's hard to imagine what kind of malfunction would cause what you describe ... if it was my old Camaro my first instinct would be to look for a short somewhere between the battery and the starter ... but our cars shouldn't be able to start at all under any circumstances without a PATS key in the ignition, so given that and the display anomoly - yeah, I'd guess it's something to do with the ECU. Is there any chance the weird wiring might be some kind of PATS bypass?

[Frost__2001]

thats the thing, I don't know, the Key I have that starts the car is clearly an after market key, when I looked up the car history other then being from quebec and traded in, it's been owned by 6 car dealerships after that, so has me wondering if the car was repo'd at one point as then it would explain the key issue..

I'm at the point where I'm just ready to cut my losses with this car and get rid of it for a new car, only thing is I can't afford what I want right now and I still have a few payments left on this car.

[SVT-WGN]

Wow, I just had a very similar experience, so I hope this helps. First, you gotta know my wagon is all SVT underneath, engine, transmission, engine control module (computer), etc. Parked the car in front of the local hotel, went in for a beer (yes, only one). When I went to start the car, nothing. The first time this happened, it started after a couple of tries. This time, nada (you would almost think it had an interlock on it.)

My son came and we towed the car home. In our case, the negative post on the battery had split, and the clamp was a little loose (actually, you could wiggle it easily.) Just like you, the odometer/trip odometer displayed nothing but [- - - - -]. We were quite concerned the ECM was toast. However, replacing the battery clamp (which took about ten minutes) allowed the computer to reset. Now it works again. Good as gold. The [- - - - -] on the dash is the clue. Your ECM (computer) for some reason has shut down. It needs to be disconnected for about ten minutes to reset. But, and this is important, you have to find the original problem as well. Good luck.

[Scorcher000]

Yes I double that!!!

Check the wiring around the battery. Then go from there...

[Frost__2001]

Ok, So after having the battery disconnected for 24 hours the car started up fine, but when my friend and I traced back the partial cable beside the dash we pulled off the plastic panel around the fuse panel, and low and behold we found a toggle switch.. so when it was flipped back to the other way car was fine, flipped it back and car wanted to start itself again... So result is I have a faulty car started in my car now, how should I go about removing it? (ie. future shop, dealership / mechanic..)

otherwise other then the exhaust hole the car is running fine again, and has been the last 2 weeks

[konafocuswrc]

sounds like someone who installed remote starter before, did not use proper wire to bypass transponder.
seeing 2 signals from bypass and transponder key same time can confuse ecm and not allowing car to start.