mechanics? New ignition question?

Question

i have a 1991 cadillac eldorado and i lost that stupid little coded key with the resistor on it.
i got a new key from the dealer only to find out that it doesnt work.(70$ down the drain)the dealer said the steering column must of been switched. My question is how hard is it to install a new ignition with bybassing all that old security junk? ALL I WANT IS A NORMAL KEY/ HELP!!!

Answer 1

As you found out, the dealer does have the key code, but does not have the resistor value that the car came with. There are about fifteen different key resistor values and your car comes with a module that reads the resistor value the first time and writes that to a memory card. The problem is you can't read that memory card so you are stuck with either buying all the keys or replacing the module and programming to the key that you bought. Or you can replace the cylinder and bypass this circuit. To fool the modules into letting you start the car, you will still need the module to pass the anti-theft start thing as it goes to another module to allow start up, so it is kind of stupid to do it without repairing it properly. It is cheaper and more effective to just bite the bullet, buy the new module and keep the anti-theft thing in place. Since you have been burnt once, dealers have key readers that state the key resistor value for a key number. Write that down so this will not happen again. Good luck.

Answer 2

I beleive there is a little box under the dash that you change to match your key.

Sounds stupid but I remember ruling one out as a cause for an ignition problem.

Cadilac only of course. That year group can be a serious pain in the owners wallet. A good investment if keeping the car is to purchase the big caddy maintence book 100-250 bucks probably got to find a used one too!

Sorry,

ASE Cert Auto tech 30 years, Shop Owner