Caddy newbie here, but not a newbie when it comes to fixing GM cars. But this one has me stumped. The car has a remote starter with alarm which is made by AutoMate, or so I think because that what the little window sticker says. It has been working fine since I got the car. Anyway, tonight, I went to put the registration in the window, so I unlocked the door with the fob, did what I had to do, closed her up and locked it using the key fob. I got the usual chirps and the lights flashed normally. When I was ready to leave, I unlocked the door using the key fob and decided to start the car with the key, the old fashioned way. Well I got the message in the DIC to Service Theft System and one for Service Stability System, and to top it all off, I turn the key and nothing happens. The car won't start.

I tried to find a reset button for the AutoMate alarm and all I found was a momentary switch on the driver's side kick panel. I played with that for awhile, but still nothing. I've given up for the night thinking that maybe there is some internal timer that would reset and I'd be able to start it later on.

If that doesn't happen, does anyone have any suggestions where I can bypass this thing? I only have one key that came with the car, the spare is on order and I haven't received it yet, so trying another transponder key is out. I was thinking of disconnecting the battery to see what happened, but I don't want to if I don't have to.

HELP!

 

Sounds like maybe there is an aftermarket starter cutout relay in the alarm system. If there is a cutout relay and it is not interfaced with the factory alarm system properly, then you could have these issues. The solution would involve tracing alot of electrical wiring, yuck. Especially since someone else did it, and you probably don't know what you're looking at. I would start with the following:

Locate the make/model of the alarm.
Search online to find the install wiring schematics for the alarm. (this may be difficult...)
Trace wiring under the dash and compare to the wiring diagram. Some model cars require standalone modules to properly deactivate the factory alarm. Sometimes people ghetto-rig them by wiring a spare key inline with the factory disarm wire (like GM VATS cars). This can be very prone to not making a good connection across the resistor pellet in the key and therefore not disarming the factory anti-theft.
If all else fails, you can always troubleshoot by process of elimination. Remove the aftermarket alarm kit and rewire everything to factory condition. If the condition persists, then you can troubleshoot using factory service manual procedures.

Good luck. I don't envy you!

 

Thanks for the tip. I actually started tracing the wires, etc. and went to look up the model alarm, but struck out on both. I would up calling the dealer and having the car towed. It turns out when installing the alarm, someone moved the ground to the PCM to the shock tower which caused a feedback in the circuit which eventually blew out the PCM. I had the PCM replaced and the ground moved back to where it was supposed to be and all was back to normal.

 

ew, yuck. sounds messy. sorry to hear that man. i had a 99 sls with an aftermarker r/c starter too, mine displayed service theft sys, but mine started all fine. well, good luck in the future