Flagler County Corvette Club Newsletter. Technical Notes September 10 - Corvette THEFTLOCK. Continued on Page #5

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Imogen Daniels
6 years ago
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In the C5 and C6 Corvettes, the radio has this separate security system to deter thieves from breaking into your vehicle and stealing the radio for use in another car.

1 P a g e 4 THEFTLOCK is a security system for Corvette radios that was introduced with the C5 generation. Now, this is not the vehicle theft-deterrent system that was first introduced in the C3 generation. In the C5 and C6 Corvettes, the radio has this separate security system to deter thieves from breaking into your vehicle and stealing the radio for use in another car. As is often the case, however, thieves can be quite technically sophisticated and can defeat even nearly every security system if the item is Vic Natiello in high enough demand on the black market. Unfortunately, these systems can do more to frustrate the legitimate, but technically challenged, Technical Committee Chair car owner than the thief. So, let s look at the procedures for setting and disabling the security mode on the C5 and how to recover use of the radio should the security system activate. Since most late model Corvettes come with an owner s manual that looks a lot like a college-level physics book, I ll try to keep this simple with plenty of pictures. Here is a page discussing radio security from a typical C5 Owner s Manual. Continued on Page #5

P a g e 5 Please note the statement at the end of Step 9. Corvette engineers intentionally wanted to alert thieves that the radio in your car had the security system activated.

Thus, you might not only return to a vehicle with a big hole in the front console, but a lot of glass in one of the seats where the window was smashed by a crowbar.

2 P a g e 5 Please note the statement at the end of Step 9. Corvette engineers intentionally wanted to alert thieves that the radio in your car had the security system activated. In my opinion, however, this feature could be considered as an invitation rather than a warning. If the light is not flashing, you are basically telling every thief you are an easy mark. Thus, you might not only return to a vehicle with a big hole in the front console, but a lot of glass in one of the seats where the window was smashed by a crowbar. Let me show some images of how the radio will look during these procedures. First, remember, the radio must be off to set your personal security code. First, write down a code between 000 and Let chose 1234 for this example. At Step 4: Continued on Page #6

3 P a g e 6 Now let s suppose your radio is security enabled and your battery tender fails while your out West making your fortune. When you return to Palm Coast, you find your C5 battery is dead as a doornail. Well, first remember that the Corvette radio interprets the battery failure as radio theft. The radio will not operate once you ve fixed the electrical system, until you enter your security code. Thus, when you first turn the ignition on, LOC (locked) will appear in the radio display. The following owner s manual page shows the procedures to get your radio functioning again. It actually tells you two procedures: (1) How to unlock your radio after electrical interruption with LOC displayed and (2) How to disable the security feature, if, let s say, you were to sell your car in the future. Continued on Page #7

4 P a g e 7 But, what if you lost or forgot your code after you got your new battery? In that case, you have two choices. First, you could drive the car for the rest of your life singing to yourself, a cappella. However, if have a spouse, that won t work, so you ll have to go back to the owner s manual to figure out how to get your radio back in operation. Look at the statement at the bottom of the left column on page If you enter the wrong code 8 times, you must wait an hour with the ignition on before you can try again. Then, you only get 3 more chances before you see the dreaded word, INOP. Of course, male owners will try all eleven times to guess at their code, and then take their car to the dealer. Women owners are more likely admit to failure early and go to the dealer after a few failed attempts. In either case, don t forget to bring your wallet. Continued on Page #8

5 P a g e 8 Your radio will now function, but is in the secure mode. The security code will be the four digits you obtained via the phone. If you want to reinstall your own personal 4-digit code, follow the steps to clear the security code and reinstall your own four numbers. Unfortunately, the special numbers shown in the procedure above are no longer valid. GM changed that key a while ago. For security reasons, the correct digits should not be divulged over the Internet. If you need the current numbers, you need to find a mechanic who knows them or you could try to pretty please your local Chevy service writer. If you really felt lucky, however, you could also ask around at Woody s and someone there might just know the key. Now for this month s bonus question: C5 radios, whether cassette or disc, have identical buttons and the same display. On the other hand, C6 radios come with or without NAV, and as a result have distinctly different radio heads. How can you C6 owners enter your security code in those two distinctively different systems to enable the C6 THEFTLOCK system?

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