Need help, 99 Grand Am won't start

[Bens4vcobra]

My wife has a 99 Grand Am 2 door, 4cyl auto. Lately, the car won't start and the security light in the dash comes on and stays on for about 10 minutes. After the light goes off, the car will start but not until the light goes off. This doesn't occur every time but is getting more frequent and frankly, its quite aggrivating. It was suggested to her by her father (mechanic) that it may be something with the key, so she started using the spare (copy) and that seemed to work for awhile but unfortunately that didn't last long and now its occuring quite often.

What is the problem here?

Has anyone had this issue?

Anyway to fix it without taking it to the dealer?

 

[Goatman]

My wife has a 99 Grand Am 2 door, 4cyl auto. Lately, the car won't start and the security light in the dash comes on and stays on for about 10 minutes. After the light goes off, the car will start but not until the light goes off. This doesn't occur every time but is getting more frequent and frankly, its quite aggrivating. It was suggested to her by her father (mechanic) that it may be something with the key, so she started using the spare (copy) and that seemed to work for awhile but unfortunately that didn't last long and now its occuring quite often.

What is the problem here?
The issue is a bad lock cylinder/ Passlock sensor..

Has anyone had this issue?
Yes, lots of GM cars in the same vintage..

Anyway to fix it without taking it to the dealer?

if you are really handy and can take the steering column apart and know the internals and what to replace then Yes ...if not take it to a dealer they are easy to mess up further than the cost of replacment ..
the cylinder should be around $60.00 + 2-3 hrs labor
I used to do alot of them back when I was working at the dealership..

 

[Bens4vcobra]

that doesnt sound too bad, a few hundred bucks. thanks for you help