Hi guys, I haven't been on since last fall. I put my baby up for the winter and bought a nightmare of an older Volkswagen for the winter. One thing after another went wrong with it, but now it works pretty good since I had the engine replaced! Only had 117 K on it. Ye gads. Well, it was really good in the snow at least. Thing is built like a tank.

Well, it has finally stopped snowing so I took out the black dragon, envisioning the fun I was going to have with it. Guess what. One day I was in a hurry with the VW and still getting used to my new glasses and CRUNCH... backed briskly into the MOC! Could have cried! Mangled the bumper, pushed the headlight back into the engine compartment and pushed out the fender a little. Insurance won't cover the damage on either. VW is still driveable, cosmetic damage only.

Black dragon is now at the body shop of the guy who did the work on it last year. Good news is I still have the red '04 Monte behind the barn and he can get the parts off that. Also I am having him replace the "surfboard" spoiler on the '01 with the fancier one on the '04, installing a back-up cam and hopefully the amplifier box in the trunk of the '04 will work in the '01 because the radio is wired wonky and the guy I bought it from said the amplifier had been the problem

Now, here's a question... The keys to the black car haven't ever worked on the doors, only the fob. I think the locks are frozen. I have tried different kinds of lubes and nothing has worked. The locksmith seemed doubtful about being able to replace the lock. I don't like relying only on something with a battery to get me into my car. The red car ('04) lock mechanism.still works on that car, however, that key fob is really beat. The '04 only has one keyed door, while the '01 has both. So the question is this: which door lock should I have him replace? I am thinking the passenger's side, that way I can still use the black car fob to open the driver's side door, but will be able to get into the passenger's side if I have to. Thoughts?

Also, I am temped to leave the spoiler red... or would that just look silly?

 

Bad luck on the accident, but hey things happen. Not too sure about the door locks, my 96 has a separate key for the doors and ignition. As far as the red spoiler, unless you have other notable red accents, I'd paint it to match the car.

 

New to stuff on the longest car I own, But why not get a new lock set for the car? A quick look on ebay and I found a set of door locks with key, ($60) Ignition and 2 door locks with key ($140) neither has a fob (mine never had one anyway) didn't see any with trunk locks. Or you could go to a yard and pop a whole set out of another car. TBH, I've only ever seen 3 Montes in yards in my life, but one was just like mine and really made me sad.

 

Sorry to hear about your damage. There is a 2-wire ground above the drivers side headlight if you hit that side.

The 01 and 04 amp wiring harnesses and plugs are different; you would need to, at best, do rewiring to use an 04, and I won't swear they're compatible anyway. I think their pinouts are different. I think someone has posted wiring diagrams here. Or maybe the Impala Forum. Only 00-01 MC/Impala amps work without modification in 01's.

The fobs are programmed to the car, so I would recommend putting the functioning key/lock in the driver's door. Don't forget the trunk lock too. I just put in a used '00 SS BCM and radio after installing a new Passlock sensor and key/cylinder and after doing the security reset, my fob worked fine - the fob is matched to a separate module. For now, I have different keys.

I'm a purist so I would go with black for the spoiler. I thought the bolt patterns were different between the two spoilers?

 

Trunk lock I can't switch out with the '04 -- the '04's is frozen.
The fob for the '04 doesn't work well and it's pretty beat up... in fact one button is missing. Is it possible to get a new one?
I've tried two different kinds of spray in the '01 door locks. Haven't tried silicon I don't think. They wiggle and seem like they almost work... (unlike the trunk one, with is really frozen.) Anybody think it might be possible to free the door locks up if they were removed from the door?

The bolt pattern for the 2 spoilers is different, but the body guy says he can swap them easy, he's done it before with different vehicles.
Good to know about the amp -- I probably won't have him bother with it then.

 

New key fobs are on Amazon for $10 or less.

Taking the locks off will confirm it is the lock and not that the rod is jammed.

 

I wonder if the ignition was changed for the recall and your door takes a different key now. I didn’t see if you bought it used or not.

 

Good question! Was there a recall for the '01 MOC SS? I bought it last year.
I bought the '04 in 2008 I think, and there was no recall for that -- they just put an extra ring on the keytag.

 

there were many GM cars around that time with weak ignition switches but idk which ones. Some got new switches, some, like my o4 and 05 got the key head insert. Or a previous owner could have just got the updated switch for peace of mind

 

my ignition has something broken inside. I need the key to start it, then in run position, I can take the key out while driving. Kinda nice for locking doors while it runs in winter, also no worries about the weight of keys turning the car off. It’s weird because my 03 MC key(no longer own) opened my sons 04 door, but won’t start it. Both cars have one key for door &igntion