So, how weird is this?
I’ve had this Aveo for about eight years. At some point before I bought it, some tote-the-note dealership installed a Pass Time unit on it. It’s only ever been an inconvenience when starting the engine. I had to wait for it to beep twice first. No big deal. Last week, the unit decided to stop working. I had to remove it and rewire the ignition in a laundromat parking lot. I managed to start the car and get it home, but when I go to shut the engine off, it keeps running. All the accessories go off, but the engine runs. I double checked the wiring and it’s good.
While in the parking lot, I pulled the hot wire off the battery to try to stop the car like an idiot. Later, when I had my wits about me, I pulled the DIS INJECTOR fuse to do it. Here’s where it gets weird: All the problems go away when the DIS INJECTOR fuse is removed. The electronics work correctly, it starts, it drives, it dies when shut off. Without that fuse, it drives like a normal car.
W… T… F…
I also noticed there’s a parasitic draw on the battery when the car is not running. There’s a faint high-pitched ringing, too. I traced it to the alternator. I’m guessing I blew a diode when I pulled the hot wire (which is a shame because the alternator is only two months old).
But all this adds up to a very strange electrical situation that I think was caused by or covered up by the Pass Time GPS device. Now, I’m worried that if I drive it, I will die a fiery death.
Advice much appreciated.
Could you explain what a "Pass Time unit’ is?
Sure, it’s a GPS immobilizer certain car lots use to track and disable cars
when people don’t pay. It was installed by some dealership that had it
before it ended up at the dealership I purchased it from. For the longest
time, I thought the beeping was an anti-theft device. They splice it into
the ignition wire and it piggybacks off the 12V wire.
I’d at least get a 12V readout to stick into the cigarette lighter and see what the voltage is doing while you’re driving.
Good idea, I’ll look around for one. Thank you.
If you have any other aftermarket stuff be careful. I put a powerpoint in for a light, I tapped into the wire for 2 way radio to power a spotlight. Turned out if the spotlight was plugged in the van would not turn off.
Must’ve been a lease or rental car in its prior life. 
Can you somehow identify the maker of the pass-time system? Maybe even a model number? Perhaps they have a website that can be of help.
In case you have not tried Pass Time has a web site and has the online live help feature.
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The security gadget my Corolla’s dealership used was wired into the crank circuit. You could still start the car if you pushed it to get it started. But yours must be have been set up differently … hmmm … so the engine is running, you turn the key to “off” but the engine doesn’t stop running? If I had this problem I’d start at the ignition switch. With the aid of the car’s wiring diagram I figure out which wires coming out of the ignition switch should be hot only with the key in “on”. Then I’d check with a volt meter to see if all of them were hot only in “on”, and 0 volts in “off”. Suggest you start there, and let us know what you find.
Sorry, I totally forgot that I replaced the ignition switch first thing with no result. Should have mentioned that. But I’ll get a volt meter after it and report back. Any idea how the car could possibly run with the injector fuse pulled?
Perhaps you miswired the ignition harness when you removed the immobilizer.
It would have been easier to leave the unit in place and splice the purple and blue wires together. Problem solved.
It depends on the injector fuse’s function. If the injectors stop pulsing when the fuse is pulled, seems unlikely the engine could run. But it is pretty clear that the injectors are pulsing anyway, so either that fuse isn’t required for the injectors to pulse, or the fuse is now bypassed by incorrect wiring harness changes.