[OverAnxious]

This is a work in progress. Please feel free to post ONLY subject related information in this thread. If someone can provided pictures, that would be ideal.

Once there is enough information here. I will clean up the thread and the first post will be a detailed write up with pics

Joe
=============================================

Thanks to Patriotpa for the details and pictures below:

Tools needed:

Flashlight
T15 Torx driver
Small flat bladed screwdriver. (I used a jewellers driver)

1. No need to remove any fuses.

2. Remove glove box cord by pulling down and sliding the cord retainer bar free of it's slot.

3. Press in on either side of the glove box to free the sides, then pull the glovebox down and toward you and the hinges will unhook.

4. Remove the T15 screws holding the trim panel. There are 6 of them. 3 are along the front edge, and 1 on each side a few inches further forward.

5.Press on the On$tar module retaining clip and slide the box out of its bracket.

6. The small colored connectors are antennas. Unplug them by gently prying the side of the inset clip out with a small flat screwdriver and pull the connector off. Without antennas, the box can't send/receive data. DON'T unplug J1 through J4! You'll throw "Lost Communication with fuel pump control module codes." There were no J3 or J4 connectors on my car, if yours has them, leave them alone.

7. Put everything back except the antenna connectors.

8. Laugh maniacally. You have just defeated the Spy in the Sky!

Of course, this is all at your own risk. I assume no responsibility for you working on your or anyone else's car.

Update:

Removing the antenna connectors is the way to go. The On$tar module is still running in the car, and it just thinks it's out of communications range. The led on your mirror will not be green anymore. It'll either be red, or off. This shows you On$tar cannot establish a connection with your vehicle.

Of course, you'll lose your built in cell phone, but so what? We all have regular cells anyhow.

If you want to test it, just press the the On$tar button. It'll never connect.

 

[CamaroFTW]

Excellent write up!!

 

[el ess X]

Have to hand it to you, you were serious on disabling onstar!!

 

[patriotpa]

They pissed me off.

How dare they steal info from me and then sell it, or provide it to LEOs without a warrant!

Spread this to every GM car forum you can find!

:finger: On$tar!

Once again, you saw it FIRST on:5go:

 

[brandonppr]

They pissed me off.

How dare they steal info from me and then sell it, or provide it to LEOs without a warrant!

Spread this to every GM car forum you can find!

:finger: On$tar!

Once again, you saw it FIRST on:5go:

Check out the update from onstar with more detailed information:
http://www.moderncamaro.com/forum/g...star-privacy-statement-update.html#post359672

 

[Sharkycsi]

Is there anyway to disable On Star without losing the Bluetooth capabilities?

 

[Buzz]

I think it would be just the Onstar cell service. Believe the Bluetooth capabilities is another system. PDIM module I believe controls bluetooth but I would have to confirm. Or bluetooth is controller via radio head unit.

 

[Camaro Scotty]

Bluetooth for phone is in the onstar box.

 

[brandonppr]

Bluetooth for phone is in the onstar box.

x2

 

[Lee123]

This didn't work for the long term

This does not completely and permanently delete Onstar. I unhooked the antenna last month to give this a try. My 2012 is only 5 months old so the Onstar service was still active, but I figured since I wasn't going to pay for it next month I might as well unhook it now. I got the expected results, the light in the mirror turned red instead of green, pushing the blue Onstar button did not result in a connection and the compass said CAL instead of N. Also, I did not get the March monthly report telling me my total mileage, tire pressure, etc. This seemed to have worked, as I expected it would.

Then today I got my April car status email from Onstar. The mileage shown was correct. I went out and started the car, the light on the mirror is still red, the compass still says CAL, but when I pushed the blue button Onstar ANSWERED. They somehow have restored the connection to my car without the antenna connected. At the risk of being called paranoid, it is as if the car has been switched to some backup antenna system, perhaps using the other wiring or something internal to the Onstar box. After all, a cell phone doesn't have an external antenna.

If anyone knows what's up with this, please post the answer. Please refrain from paranoid tin foil hat comments. I just like to know how things in my car work and what they are doing and I'm very curious about this. I also posted this for the benefit of anyone who feels 100% certain that they have disconnected Onstar because the light is red. You might want to test it again.

 

[patriotpa]

I don't know what to tell you, other than mine still is OUT of service after this procedure. Perhaps you should have a look and see if it's still disconnected? Without an antenna, there's no signal being transmitted; 100% reflected power to the transceiver.

 

[Lee123]

I don't know what to tell you, other than mine still is OUT of service after this procedure. Perhaps you should have a look and see if it's still disconnected? Without an antenna, there's no signal being transmitted; 100% reflected power to the transceiver.

Thanks for replying. That is very interesting. I understand the Onstar box is different in 2011/2012 compared to 2010. After sorting through about 1,000 posts I found a member at C5 with a 2011 who said he could still connect to Onstar with the coax disconnected but it took forever. He finally made jumpers for the fuel pump signals and removed the box. I'm a bit nervous about shorting out something in my car by jumping wires like that, so if removing the coax won't do it I'll probably just hook the antenna back up to fix the compass. I'm going to go out and check mine after dinner when it has cooled off outside just to be sure the coax didn't end up back in place, but I suspect since the light is still red it is still off.

 

[Lee123]

No, the antenna was not connected and wasn't even very close to the coax connector on the box. There is no doubt that my 2012 SS convertible was able to connect to Onstar with the antenna disconnected. At that point I figured I might as well hook it up and have the compass, so I did. GM certainly went to a lot of trouble to make sure that we couldn't remove their monitor from our cars!

 

[patriotpa]

I did the 2010 OffStar writeup. Who is going to pick up the OffStar challenge next? The gauntlet has been thrown!

 

[campillf]

I don't know about you guys, but I also removed the onstar fuse. Figured it may help in limiting connectivity.

 

[Yellow 2SS]

I don't know about you guys, but I also removed the onstar fuse. Figured it may help in limiting connectivity.

I have the factory service manual and it states that if you disconnect the battery or onstar fuse with the key on, it will activate the backup battery.
The battery is lithium and designed to last 4 years without activation.
If activated it will go dead and if there is a crash after that the onstar system may not work properly. (I know the purpose of this thread is to get rid of onstar)
I would assume if the Onstar fuse is pulled and the ignition is then truned on, it will activate the battery until it dies. That may be why some people cant kill this thing. Also if the antenna connector is shorted (ground to signal) the module won't be able to communicate. I would recommend using a resistor to prevent module damage in case of resale or re use in the future. I'm not sure of the value resistor to use but I can figure it out.
The manual also shows a seperate gps antenna and a seperate cellular/digital radio antenna. My guess the reason the compass is not working is that its connected to the gps antenna. That would explain why the monthly report still worked with the compass not working.

 

[patriotpa]

The resistor value will be 50 ohms. 5 watts. http://search.digikey.com/us/en/products/FVTS5-50/FVTS5-50-ND/257665

As far as On$tar working without the antenna, I'd have to either have more than just one report from a completely new member, or see it myself.

BTW:

I've got over 30 years experience designing and troubleshooting transmitters and receivers.

 

[Lee123]

As far as On$tar working without the antenna, I'd have to either have more than just one report from a completely new member, or see it myself.

BTW:

I've got over 30 years experience designing and troubleshooting transmitters and receivers.

The only reason I bothered posting it here is because this is where I found the instructions and I thought others might be interested in what happened with mine. I was as surprised as you seem to be. It was hard to believe even though I had the Onstar email with the correct mileage right here and there is only one way they could have gotten that. Perhaps they came up with some way to make a minimal connection without that antenna starting in 2012 after numerous people had pointed out that all a thief would have to do is break the shark fin to disable Onstar. I don't know what they did, I only know what I saw.

I am a little puzzled by your comment. Are you thinking I didn't really disconnect the antenna, or that Onstar didn't really access my car after I disconnected it, or that I just made the whole thing up and took the time to type it here in order to cause you some sort of personal aggravation and grief?

 

[patriotpa]

I am a little puzzled by your comment. Are you thinking I didn't really disconnect the antenna, or that Onstar didn't really access my car after I disconnected it, or that I just made the whole thing up and took the time to type it here in order to cause you some sort of personal aggravation and grief?

Not at all. We have a sample size of ONE CAR.
Also, if the car were very close to a cell tower, it may get enough signal to connect.

These are just two of the variables that need nailed down.

No need to get all butthurt. More data is a good thing.

Here's something well worth trying:

I suggest terminating the antenna connector with 50 ohms. A 5 watt resistor will be more than sufficient. One lead will go on the center of the antenna socket. The other lead gets grounded with the lead as short as possible.

Digi-key will have what you need: FVTS5-50 Vishay Huntington Electric Inc. | FVTS5-50-ND | DigiKey

This will prevent all but a fraction of 1% of the RF from being sent or received by the On$tar box.

Sorry, I don't know offhand what the connector is called.

 

[Lee123]

Sorry, I misunderstood. More data was something I also hoped for by posting this. I like the idea that it is proximity to a cell tower. That would explain how one member of Camaro5 said he could call Onstar with the antenna disconnected but that it had trouble making a connection. I had no idea how Onstar gets data from the car or how they locate a car and actually thought they did it all with satellites. If they use cell phone service that explains a lot.