Help me take a load on Onstar

James331

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James331
Hey guys,

Got a new ride, super happy with it, minus two things, the DRL which I’ve figured out how to fix.

The second is onstar, I don’t use it, not paying for it, don’t want it and don’t want it sending information from my car that I as the owner/driver deem not needed for others to know.

So.... from my research the best way to make sure it doesn’t transmit without hurting any system, yet be later reversible, is to disconnect the data & GPS antenna leads from the onstar box and replace them with dummy loads to prevent damage to the unit.

Has anyone done this? Any thing I’m missing? Any links to what types of dummy loads would work?


Thanks!
 
You cell phone is already unwillingly tracking and logging your every move even with Location Services off...why worry about your car?
 
You cell phone is already unwillingly tracking and logging your every move even with Location Services off...why worry about your car?
You don't even need a cell phone any more.

Fun fact: security cameras are now being shipped with neural networks to do object recognition, facial recognition and automated license plate reader functionality.
 
Depends on the vehicle I guess, but there's this easy option, if available to you: https://www.wikihow.com/Deactivate-Onstar

If I trusted them that much I wouldn’t have posted this.

Simply put it’s still transmitting and I don’t believe based on their past history there isn’t a log somewhere.

You cell phone is already unwillingly tracking and logging your every move even with Location Services off...why worry about your car?

I can turn my phone off, there is no off button for onstar.

The in for a penny in for a pound logic is flawed.

But I agree, it’s like cops wearing bullet resistant vests, why when they could just be shoot in the head or pelvis, they should quit wasting money on armor?

Fact is when I see a security hole I can fix I like to fix it, just because there still might be a few I missed or can’t remedy doesn’t mean I shouldn’t patch what I can.


Can you remove the box?

From my research on it, I’ll at the very least loose Bluetooth doing that.
 
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The only way to turn your phone off is to pull the battery, unfortunately. You'd have to get something like this: https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/ with hardware killswitches for the baseband to be confident you aren't being tracked.
 
Hate OnStar. Never activated it myself, but a dealer did activate it in one of my cars. The OnStar junk mail continued for years. Never bothered opening any of it.
 
The only way to turn your phone off is to pull the battery, unfortunately. You'd have to get something like this: https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/ with hardware killswitches for the baseband to be confident you aren't being tracked.

There are diffrent shutdown modes, onstar has zero shutdown modes and no “adjustments” like can be made on a phone.


But back to the matter at hand, any of the radio folks on here have any tips on fixing this or dummy loads?
 
First mistake was buying GM

Meh, Ive had good luck with my vette, and this one is replacing my daily driver, seems like unless you’re getting a cobalt or something off the bargin menu GM isn’t too bad. I’ve had all sorts of cars, German, Japanese, English, US, and I really don’t have a problem with GMs nicer line of stuff.


Here’s what the connectors should look like
91_FC58_D9-_ED3_E-418_D-_AA8_E-_FC5_A0002168_B.png
 
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Everyone makes good cars and trucks. Pick the one that makes you smile and buy it. I can’t help you James, I don’t know GM.
 
Sorry James, no real ideas from my end. But I agree with you

The second is onstar, I don’t use it, not paying for it, don’t want it and don’t want it sending information from my car that I as the owner/driver deem not needed for others to know.
That's why I am happy I drive an older generation car. Not even that old, 2011, but my FJ doesn't have any "smart" technology on it. And I love it that way

You cell phone is already unwillingly tracking and logging your every move even with Location Services off...why worry about your car?
Actually... I've been using airplane mode on my phone more and more often. Not because I'm necessarily a tinfoil hat person, but A.) it saves batter B.) it's nice to be off the grid sometimes and not have it beeping and buzzing and "pushing" notifications to me every 5 minutes
 
Meh, Ive had good luck with my vette, and this one is replacing my daily driver, seems like unless you’re getting a cobalt or something off the bargin menu GM isn’t too bad. I’ve had all sorts of cars, German, Japanese, English, US, and I really don’t have a problem with GMs nicer line of stuff.


Here’s what the connectors should look like
91_FC58_D9-_ED3_E-418_D-_AA8_E-_FC5_A0002168_B.png

I will say if I were to buy a car it would be a Vette. That’s the only exception though lol
 
Ive had good luck with my vette, and this one is replacing my daily driver, seems like unless you’re getting a cobalt or something off the bargin menu GM isn’t too bad.

Did you get a Chevy Bolt..???
 
I opened my onstar box up and extracted the cellular modem, they're a plug in module since it can just be swapped for different regions. It does set a trouble code if you go looking for it, but no check engine light, and the light on the mirror is always red, and no chance whatsoever of it transmitting anything ever.

Since my in-dash unit also uses the GPS antenna I had to modify the GPS splitter wires so that the in-dash unit could power the GPS antenna, usually onstar does the power, basically just moving the in-dash nav wire to where the on-star wire was on the splitter, but since they're keyed I had to file down one key. If you don't have in-dash nav, then just ignore this bit.

Annoyingly the 'compass' is from onstar GPS data, so that goes away too, oh well.
 
BNC cap on the antenna connector ought to be good enough for your purposes.

3-pcs-Dust-Cap-for-BNC-female-connector.jpg

What about the load? Would this hurt the radio if it was later put back to factory?

Did you get a Chevy Bolt..???

That kinda hurts my soul....NO lol

It’s a AWD turbo caddy

I opened my onstar box up and extracted the cellular modem, they're a plug in module since it can just be swapped for different regions. It does set a trouble code if you go looking for it, but no check engine light, and the light on the mirror is always red, and no chance whatsoever of it transmitting anything ever.

Since my in-dash unit also uses the GPS antenna I had to modify the GPS splitter wires so that the in-dash unit could power the GPS antenna, usually onstar does the power, basically just moving the in-dash nav wire to where the on-star wire was on the splitter, but since they're keyed I had to file down one key. If you don't have in-dash nav, then just ignore this bit.

Annoyingly the 'compass' is from onstar GPS data, so that goes away too, oh well.

No nav aside from “onstar nav”, I’d like to keep the compass, not sure why, but I would.

Any reason you didn’t just disconnect the cellular antenna lead?
 
Oh snap!
That was a pretty good one about the kia though lol

So the cellular antenna could just be disconnected and that would fix the whole thing, nothing else needed??
 
Any reason you didn’t just disconnect the cellular antenna lead?

On mine, there is a Cellular antenna and a GPS+Cellular antenna, which I found when I disconnected just the Cellular antenna and tried something with OnStar and it still worked, so I thought it was able to communicate without the antenna until I got a wiring diagram. So while I could have disconnected both there's still a tiny risk of frying the transmitter and a tiny risk of it actually being able to communicate. So, I pulled the board, when I sell it I can just drop the board back in and attach the antennas back the original way being pretty sure it will work again.

Oh, also if you have the Wifi Hotspot enabled, be sure to disable it before removing the modem board or disconnecting antennas otherwise you'll have an annoying hotspot that does nothing and can't be turned off.
 
Also on a side note, what’s the thoughts on a taking a turbo car through a touch-less drive through car wash with under spray?
 
If the car wash doesn’t bother you, it won’t bother the car


Was more thinking the turbo, first turbo car and I’m huge fan of the frequent under spray wash, especially in winter.
 
Dumb question, but does the owner's manual mention anything about car washes? I know the last two vehicles I've owned the owner's manual says to avoid touchless car washes, but that's mainly due to the rag tops on both vehicles.
 
Touch less car washes can cause some issues, but it won’t hurt the turbocharger. They can cause moldings to loosen, water “can” be pushed past some weatherstrips, is some cases water “can” be pushed into light assembly’s because the all have vents. In most modern cars, certainly luxury cars, there are baffles and shields to keep water away from where it could cause critical failures. I think you’ll be fine.
 
You don't even need a cell phone any more.

Fun fact: security cameras are now being shipped with neural networks to do object recognition, facial recognition and automated license plate reader functionality.


What do you mean "now"? They have been working for well over a decade with analytics.
 
Was more thinking the turbo, first turbo car and I’m huge fan of the frequent under spray wash, especially in winter.

Why are you worried about a car wash yet not worried about road spray when driving in wet weather?

I’ve owned almost nothing but turbo cars for 20 or so years and work in an engine test lab testing nothing but turboed engines and have never heard of a single problem that could be attributed to spraying one with water. If there was a vulnerability to water spray the vehicle would have been tested for it during its design.
 
Why are you worried about a car wash yet not worried about road spray when driving in wet weather?

I’ve owned almost nothing but turbo cars for 20 or so years and work in an engine test lab testing nothing but turboed engines and have never heard of a single problem that could be attributed to spraying one with water. If there was a vulnerability to water spray the vehicle would have been tested for it during its design.

Like I said its my first turbo, I have had NAs and blowers but never a turbo, I also figured since the under wash sprays straight up onto the bottom of the car as you drive over it, it probably is much more direct than some road spray.

I’m down to admit I don’t know what I don’t know and I know there are folks on here with a ton of knowledge in all sorts of fields, engine guys like you, radio guys, etc. hence why I asked :)
 
What do you mean "now"? They have been working for well over a decade with analytics.
A neural net in the camera has much more capability than analytics ever did in the past decade.
 
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