How to get your General Motors radio code

If your General Motors radio is showing "LOC" and won't play, it has activated its anti-theft lock — usually after a dead or disconnected battery. You'll need your factory unlock code to get it working again. Here's how.

Step 1 — identify your radio

GM vehicles (Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Cadillac, Pontiac and more) use the "TheftLock" system. With the ignition on and the radio showing LOC, hold presets 2 & 3 (or 1 & 4) to reveal the serial number.

Step 2 — get your unlock code

Send us your General Motors radio serial number (or VIN where applicable) and we'll look up the correct factory code and email it to you. Standard delivery is 30 minutes to 24 hours, 7 days a week; Express is guaranteed within one hour.

Entering the code

Delco entry catches out anyone used to other makes, because on most units it does not use the preset buttons at all. These are the steps for a radio already showing LOC.

1. Turn the ignition on. LOC appears on the display.
2. Press MIN. 000 appears. Keep pressing MIN until the last two digits of your code are showing.
3. Press HR until the first one or two digits are showing.
4. Press AM-FM to confirm. SEC appears and the radio works again.

SEC at the end is the good result — it means the radio is unlocked and secured to your Chevrolet.

Zeros are not displayed, and this is what stops most people. If your code contains a zero the display will not show it, so you count button presses instead. For the code 0216: press MIN 21 times and HR 6 times. The leading zero is simply disregarded.

The 15-second rule: if more than 15 seconds pass between presses, the unit gives up and you start the sequence again. Have your code written down in front of you before you begin.

Why trust Radio-Code.com

We've supplied factory car stereo unlock codes since 1998, with a money-back guarantee if we can't retrieve a working code. Thousands of General Motors owners have used us to get their radios playing again.

← All resources