Extended warranties are your friend

Hope its a cheap fix...

That'* kind of ambiguous what the dealership said. :?: If the IGN 1 relay is failed, or not picking up for whatever reason, then quite a few components( ie.Start2 Relay, Fuel Injectors, PCM ignition, etc) will not receive the B+ power from the IGN 1 bus. The IGN 1 relay (underhood) should pick up with the ignition switch in "on", and there should be no inhibits. Any "start" inhibit features I think take place at the PCM level as it communicates with other modules (ie. Theft Deterrent Module, or Dash Integration Module etc.) for validation to enable the start sequence. I'll be anxious to see what they find. Hope it'* not too costly.

Well, here'* the final chapter to the story.

Fortunately for me, the dealer'* initial diagnosis was wrong. As it turns out, the problem was not in the theft deterrent module, but was in the front fuse panel.

I had popped an accessory power outlet fuse recently. When I opened the front fuse panel, there was an inside plastic cover marked "remove and discard" held down by three bolts. Apparently, this was the first time the panel had ever been accessed, so I loosened the bolts, removed the inner plastic cover, and replaced the fuse.

I thought the three bolts were there just to hold that retaining cover down, so I didn't tighten them back down. As it turns out, they also hold the fuse panel together. So, what happened is that the two halves of the fuse panel came apart, and killed power to half of the circuits. The tech tightened the bolts back down, and full power was restored.

I had to pay for a few hours of labor to diagnose and fix the problem. I feel kind of dumb for causing the problem, but I don't recall seeing anything in the book about reinstalling those bolts after discarding the inner cover. Maybe I'll write Pontiac and see what happens.

Thanks for the update, so what was the loud pop anyways? Funny how the problem didnt arise until you plugged in the tv and yet the power for the accessory outlet comes from the rear fuse panel and not the front?

arcing across the two halves?

I did find a blown fuse in the front panel. I don't remember the number (22 or 23 maybe???), but it was for accessory power or something like that. It was on the acc outlet circuit, as there is an option to have the fuse in one position to have the acc power outlets stay hot all the time, and another (default) for them to turn off after a few minutes.

The noise in the rear could have just been the relays clicking...I dunno.

Anyway, problem solved. Now, on to the next one!

The control relay is in the rear for the cig lighter and aux outlet, it then feeds the two 20amp fuses under the hood.
Also the front fuse block has the 3 retaining screws and 4 cam locks, those locks must have held on for a while after you removed the screws.

Wow, that was it? Good deal, glad to see you got that resolved. I've always just put that inner cover back in place. It snaps over the heads of the three fasteners that hold the fuse block in place. I've never loosened the fasteners to remove or replace the inner cover. As far as discarding that cover, I never understood that, I just figured it doesn't seem to hurt leaving the thing in there.