No vin on radio and anti theft light on dash after battery died.

 

Why do you think there should be a VIN on the radio? Is it the original or a after market? Any VIN matching is digital.
Lock symbol after dead battery is normal. Fix it by replacing the battery and starting the engine with the good key.0

 

Interesting that it is running, despite having the antitheft triggered.

 

Looks to me like a dead or dying battery. The dash usually lights up during these events. Check for clean tight ground wires, tighten those 4, 7mm bolts in the fuse box under the hood. Push all the fuses and relays into place. Replace the battery.

 

It’s a 2009 HHR ss, radio is stock, replaced anti theft fuse but light still on, car turns over, power steering is nonexistent, radio still says no vin.

 

All of those dash lights are supposed to go on when the key is turned to run.
Did this just up and happen or did something precede? How long was the car sitting with a dead battery? What is the battery voltage now?
The ant-theft light is not connect to the radio VIN matching. The way the radio works: a new radio has a blank chip in it, on the first start the chip connects to the BCM then the BCM senses the blank chip and writes the VIN to it. Subsequent starts the BCM interrogates the radio for a matching VIN. I don't know how the VIN can get forgotten.

 

Battery disconnected or dead for to long.

 

My battery was disconnected for over two years while my HHR sat before putting the other engine in it. I never got this No VIN on the radio. Last week, the ground cable disconnected and it sat for a little over 48 hours before I was able to get to it to reconnect it and I now have No VIN on the radio.
Any idea how to fix it?
Yes, it is the original radio.
Thanks,
Jessica

 

A shop with a scan tool should be able to restore the radio, it might be the backup battery inside the radio is dead. There are shops in the internet that will programme a radio for you.
Or don’t worry about the radio, you can sing your favourites as you drive along!

 

So there is no other quick way to reset it? The shop told me to discharge the system before installing the new battery ground cable by disconnecting the battery and putting the positive and negative together. NOT with the battery connected. Have you ever done that?

Thanks,
Jessica