I bought a 2009 a couple of months ago. It’s always had an intermittent issue where the anti-theft light flickers when I hit a bump, etc. No other issues with the instrument cluster misbehaving.

Tonight I finally got around to pulling out a crappy (and poorly installed) backup camera. The power for this was routed from the left side of the cluster, under it and then down the center console to the accessory plug. After removing this, the flickering problem is pretty much constant. I suspect there’s a loose or flakey wire connected in area of the clock spring. If I move the steering wheel up and down while parked, I see the same issue.

So my first question is, what is not working (if anything) when this light flickers? Second, I moved wires around gently and couldn’t find one that recreated the problem with any consistency. What else could I do to troubleshoot this?

 

It would flicker if the fuse was loose or if the connection to the PK3 sensor is loose or the hood latch switch is loose or a bad battery.

#1 is the TDM/PK3 sensor.

 

The module itself has a fair amount of play to it, but the connection is solid. I unplugged it and plugged it back in anyway. I also checked the fuses and didn't find any that were loose. Same at the hood latch connection. But the good news is whatever fiddling around I did I'm at least back to where I started. It is only flickering occasionally and it off far more than on. I did put a zip tie around the TDM module after driving around a bit. So it's not moving around. That didn't seem to make much difference, but I left it anyway.

(I also found a bottle of pills behind the fuse box panel to go with the syringe I found hidden in the sun roof right after I bought it. Ugh. Any other common hidey places I should check??)

 

Under the back seat

 

Thought I'd give a quick update on this. Right now the flickering is mostly gone. The weather turned cold earlier this week. Since then I am seeing the light faintly lit with a brighter flicker here and there on the way to work. As the car warms up, it gets less. In the afternoon on the way home from work, I don't see it much at all. The faint light might be drowned out by daylight, not sure. It rarely flickers bright enough to notice.
What I've done troubleshooting wise:
-checked the connection on the TDM/PK3 sensor. Unplugged and replugged. No change.
-wrapped a ziptie around the TDM sensor because it had a fair amount of play around the ignition. Might have helped some.
-replaced the battery. It was time. Also might have helped some, but didn't eliminate the problem.
-checked the hood switch. No issues found.
-checked the fuses. No issues found. All fuses were seated completely.

To me it seems like a loose ground connection. But I don't know. The light isn't bothering me so much now, but if there is a loose/failing ground I wonder what else could suddenly stop working if it breaks.

 

Maybe a picture will help us help you.

 

Did you push on the PK3 fuse to make sure it is seated? If it was a ground other things would be affected, it grounds at the left end of the dash with everything else on the dash.
On the TDM module red is B+ , brown is ACC voltage, blkwhite is Ground, Lt green is the computer data line that goes to the GMLAN.

If the computer data liner was mucked there would be codes.

 

Finally got around to looking at this again today. I replaced the 2A fuse (#8) and there was no change. I replaced the 10A fuse (#10) and I haven't seen it flicker since. We'll see if it stays that way.

Thank you for the help!

Now I've just got to replace the rear shocks and the intermittent steering shaft and hopefully all my gremlins will be fixed.

 

Old post, new info. So the problem came back a few months ago. I've just dealt with it. Reading other posts about weirdness in the dash cluster, I did the tightening of the bolts on the engine fuse box. Tada!! All four bolts were barely snug. I did it twice. Once I got tight, but not super tight. That helped but didn't eliminate it. I did it again and went past my comfort and it's been off since. (I work on machines at work that are stainless steel. It's super easy to overtighten and strip bolts on those.) Now if I could just find the noises from the suspension... One problem at a time.

 

Tighten the rear shock bolts, they can loosen up a bit.

Glad you got the fuse box under the hood tightened up, it’s scary but satisfying to get those wonky lights off, just by tightening 4 7 mm bolts.