Immed. HELP needed!!!

['STANGETR]

O.K., well I have gone through all the threads about VATS, and still need some advice. I'm desperate here fellas!! And not to mention stranded. I pulled into my father's house last night, shut the car off, and came back out 15 minutes later only to have it not start. My "security" light keeps flashing, and no start. I here again today, tried cleaning the key, sprayed cleaner into the ignition, still no fire at all. I'm seriously stranded here, any ideas at to what I need to do? Stupid VATS!!! I'm just glad I wasn't in a rotten part of town. ANY help greatly appreciated!!

[TraceZ]

You most likely need a new lock cylinder. There are two wires going to the lock cylinder for the VATS and it is common for them to crack and break over years of use.

or, you could measure the resistance of your key pellet and solder in a resistor of the same value. Shoebox has a chart of the values and some basic instructions.

Either way, you'll need to measure the resistance of the key to fix the problem.

http://shbox.com/1/pass_key.html

['STANGETR]

I was kind of hoping not an ignition! My father is doing a resistance reading on the key and getting a reading of 1853 ohms on his digital multimeter. Is this correct or a problem??

[Joe 1320]

Here is the proceedure and the pellet resistor values
http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#pass_key


By dropping the panel under the steering wheel, you can pull the connector and insert a pair of resistors wired in series to bypass the VATS.
http://shbox.com/1/vats_bypass.jpg

[Christopherrr]

I was kind of hoping not an ignition! My father is doing a resistance reading on the key and getting a reading of 1853 ohms on his digital multimeter. Is this correct or a problem??

Relax...once you get the ohm reading which you have...get a reisistor and wire it. 15 minute job tops.

['STANGETR]

Well, I see there is 15 different resistances, so I'm sure my key is fine. We'll probably do the bypass, it's scary enough that the VATS could be "anal" whenever it wants to! If I were to get another ignition switch though, is it a dealer only item because of the "pellet" keys? About how much do they run?

[Christopherrr]

VATS is a pain in the butt, but the job is a sinch. Drop the kick panel and locate the wire and wire the resistor to it. I soldered it in, but if you just want to get her going, just touch the resistor and turn the key to start her up. Just use shoebox's diagram...it's a really easy easy easy job. You can just leave the bypass in or get a new ignition cylinder...but the bypass will be okay for the time being. You just don't have a thief deterrant system.

I don't know how much the cylinder will be...I just bypassed VATS.

['STANGETR]

[QUOTE= You just don't have a thief deterrant system.

[/QUOTE]
Or, apparently "the right driver" deterrent system! My father was calling my T/A everything in the book. Thought it was pretty funny. He hates these modern gadgets on cars, and something so stupid like this to keep me from driving my baby when there's nothing mechanically wrong! Annoying

[Injuneer]

Wellll..... you don't have any info about the year of your car, but it looks like an LT1, so its anywhere from 9-14 years old. How long do you expect items like this to work perfectly? Its getting old..... stuff will start to happen to it. Cursing out the VATS system, when its been proven to have made a MAJOR reduction in the theft of the F-Bodys is short sighted.

['STANGETR]

Wellll..... you don't have any info about the year of your car, but it looks like an LT1, so its anywhere from 9-14 years old. How long do you expect items like this to work perfectly? Its getting old..... stuff will start to happen to it. Cursing out the VATS system, when its been proven to have made a MAJOR reduction in the theft of the F-Bodys is short sighted.

I didn't mean that to sound harsh, by ALL means, I love my baby. It is a '96 with 106k miles. Looks and runs like 50k, I'm very proud of it and take extremely good care of it inside and out. I know things go wrong, but we all know they do not make things like they used to. And the more electrical stuff they put on new cars these days is asking for more trouble with the vehicle when it ages and things break down. My father is very simple, and believes in nice, simple vehicles. Basically, I should have bought a '69 T/A instead of a '96. Hope that clears that up!

['STANGETR]

Just a follow up on this in case someone else has this problem: I had my T/A towed to my local F-body Motorsports, and they found the problem in the VATS. I apparently had a short somewhere in the "box" that contains the whole VATS system??? Don't know if that makes sense, I didn't get to talk personally w/ them and this is only what was relayed to me. Then, they got the car started but it would only run for 2 minutes exactly and shut back off. Said there is another wire that needed attention somewhere. Basically, they did the bypass of the VATS so I won't have it anymore, because it would've cost about $600 for the replacement system. Gotta wait 'till next week now, and this mini-van I'm driving ain't cuttin' it!!

[Joshu]

Help!

Ok guys I need your help with this easy mod.
I have NO electrical experience what so ever.

Here's how I see this:
1) Measure resistance
2) Cut the wire
3) Find a resistor matching my key

My question is: How do I find a matching resistor?

THANK YOU

[Christopherrr]

Take your key to Radio Shack...and get it measured. They usually have a Ohm reader for use...and buy the corresponding resistor. $4.99 for a pack of like 6 or 8.

[Joshu]

Im getting a reading of .52?

what do I buy?

[Joshu]

The previous post was made from the computer at radioshack LOL

but im getting pissed! The .52 was measured at 20K. What does this mean? I understand the whole bypass thing. I just need to know which one to buy!