I had my VATS begin acting up today leaving me stranded for about 20 minutes. Finally the car would turn over and I got home but its very annoying and I already had the dealer fix the VATS issue about 12 years ago. I know I can measure the ohms in my key and wire in the correct resistor. I have also heard you can connect two of the wires and get it to run. The car is now parked until I figure this one out. My question is can I simply disable VATS by burning a new chip? From what I understood that is one of the ways to disable it without soldering the resistor. I already have an ALDL cable and wanted to get an EPROM burner, eraser & chips anyway. I'm thinking now would be the time to invest in the burner / reader and a few chips. Can anyone tell me if I can simply turn off VATS by setting some flag and burning a new chip? If so, I will purchase what I need next week. Thanks for any input.

Yes, it is possible.

Possible, and very easy to do. It's just a flag change.

My TA did this at a friends house one time. He took me home to get my tuning equipment. I burned a new chip for the car in 5 minutes it started up and was fine.

For Tune Port Injected Car YES very easy .. for TBI not so much
I have ripped all the computer injection system out of my 92 rs it is now has a carburetor -- vats is a separate box and still can disable the starter using the start enable relay

Easy fix that a simple jumper wire would take care of.

Exactly -- tbi jumper wire on start enable relay TPI program chip and turn it off

CG

Exactly -- tbi jumper wire on start enable relay TPI program chip and turn it off

CG

Ok, so what should I do? I've read about cutting two wires and wiring them together. A yellow one from the column and a tan & white one from the shifter. I hear this will bypass VATS, but why different from TPI car? I have a TBI car. Can I disable in chip as well? Should I do the wire thing? I'm looking for better information on which wires to cut. I'd like to drive my car!!

Thanks

Yes you can disable the fuel cut in the chip. Although if you can read the resistor in the key and wire it in, could probably do that in 5 - 10 minutes be be driving.

VATs systems are the same between the TBI, TPI, and MPFI cars.

RBob.

Just do it in the chip. Uncheck the VATS switch/flag, and burn the chip. Should take care of it. No need to cut wires.

If you decide to the the wire cutting route, there should be an orange wire in there, that actually has two wires inside it. Measure the resistance on your key, and then wire the resistor across those two wires.

Why cut wires? Just unplug & insert the correct resistor.



Resistor Chart:

Because just jamming it in there isn't very secure/reliable. Solder is the only electrical connection I trust not to strand me...

Nevertheless, why even bother with the resistor, when you can more easily disable it in the chip?

Because, and it is already said above.....

You can't do that for TBI, which the OP has. A PROM change isn't even an option for him.

False.

Yeah, it's been said, but that doesn't make it correct.

Believe that if you want, but the VATS Module disables the starter in any case, so a PROM change won't help. PROMs have no affect on the starter circuit.

And the resistor is a 15 cent fix. How cheap is a reprogrammed chip.....

Well I measured the OHMs at 887. Radioshack didn't have the correct resistor. I ended up buying a $0.25 910ohm resistor from a local electronics store. I'm going to pop that in next to make it work for now. I also read with my ALDL cable and WinALDL and it showed the error code 53 VATS error. Car started fine then too but I just didn't want to get stuck somewhere again. The resistor it will be for now since I don't have the eprom programmer and chips yet. I plan to also begin burning chips soon and to remove it there as well. I'd need to order one which would take a few days.

Thanks for all your help guys.

I tried putting the resistor in just like the picture Stephen provided and it doesn't do anything. The resistor seems to fail as well. Any other ideas?

I had it start once without the resistor. I then unplugged the plug with the orange wire and it didn't start. Plugged it back in, car started. Then, I tried to jump it with the resistor and I began getting the SECURITY light again and no start, no crank. Now with or without the resistor plugged in I get the SECURITY light. It is an intermittent VATS issue, so I wanted to make sure the resistor is working. I also assume to leave the plug plugged in when putting the resistor in correct?

It is sounding more like a bad VATS module. If that is the case....Good key or not, it could start/not start.....off & on.

So, how would I go about doing this start enable relay thing and finding the correct wires?

I tried this and it the car doesn't even show the security light when I turn the key over. I unplugged that plug with the orange wire that has the two wires inside it. Stuck the resistor into the plug and nothing.

I'm also beginning to think the relay may be going bad as well. I read another similar thread where that was mentioned. What got me really thinking that was I had two codes. VATS(53) & Fuel pump relay(54). I've already replaced my fuel pump before, relay, etc not long ago with a Walbro. I know I have fuel and it just wont turn over at all when it does this. Does anyone know if the Fuel Pump Relay is the same Relay? I'm about to replace that next or swap it with another relay when it wont start.

Also, if it is the VATS module in the column would that cut wires and connect the right ones together be a workaround?

You want the connector for VATS from the column disconnected when doing the resistor bypass. When you leave it connected the resistance is actually less, due to having two resistors in parallel, one being the resistor you are adding, the other being the original resistor in the key.

to any member willing to help i have a 91 camaro rs 5spd havings VATS problems again want to bypass for good ive read about resistor fix and chip for ECM and VATS bypass module not sure what to do or use one of the three methods ive read about can anyone help me so i can start car and get rid of VATS for good thank you to any any everyone willing to help me thank you members

If your VATS module is good, the resistor bypass is the cheapest, easiest & anybody can do that.

from toneye i just read a message from stephen about 91 camaro vats problem hope i reached the right guy i read about bypass on message board from 7-26-10 hope this is your post i can go by your pictures of wires to fix my problem thank you for helping with information you info is greatly appreciated glad you helped and posted pictures

hey1meanz i have a 1991 camarors 305tbi 5spd i read your post can a chip be used to disable the vats for good other post say you can not use prom for my ecm but you burned a chip for your car did this get rid of vats for good i would like to do same thing so i can drive car again can you help with vats headache this is not the first time for vats problem