Ok.. my car was broken into a while back, and had alot of steering column damage. insurence covered everything so i brought it somewhere to have all the work done and have an alarm installed by professionals ..... I got the car back and needless to say i would of been better off sending it to africa to get it worked on. But the problem i am focusing on in this message is the VATS system. They told me that they got rid of VATS because the steering column piece that recieves the ignition cylinder was new and they didn't think it would work with VATS... OR they were confused because the key that i was using with the old ignition lock wasn't a GM key, and therefore the resistor looked different then design of the GM key, and therefore one of the guys at the shop told me that because the key was different then the VATS key they got at the GM dealer, that they decided to bypass VATS all together, I still don't know which really happend, thats why i am writing this. Now to my question... Is there any difference in the steering column piece that recieves the ignition cylinder, that uses a VATS cylinder and one that does not? OR to ask the question from a different viewpoint, with the same answer.... What differences are there in the ACTUAL VATS cylinder and a non VATS one? besides the two wires coming out of it? Because i am wanting to replace the Non VATS cylinder with a VATS one since that is what kept the car from being stolen in the first place....

Breathe,

To my recollection, the lock cylinder outer jacket sizes are the same. The only difference is the pigtail on the cylinder for the VATS connection in the column wiring harness.

Ask the tech how they "bypassed" the VATS system and undo it. Demand that the column gets reassembled to original design, or find another shop. Your insurance company should certainly support you on this, since this single item is what probably saved them several thousand dollars in claims settlement.

The fact that the repair tech was "confused" isn't your problem. If anything they should realize that they learned something about the system and chalk it up to experience. Either way, you car should be returned to you in original condition.

thanks vader, i appreciate ur help

welp there really WAS a difference. i guess they coulnd't get a Lock Cly. housing to fit the VATS lock cylinder.. as you can see in the picture below, the black colar on the VATS cylinder is larger then the other, so it won't fit all the way into the housing.. I guess its off to the junk yard to find any 89+ housing.. I learn something new every day...

VATS on the left..

Breathe,

Thanks for posting that. I see that while the cylinder diameters and lengths are the same, the operating collar is a LOT bigger on the VATS lock cylinder. I'm going to definitely file that one in the memory banks.

Good luck on the upper column housing. If the bone yards don't work out, a dealership should still have them available since they are a commomly replaced item.