I'm glad it was bumped, didn't realize that ACE made auto keys.

Just stopped in, they are now $25 for the VATS keys there.

 

Old thread but still relevent! You can buy the blanks from Sears (if you know your resistance value) for about $13.00 Not sure if that includes cutting or not. Here's a great link on this site with additional information

https://www.thirdgen.org/vats_passkey_system

 

Quite relevant indeed. My ACE doesn't sell them. Had a copy made at a mom and pop for $25.

 

My chevy dealer is full of cheapskates. They want to charge me $35 just to see if they even HAVE it (ignition), plus like $25 for the key.

 

I know this thread is aged but being the new sponsor of a 91 Camaro RS for my son who recently lost the keys, we’ve been faced with trying to figure out how to go about getting some made. I searched high and low on both here and the internet in general and found lots of info but most of it was pretty dated. This has been my experience so far...

Called the local GM dealer and they told me they could look up the VATS key code in GM’s database and tell me which key blank I needed (obviously provided the lock cylinders were original). They charge $25 just to access the data and the ignition key was $35. Just for comparison,I called another dealer who said they charge $15 to look up the info and $40 for the key. After having the first dealer pull the info for me, they could only get the cut template number and not the VATS number so they called GM and were told they don’t have records back that far. Thankfully they didn’t charge me. Just to see what other options I might have,I called a locksmith who said they charge $100 to get the information plus the cost of the key. I explained that GM couldn’t even provide the information but they say they use a third party so, curiosity getting the best of me, they said they’d at least check and make sure they can get the info before I have to go thru the hassle of providing proof of ownership, etc.

My first preference is to try to keep the VATS system intact if possible but it sounds like this ordeal is gonna cost me anywhere from $60-135 either way. So at that price, I’m tempted to bypass it or buy a VATS Interrogator and at least I’ll have a new tool to show for it at the end of the day. I’ll update this once I hear back from the locksmith...I’m curious to see what they have to say.

 

Just use a multimeter to measure resistance (Ohms) across the chip in the key.
The key codes and resistance values are listed in post #2, https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...pass-vats.html
Then you can tell them what key blank you want and maybe they'll only charge you the cost of the key.

 

They lost both keys... So they can't check the key...
There were 15 or 16 different VATS resistor, so you have a few options
1) You can continue your trek and see if you can come up with the correct Resistor
2) You can buy one of each of the keys, have them all cut to the tumbler, the data you got from GM, and then you can try them one at a time until one works.
3) You can buy 15 or 16 resistors, and then one at a time try them to see which one works, but you will have to find the wires under the dash and wire them in one at a time.
4) You can have someone reprogram your ECM to Remove VATS.

IIRC if your resistor does not work, I think there is a 10 min delay you have to wait or something like that, maybe that was a newer car. IDK. Or just unplug the battery between each try.

None of it will be easy, and honestly this would be a good lesson for the son to not lose the darn keys.

John

 

A VATS delete chip is the easiest solution by FAR. About $100 and guaranteed to do the job the first time and never have this problem again. The ECU and starter enable relay are both very simple to access.

GD

 

Thanks for the input, I totally agree, if he loses the keys again, he’ll be walking. Until now, I’d never really understood how the keys worked as far as the ohm readings. If I had any idea what a PITA this process is, I would’ve made sure to test the key so I’d at least know which blank I’d need. It’s one of those live and learn lessons that you don’t forget!

Yeah, I may end up doing this at the end of the day. As much as I’d like to keep everything functional on the car it may just be unreasonable to do it. I’ve got a local locksmith that called me back today and said they could get he code so we’ll see how that goes.

 

Well, just a bit of closure on this fiasco...we finally found the keys that were lost and a good thing as about the same time I got a call from the locksmith letting me know that, just like the GM dealer, he was able to get the key pattern code but not the VATS code for the car. So it appears to me that no one has records of VATS codes going back to 1991 apparently. I immediately took the keys over to them, had them tell me which blank it is and had duplicate sets made of everything ($46 for ignition/door set). The new ones work great and all is well. I appreciate everyone’s feedback!