Hey, I'm busy troubleshooting a non start problem and this is what I have found so far: its a 1989 firebird with VATS

1. there is a starter enable relay located in the drivers side kick panel with four wires, two are yellow, two are green. If you were to line them up left to right as they go into the harness and label them 1 2 3 4. #1 is a thick yello wire, #2 is a thin yellow wire, #3 is a thin green wire, and #4 would be a thick green wire.

2. my problem is that after replacing the relay because the car wouldn't crank it still doesn't work, but after removing the relay and connecting the leads from the larger green (#4) and yello wires (#1) I can get the starter to activate but the motor will not turn over.

3. my guess is that I would have to bypass the VATS system with a resistor, but the directions in the tech article are kinda foggy as to how to test it.

Do I place the leads from the volt meter into both the large (#1) and small (#2) yellow wires in the relay harness to test the resistance connection from the lock cylinder, or do I connect one lead to the small yellow wire in the harness and one into the small green wire.

I need to know so I can get my daily driver back on the road again.

Thanks for your help,
Chris

 

You can measure resistance directly from the key.

Or find the two, thin gauge yellow wires from the steering column. You should be able to find it under the dash and it will be plugged into another 2-wire harness of the same gauge (sorry don't remember the colors). Disconnect them at the plug and you can measure resistance of the 2 yellow wires at the plug, with the ignition key installed.

Those two thin yellow wires run directly to the contacts from the ignition lock cylinder. It will vary slightly in resistance, but if you find a resistor close enough to the measured value it'll work fine.

 

VATS does 2 things, starter disable and fuel delivery. What does your "security" light say. Normally with the correct PASS key the light comes on for 2 sec then goes off. If the light is staying on the VATS decoder module does not recognize the key or it is defective. Hopefully it's only the key contacts as the other post stated. Then you can bypass it with a resistor. There should be 2 yellow wires coming down the column, you need to place the resistor across them. Remember this also, the PASS key resistor pellet is not a standard EIA resistor value-they are purposely different. Although the VATS module has some bandwidth meaning it will accept a variance it may not be reliable. Measure your key resistor or use the charts available assuming you know your key code and I prefer to use a 20 turn potentiometer setting it to the exact value of the key. Drop a little nail polish on the pot setting to lock it. I did a friends 'bird with a fixed value resistor but had to rescue her when the temp was 100 degrees. The heat moved the VATS enough for the module to not recognize the resistor as being valid. Just thought I would mention that. And YES it was worth it, she is a dancer!

 

well, I haven't tried the resistor thing yet but I did decide to run the self diagnostic program, and wound up getting a code 53, which would indicate an overvoltage condition somewhere as my car has a fuel injection system on it. Any idea if VATS would be involved in setting that off if it was malfunctioning? Oh, and to give some more info, the security light comes on and then it just stays on during start up attempts.

 

Sounds like its not recognizing the key.

 

ttt,

my car is doing the exact same thing right now. I'm away at school and dont have time to look at it right now, but some ideas for when i go home would be great.

 

Well after spending a nice load of money and spending a bunch of time troubleshooting, it turned out the wires that lead to the ignition lock cylinder had the insulation worn down by the cylinder itself in the column and weren't making contact . Anyhoo, switched that part out and presto!!! it started.

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it.

Chris

 

ok, well lemme ask this........

were there any indication to this leading up to it. mine, for a long time now, every once in a while when i turned the key i would get nothin, try again and it would start. then all of a sudden it just got nothin and stayed like tha. it got progressively worse till it wouldnt start at all.

 

Nah there wasn't any forewarning in my case. The only thing it did beforehand was the starter solenoid (sp?) would keep the starter engaged for a split second after it had turned over. Other than that it just decided not to start one day after I had driven it back from school. Luckily it decided to die in my driveway and not at work across town, which was where I was headed.

 

well, when i got home i imediately tore down the column, and behold.....................broken wire going to the ignition tumbler.


my problem is though, with the heat shrink tubing over the fix, the wires are crammed in there so tight that it slightly binds the tunmbler from rotating, so now im gonna have to tear it back apart and figure something else out. But at least the ROC is back on the road for now.

Thanks for the help guys.