Hi,

Last night my carkeys were stolen from the shop Thank G**, the engine is out of car, so I'm still an owner of GTA...

OK, the problem is changing the key pattern (sorry for my poor English) so the f... thief won't start the car in the future and won't even be able to turn the steering wheel. From mechanical point of view it doesn't sound like problem; just buy a blank key w. correct resistor, pull the ign. lock cylinder and go to key specialist. But I'd like to change key's VATS "value" too, just to make sure there's some kind of electronic protection except traditional key.

What I think to do:

- suppose I've VATS resistor number 9 (3.0 k)
- buy blank key no. 5 (1.12 k)
- put an in-line 2.88 k resistor into wiring

I know it's hard to buy 2.88 k resistors and it must be hi quality part to keep it's parameters stable.

So, if somebody would try original (no. 9) key, the total resistance 'll be to high and security light will not turn off.

What do you think about it? Am I right or missing sth.?

Thanks
Mike

 

Heh, you've got to be kidding? Your English is better than a lot of "Americans" here.

What you are thinking of doing sounds logical, since people use the "correct" resistor to bypass VATS all the time. So, by changing to a lower value key and adding the difference on the wiring you have effectivly disabled the car for any key except for the new "proper" value one.

 

When you buy the new lock cylinder insert it will come with new keys with the chip in them. No need to worry about changing the vats value since the original key won't fit into the lock cylinder.

The best way to solve your problem is just have the ignition cylinder re-keyed and get 2 new blank keys with the same resistance your original key has. You'll need to have at least one of your original vats keys to get the value from. Any locksmith can do this for you.

 

Thank you Do you know where can I buy the blank keys online? I know there're some on ebay, but want to check more places...

Merlin: It's reading these boards, what makes my English as it is...

 

not sure where to buy just the keys online, but do you have one of your original keys? You'll need to have the resistor value from it so you can order the right blank.

www.classicindustries.com sells the lock cylinder and 2 keys for about $50. You can do this instead of having the locksmith re-key your old cylinder since you have to take the whole thing apart either way.

 

Luckily I still have original spare key, so there's no problem with finding resistor's value. I think I'll buy this new cylinder instead of reworking old one; it's always a pleasure to put new parts in your car Thanks for the link!

Mike

 

Here is the part number at classic industries.
TK1005A
It's $44.95 and comes with 2 keys.

 

Lots of interesting stuff there, they ship internationally - I wish my grandfather's name was Rockefeller ;-)

 

When I changed my cylinder it came with 2 keys also but they are not vats, you can then take the keys to the dealer and they will copy the key and cut a duplicate on a Vat key.

 

So it's like VATS cylinder with two ordinary keys? This would became to expensiv; $50 for the cyl. and ~$25 for two blank VATS keys... I'll ask them by @ "what's included..."

 

That is exactly how mine came. No Vat keys. It would be to hard for the parts places to guess what resistor chip was in your key. And most people dont get the whole chip thing.