I was just looking over ebay for a cluster, and happened to see a advertisement for a "stage 2" chip for a camaro with a tbi305. I have always wondered if these really work or not, and as I was reading the ad, it said they could also program other things into the chip at no extra charge, including the vats system.

I have been having problems with my vats system because the key is so worn, sometimes it wont start, and I have to wait the 4 mins(which is ALWAYS at a bad time it seems) and it will start.

I know that it will keep getting worse and worse until one day it won't start at all, so I would like to take care of it. I don't care if it works or not, there are special circumstances in my situation, and the car can't be stolen unless I am car jacked and in that case the vats wouldn't help me anyway.

So would ordering a new performance prom that was programmed to bypass the vats system work, or just cause problems? Seems to me that the vats would be affected by the prom, but what do I know?

Anyway, my questions are, do the "performance" chips really work, and can I disable the vats with a new prom. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

Yes, the VATS can be disabled in the prom chip and you can go that route. I don't know how well those chips work. Or you can just get a new key from the dealership for about $25.00 or get the resistance value from the chip in your key and order a new uncut key from this website and get it cut..

www.lockmasters.com

 

It's probably not the key but rather the key contacts in the ign cylinder. Trickster is correct, you can turn the vats on and off by editing the prom, depends on how well you like the car. Performance proms are generally a waste of money for TG's. Usually all you get is a slightly more aggressive timing curve and then you require premium fuel all the time otherwise the knock sensor will be constantly retarding the timing anyway because of detonation. Later GM cars the ECM or PCM controls shift points in the trans so editing the prom or reprogramming the PCM may make the changes you want, otherwise just leave it alone.

 

i'm also having problems with VATS. but i only need to wait about 2 minutes. i guess its different times on different cars. i already changed the lock cylinder once. cured the problem but now it does it again about 10% of the time. i'll prolly end up bypassing it before putting in another cylinder.

 

I just got done going through this problem (see major vats/gm security problem). The contacts on in the key cylinder can wear down causing a problem. The most common problem is the 2 wires coming from the key cylinder that read the chip. They can become broken so when you turn the key the circuit is broken that deactivated the vats system. I talked to the guys at the gm dealership and they agreed with that. To fix the problem you have to buy a new key cylinder for $60. Once you do that you also have to buy a new key for $30 that matches the key cylinder. Not cheap. However I found an easy way to bybass the whole system for about $4 and a little work. You can find this info by searching on Google. You can e-mail me and I'll explain it to you if you want. GeorgeD99@msn.com

 

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