sorry I did not take a pic of it but its on my 91Z and its a thin purple and purple/white under the drivers side panel. this wire is attached to a piece of wire that looks like a fuseable link but is not a fuse in fact you cant even open it.

and Also whats the Orange and white wire that runs down the steerin column. this one is not connected.

If you guys are confussed on what im talking about whats connected to the white/purple wires let me know and I will take a pic of it.

I've been having problems starting the car sometimes it turns over and sometimes it seems like its Completely DEAD!! The key is a copper colorish key with NO VATS on it ... the previous owner said they by passed the vats and you had to turn the key foward till the check engine light goes off then turn it on BUT that is not true ..I've turned it on really fast before.

suxs when you have to try and figure out why did they cut this wire and why did they do this and that.




updated photo now !
heres the purple/white purple and the orange sleeve wire with 2 thin white wires inbetween. What are these for ??

 

Its a little hard to decipher this without pictures. Altough, I do believe the Orange/White wires are from the ignition switch (Please correct me if I'm Wrong)

 

ok , I'll take pictures of them tomorrow so please check back ..

 

Updated it , now just responding so it can get bumped back up to the top hopefully for the last time.

 

I think it's wires for the VATS (Vehicle Anti-Theft System). It looks like it already has been defeated with a some kind of device. It could have been defeated with a single resistor as well. Unplug it and I bet your car won't start.

You could also try plugging it back to the half in the steering column but if your in ignition has been change or your key is incorrect if still won't start.

 

maybe im tired but that thing looks an awefully lot like the light that illuminates the heater/radio controls. look under the center air vents to see if there is a small cut out hole. If there is that very may well be it. Not sure how they work though, so that ones on you to figure out. I have one to put in but havent gotten to it yet. not sure about your starting problems as I've never had VATS, sounds like you may to dig up some electrical charts and see what was cut where and whatnot.

 

I'm pretty sure that's the VATS connector.

VATS was installed on all Camaros and Firebirds starting in 1985. So you must have it or at least had it at some point. Maybe it's worked OK, if so you wouldn't necessarily know about it.

 

Yup, definitely VATS wires.
That black "thingy" is a home-made bypass.
I'll bet you your car that if you unplug this, the car won't start.
These two connectors used to be connected at one point. Then the ignition cylinder developed some contact trouble and instead of replacing it, the PO just bypassed it.

Anyway, you have two choices:
1) leave it alone, be happy that it works and enjoy the safe feeling that any 5-y/o can start your car with a screwdriver.
2) replace the ignition cylinder ($35?) and get a VATS key for it ($15?) to restore the original VATS functionality.

Hope this helps.
Lou

 

ok well after looking at my light, it is not that I dont think, I'm not sure if VATS was standard in 1985, if i remember correctly VATS was not installed into these cars until 89,90,or 91, i cant remember, i may be wrong, but again i reiterate the fact that ive never owned a VATS car

 

Check out this link:
https://www.thirdgen.org/vats_passkey_system

it is has a wiring diagram, and states that:

* -VATS FUSE IN CONVENIENCE CENTER ON '85-'89 CARS,
IN MAIN FUSE PANEL ON '90-'92 CARS

 

There is another choice, my favorite:
3) Disable VATS in PROM, and get a paging Car Alarm. My alarm sounds a siren,
beeps my remote on my key ring, and disables the ignition.

When I had the VATS working, I had problems with it recognizing the several times.
I replaced the ignition and it was fine for a few months and I had problems again.
I'm no fan of VATS, but that's just me.

 

The other day i disconnected it and it still turned over several times, about 5 times. Then it was dead!! waited about 20 mins,then it cracked over. Im confussed, I've always had problems with this car and I love this convertible, the wifey doesn't even wanna go for a ride with me because its a 1 in 4 chance it will start.

Whats weird is when i connect the battery charger it turns over ever time and the battery is good "optima battery". a mechanic told me there is a bad ground somewhere ????

thanks for your input and time guys

 

With the VATS bypass disconnected, the engine will crank but not fire. Once you reconnect the bypass, it should fire up immediately.

Is that what you're seeing?

Lou

 

Hey Lou... hey it cranked but I've been meaning to change the plugs because they are Foul so right now it does not start, for some reason my plugs have been getting BLACK bad !! Its hard to troubleshoot a car when your by yourself.

I think my ignition is also loose because when its in the ON position there is some play .. my fans use to come on when the key was all the way foward or while the car was ON but if you moved the key backwards a bit "because it had some play" the fans would go out and my windows would not go down ... when I noticed my windows would not work, I knew the key moved backwards a bit.

If you know alot about wiring Lou... I have a question with my relays for the fans ... the previous owner spliced a wire on 2 of the relays on the drivers sided firewall and attached a wire to both of them and grounded them out.....So when you turn on the car both fans would turn on. Would that have a reason WHY my car plays "Dead" every now and then.??

 

Define "play dead".

Normally, the fan circuit should NOT affect ignition or engine in general. Many people simply ground the relays to keep the fans running at all times just because: A) they don't realize they have a cooling system problem and their car overheats a lot; B) they believe that they will gain power from it; C) their fan circuit is malfunctioning and they're too lazy to fix it. So don't feel bad if you found extra 20 miles of wire in your car, most of us did.

If you want, you can remove the extra grounds from the relays when you have some time and see what's wrong with the fan circuit. The primary fan should kick in at approx. 235+F. The secondary fan won't kick in until a VERY high temperature, like 245 (can't recall the exact number). Also, both fans should turn on with the A/C.

Hope this helps.
Lou

 

Play dead for means / turn key and nothing happens.. zip / nothing / nada. no crack nothing. I wait awhile and try it again .. sometimes Nothing... come back 15-20 mins later ..... waaalaaaa what a miricale it cranked / started. I have a feeling its something with the VATS or a bad ignition switch because it has some play in it..... like i said previously , sometimes i cant roll down my electric windows and I jiggle the key and presto they work now ... Weird !!

 

If you have a problem even with electric windows, I'd look into the ignition switch, it might be out of adjustment or simply going bad.

Lou

 

10-4 Lou . Where can I buy one .. the one I have I guess is the Original because it has that Orange wire for the Vats but I had a key made awhile back with my vin # at the Dealer and it was the wrong key so somewhere down the line it had been changed. The Key I have for the car is the same length as a key with the Vats but it is just a Copper type key with NO vats on it, and thats the one I have been using since I purchased this poor 91 Z Convert from the last Hack.

 

If your VATS was working correctly and someone tried to start it with an incorrect key or the correct key was being misread because of bad contacts, it would fail to crank. You would need to wait 3-5 minutes for the VATS to reset before you could try again. I promise that's the truth.

I've gone through this before. I had my auto electric guy install a new ignition switch. I eventually wired in a resistor because I got tired of this problem. I also had an aftermarket alarm installed that disabled the ignition if someone would try and steal it.