OK so i bought a 1989 firebird and it had no steering column in it. i put a steering column in it from a 86 trans am. i tried to start the car and found out that the 1989 had a pass key decoder module, the 86 that i pulled the column from did not and does not have the wiring for it. what are the steps i need to take to bypass this module? starting from number one. thanks. jordan hart

 

is the wiring there for it? it should be a two pin connector. I am not sure if a dealership can run a vin to tell u what the reisistance is for your car. but there is a limited amount of options. if u google search "vats resistances" im sure the chart would come up. or if you were going to get into prom chip burning u could just turn vats off and not have to worry about it at all

 

Here is a link to some VATS related information:

https://www.thirdgen.org/vats_passkey_system

 

ok im thinking of puting a resistor in but i dont know how to wire it in there, i have the purple/yellow and black/white wires running up the column but not the orange wire coming out due to it being an 86 steering column. i also cant find any good wireing diagrams of the passkey decoder module. it has a big yellow and green wire coming out of it and a small yellow and green wire. where do the small wires run to??? thanks for all your help
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ok, im thinking of putting a resistor in but i dont know how to wire it in there, i have the purple/yellow and black/white wires running up the column but not the orange wire coming out due to it being an 86 steering column. i also cant find any good wiring diagrams of the passkey decoder module. it has a big yellow and green wire coming out of it and a small yellow and green wire. where do the small wires run to??? thanks for all your help

 

You could also put in a VATS ignition cylinder into the 86 column. The lock cylinders are the same externally. The VATS wires run down the column alongside the rest of the harness. If you go this route, you can order the key/cylinder set to match the resistance code of your VATS box.

I know that a lot of people dislike VATS, but the system really did cut way down on theft. I personally wouldn't disable it, but it's your call.

 

VATS cylinder is not plug-n-play with earlier columns.

I tried installing a VATS cylinder in my '87 column. I had to dremel out a bunch of material to make room for the wire and get the cylinder to slip in. When I was done, the new cylinder stuck out an extra mm or two and it didn't operate very smoothly. I've since installed newer VATS column in my car. The turn signal switch and wiper switch need to be installed from the original column so the connectors mate and some material needs to removed from the collar of my non-air bag steering wheel. My old wheel intereferes with the new key cylinder collar.

 

I'm glad to have been corrected on this. I thought that both VATS and non-VATS cylinders fit GM columns the same. Sorry for unintentionally misleading anyone.