91_RS_Vert

ok here we go.
i have a 90 rs camaro 305 and i recently was helping my buddy move and left my keys on the bumper of the truck and to my disgust i cannot find them NEWHERE i have retraced my steps and even rode a bike down the streets we drove on to find them. no luck.

I contacted a local dealership over the phone and gave them my vin number ready to shell out cash for a new door lock and ignition key, they typed in my vin number and got the codes for my door locks so i was able to obtain a new key. they even gave it to me for free. Heres where the bad starts, they said that the codes were not coming up for a vats key for the 90 year. i also contacted four other dealerships in the area and they all said the same thing everyone was very helpful but no codes. so therefore i ruled out the factor of a lazy stealership.

i am a somewhat experienced person with camaros and wiring and am not scared to bypass the vats i have owned three of these cars and wiring does not scare me nemore. alas, i do need some help here.

i have no key to measure the resistance from only the car itself?
i also have a 91 rs convertible that i managed to find all my extra keys for. that key from the 91 will go into the 90s ignition and make that god awful third gen rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sound but not go forward at all.
basically i am aware of how to bypass the vats if you have the key to measure from but im a little confused how to go about doing it if you dont have one. i have a multimeter and i know im gonna need some resistors.

if neone that has experience doing this job coulod maybe give me a step by step on my most cost effective, quickest best way to get this problem solved i would be very very very grateful. sorry for the long post but wanted to give every detail so i can get this problem resolved. please help me lol.

-travis

camaronewbie

Only way to do it, is to get each of the 15 resistors listed, and try them one at a time. Of course you'll have to get a new lock cylinder first, and install it first, before you can do anything.

There is a 5 minute delay every time the VATS module gets a bad resistor, so you'll have to test, change resistor, wait five, try again.

You'll need a steering wheel puller (free rental at autozone/advance) to get the steering wheel off. You'll need to follow procedure to disarm airbag, get the wheel off, and carefully get the lock cylinder replaced. Then take the plastic blank that comes with the new key cylinder and have a regular old key cut.

Then follow the VATS bypass article and try each resistor one at a time waiting 5 inbetween until you get the right resistor value.

Then you have an option - either leave the VATS bypassed and use the regular key you have, or get new VATS keys made (since you now know the value of the resistor) and reconnect the VATS wires as they should be. NOTE that you need to decide up front, so you can get a VATS key cylinder is you are going to reinstall the VATS, or not if you are going to leave it bypassed - the lock itself will be different as a VATS cylinder has the contacts and wires for the VATS key.

There may be one other option - I think they make a VATS bypass unit for about $60 - but I've never used one, and read on here some have success and some don't.

Either way, you're going to have to get a new lock cylinder and install if the dealer couldn't get you a key that turns the lock cylinder. If they can get you a key made that will turn it, then all you need is to test until you get the right resistor for the VATS, and skip replacing the cylinder.

91_RS_Vert

ok update

as you said i had a mechanical key made that turns the ignition but its just a regular old key. i just ordered all the resistors from digikey.com with all the correct resistor values. thanks to another members post, ill be trying each resistor till one works and just go have a vats key made for my car so ill be all straightened out. question tho. before i lost my keys sometimes the car would start with the key and sometimes it wouldnt. it usually wouldnt, i have a push button in the car i would use when the key didnt work. if i bypass the vats and just leave it bypassed do you think the ignition will fire it up every time? i know this is just some guess work and you dont know what exactly caused it to do that neither do I. but any opinions?

camaronewbie

Once you get the correct resistor (whether using a correct VATS key or by bypassing the VATS with the correct resistor, try going through the starter circuit:

http://www.austinthirdgen.org/index.php?pid=38

J3A8K3E

I have the exact same problem as 91_rs_vert. I lost my keys, and got the same story from the dealership. They can't give me the vats code for my key. So i need to figure out which of the 15 resistors i need. I've heard there are two yellow wires coming off the ignition. Is it by putting a resistor in between those two wires I can figure out which one i need for my car? Am I understanding this correctly? I had a locksmith quote me 125 to come out and do the test for me..

camaronewbie

The wires are not yellow - they are usually white and wrapped in a orange or black wrap - read the circuit description paragraph here:

https://www.thirdgen.org/vats_passkey_system

That article and https://www.thirdgen.org/vats will explain it all for you.

When testing each resistor, you have to wait 5 minutes after each failed test for the system to reset.

henryd3

iTrader: (128)

You can't measure the wires anywhere and find out the value of the resistor you need. It's just a trial and error process. When you find the right one it will start, providing you now have a way to turn the ignition lock cylinder. He probably quoted you just for the testing and not the cylinder replacement as well and parts. If you are considering using him make sure you get a quote for all the way to running with a correct key. He could be talking about doing it so you can keep the Vats working and just need a new key though.

J3A8K3E

So here's an interesting story on this whole vats subject. If your vehicle is a 91 or older.. (pretty much all of us) don't lose your keys, because gm can not make your key.(Once you can prove you own the car they will send Gm a form that will come back blank on the vats category) They can tell you the key cut, for the doors, latch and ignition, but they can not give you the right value for the vats system.
So as you know if you've done any research at all, gm has their fifteen different resistors, they've placed in our keys. To get a locksmith to figure out that value, will cost you around 150 bucks. The first locksmith i called quoted me 350, the cheapest quote i got was 125. So i wasn't way into that. There is a kit of the fifteen different resistors you can use that sells for 3.99, i believe that was earlier in this post. So here's what i did, if you crawl under your dash, drivers side, in that comfortable, seat in your back neck cramping position we've all been at least once, you will see coming out of the back side of the steering column a bunch of wires, the ones you're looking for are in an orange casing. Two white wires in an orange casing. Which go into a connector which comes out on the other side of the connector as a purple wire with a white stripe and a white wire with a black stripe. Disconnect the connector, and snip one side of it off with enough wire still to strip and hook the connector back up. then on the purple and white wire side strip back a good half inch to inch of wire.
If you have thought ahead and went and ordered the set of the 15 different resistor possibilities, good for you, I went to frys electronics and bought about 5 packs of resistors (2x 10ohm, 120 ohm, 560ohm 3.3k ohm), at a dollar a piece. plus some coke. so all in all i spent 10 bucks. so with those packs we knew we could mix and match and make the different combination using an electronic fluke brand voltmeter.(unless you buy really nice resisters plan on testing your addition with the voltmeter cause they can be up to 20% off changing your outcome ...alot)
so for example.
We linked 5- 560 ohm resistors equaling 2800 ohms and added 2- 120's. The total equals 3040, and one of the values on the list of 15 is 3010, (the total ohms needs to be within 5% of the value you're after. ex. 3010 * 0.05 = 150.5, so, you need to be +/- 150 of 3010) 3010 happens to be number 9 on the list and also happens to be the 15th one we tried... I guess I wasn't meant for the lottery.
Since I had the key code from gm I just had them cut me a key 25$, and took a single guess knowing i had a 1 in 15 chance that I could be right, it wasn't,.. Using that key that they made, I could now turn my ignition. Everyone knows the whole wait 5 minutes between tries spill, just do it.
Now I know which vats code my car uses, I can wire my connectors back together and go to gm and get the right key... Or i can just cover the resistors in electrical tape and tuck them back into the dash with all the other shoddy wiring that is present in the beast.. That was my story, hope someone will have a little more confidence to save themselves $$$.

camaronewbie

Now that you know the right value...

1) WRITE IT DOWN
2) You can go to any ACE hardware and they can make a key for $25 - no need to wait on GM - they'll do it on the spot!
3) Get a spare made, and buy the little key ring with the plastic covered paper you can write on - write the resistor value on the key ring, and stick it in your underwear drawer (guaranteed no one will EVER go in there to get it! )

tom3

And the VATs system also should shut down the injectors so if you rig up a starter circuit it still shouldn't run. You can buy a new module that has no value preset in it and use a standard key. Or look on EBay for a VATs bypass circuit that is made to send the square wave grounding signal to the ECM and eliminate the whole deal. Not sure how good this works, but it should work.

camaronewbie

Wiring in the resistors like he has will work fine - it provides the value to the VATS module and satifies it for ignition circuit and injection circuit.

At this point he can leave it wired in thus bypassing VATS, or get a new VATS key made and retain the VATS.