I have a 91 GTA Trans-Am with the 5.7v8 automatic. About a week ago my VATS system was by-passed by a mechanic and apparently he left a second lock cylinder (with a second key) under the dash to by-pass it and 3 days later my car "arked" in the steering column and caused a fire under the hood. Nothing severely damaged (that I know of), but just wondering could his work cause that to happen, not to mention about ten minutes before this happened i lost 3rd and 4th gear it would shift out of 2nd and just rev as if it were in neutral! If anybody could give me their opinion on this I would greatly appreciate it as I am now stuck and completly lost at what to do! I have a new in column lock cylinder and one under the dash now.. I have no pictures to post as he is coming to look at it tomorrow and dont want to "tamper" with anything and chance screwing myself over. but perhaps after i may be able to post a few. Oh yes and i believe my body control module blew apart too.. like the plastic around it is messed up i think thats what it is, the piece im talking about is on the driver side under the hood with a plug going into it towards the left of the Fuel and fan relays. I hope my info given helps! Thank you in advance!

 

hmm I don't believe there is such a thing as body control module, there's an ignition control module which sits under the distributor on stock setups if I'm not mistake, sorry to hear about the fire, hopefully no major damage

 

I think I posted the picture right lol i circled the thing that blew out not my engine just found the pic online (was raining outside didnt want to get phone wet)

 

Thats your windshield wiper motor.

 

Why the hell would that blow out?! lol thank you for the insight though I greatly appreciate it! The main reason i bought this car is because when i was younger my mom had one and it was the most reliable car we ever had, we bought ours with 100000 miles and sold it at 364000 miles and all we ever did besides basic maitenence was replace a starter and an alternator and an exhaust. This one sat for a couple years so i can understand the little things i have to work out! Hopefully this happened from the mechanics work so I can have that stuff replaced and fixed! I love this car I refuse to give up on it!

 

First off, I don't think you mechanic knows how to bypass the key for the vats properly. Adding a second lock cylinder under the dash and losing a key is not the right way to do it. With your wiper motor melting down on you, anything is possible. Could be just a coincidence since your mechanic bypassed your key for the vats. Since the keys vats wires are located on the steering column running with a group of wires that include the wires for the wipers, its possible that he pinched some wires causing a short. Don't have the wiring diagram in front of me to see what powers and/or grounds are being sent to the wiper motor from the wiper switch to cause your meltdown so I'm not forsure on this.

 

I think it would have been cheaper with less hassle if you would have gotten an aftermarket chip with the Vats programmed out. You could have also gotten a little more preformance in the chip also. http://tbichips.com/default.htm

 

Measuring resistance of pellet in key, free (just ask someone with a multimeter).
Buying the assortment of resistors from Radioshack (or even online), < $5.
Cutting wires to ignition cylinder and adding resistors, free (unless you don't own scissors).
I'm not sure how a chip can be less expensive than that.

 

And How much do you suppose the OP has invested so far? And there would be no cutting or splicing of anything. Now don't run to the computer with the scissors in your hand.

 

Thank you for all of the insight i greatly appreciate it. The only reason i had the mechanic do the work is because i did not have certain tool i though i would have needed to do the job nor the proper knowledge. The mechanic was supposed to come check the car out yesterday and supposedly forgot so i gave him the benifit of the doubt he is supposed to come look tomorrow.. i did some looking of my own at the car and found the one of my spark plug wires was not fully connected and i was standing right there as he tested that same plug wire for spark. could him not connecting the wire fully and over 3 days of driving have caused the ark of the plug wire to cause a fire. perhaps gas vapors were coming through that plug for not firing fully? i think that is what caused the fire and maybe the vapor igniting could have come through my dash? as of right now i have written a statement and have found facts to back my findings. I do not want to completely sue this mechanic i just want my car and the damage fixed!

 

You made your point as the chip for the starting fix. I simply stated adding < $5 worth of resistors is easily cheaper. I don't recall what was spent by the op as part of what you or I stated.

 

I was simply stating also. But it seems with the cost of a mechanic per hour and another key lock, and the fact it's spliced and under the dash, he maybe would have made out better and gotten a little more preformance out of a chip. Who wouldn't want more power? Also, i have delt with Brian, and he is pretty reasonable and works with his customers. Why cut and hack wiring if you don't need to. And to Bonnessei315, I hope the mechanic does right by you.

 

Sorry about your Bird. Check out this link below:

http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/pr...hs_--yQ.mailto

 

There cheaper than that but it much better to just reprogram it out not difficult at all.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GM-VATS-or-PASSkey-II-Bypass-Module-For-LS1-and-LT1-/281064956739?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4170c6e343&vxp=mtr

 

Can anybody tell me what this yellow wire connects to? I must have knocked it off while checking to see what damage happened... and what would happen if it wasnt connected.

 

That's some sort of bad fix, look between the number 1 and 3 cylinder for the coolant temperature sensor. If that's not it look at the original wire color and post what that is , if it was a dark green it was the coolant temp sensor.

 

I don't see how messing with the VATS or a loose plug wire could cause any damage to the wiper motor.

From the looks of it, your car may have several 'fixes' to the wiring over the years though.

 

I would find a new mechanic, obviously doesn't know what he is doing with the vats system, and is "forgetful" I would never let a "professional" do a shade tree repair on any of my cars.

FWIW the wiring for the vats wiring or whatever he messed with could have arc'd in the column and shorted the wiper arm/motor/washer wiring causing the problem with the wiper motor(or washer pump) under the hood.

 

 

Well I called a lawyer and my friend who is a mechanic and hop owner of 20 years is looking at it and because of it being consumer fraud (no written estimate or reciept so he didn't have to charge tax) I can expect at least 3 times what the damage is back

 

VATS bypass requires no cutting of any wires. Just the correct resistor & a piece of black electrical tape to hold the resistor in.

I bet even a Radio Shack would be happy to ohm your key for you, so you wouldn't even have to own, borrow or buy a meter.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/post...8-post120.html

 

Does the mechanic that did the work have a business?

 

any update?

 

Yes he has a business township auto repair in turnersville nj and its gettin fixed now but still have to go through court to get the money for the damages

 

Ok so here is a slight update on my situation. My mechanic (new one) family friend, has the car and the injectors werent installed properly causing the fuel leak.. which in case the arcking spark plug wire made it go "BOOM" so he installed them correctly and fixed the problem well now it has a very fast tap/knock. i will upload a video as soon as i pick the car up tomorrow and tinker for a little bit to see if i can resolve the problem myself.

 

Any update?

 

Yes. forgive me for the lapse in time, I've been busting my *** at work haha! It wasn't a knock the plastic flywheel dust shield was hitting the flywheel causing the fast tap/knock I had earlier described. As of right now my baby is sitting at the transmission shop all finished just have to come up with another like 1200 to get her out! I cant wait either because I dearly miss my baby.