Hi,

I have been a member on TGO for a while but have yet to post anything about my current swap in my Camaro. I am swaping a 2000 5.3L truck engine into my car with a 1999 4L60E. I have been tackling the issue of the wiring for a few weeks now and I have run into a road block. I have been trying to get the motor to turn over by the ignition key and for some reason I am not getting power from the original 3rd gen ignition wire (big purple wire) to the starter. I have power going into the body from the fuse panel but it is not sending the signal out to the starter. I replaced the ignition switch and still nothing happens. I am getting pretty frustrated with this problem and I am looking for some help on what this issue could be from. Any help or guidence is greatly appriecated!

As a side note I am using the factory 2000 5.3 engine harness from the vehicle along with the factory truck fuse panel.

Thanks for the help!
Dan

 

i think i had 2 power wires running into my bulkhead connector, if i remember right. two heavy gauge red wires. check if you have all the 12v power wires from the bulkhead connector hooked up to power. if thats not it, then i think theres a vats relay that you can bypass. mine worked fine, i had cranking power right away, but if its shot or a different key/ignition cylinder, then it would not work. just find the relay and bypass it. there are threads here somewhere about that, just search around for "vats" or "passkey" or something and you'll find it.

 

Thanks for the info. I have the 2 main power (red) wires hooked up to the fuse panel on the ignition side, along with the thicker pink wire too, but that is hooked up on the bottom side of the fuse panel to the 12 volt + RUN/START fuse pin. I have been using the info off of this site to help with the wiring: http://www.lt1swap.com/wiringharness.htm.

I had the pcm flashed to remove the VATS so I dont think that the issue is with that but I could be wrong. Is there anything else within the computer that prevents it from starting besides the VATS? Also if I am using the original truck fuse box could the pcm be getting thrown off by the fact that I am trying to start it with the ignition switch from my car instead of the trucks? Im pretty sure I have all the correct wires hooked up but I may be missing something.

Thanks,
Dan

 

thats the vats off the new engine. the realy i am talking about would be the passkey system that was original to your thirdgen. it works with the little resistor chip embedded in your ignition key. if that resistance is not correct, there is a relay i think under the dash that will not allow current from the ignition switch to the starter relay in your driver side kick panel. problem is that its not really vats, its passkey, but its the older security system that doesn't get taken care of in your tune. if you changed the ignition switch cylinder, it might be your problem. look around in these threads, there a re a few descriptions. if its what i think it might be, you're looking for the passkey relay, and just bypass it.

 

I believe VATS started in '89, and if the OP's username indicates the year as '88, it won't have VATS/Pass-key (but then, there wasn't a Z28 in '88, either).

The start wire from the ignition switch is yellow, which goes to the park/neutral safety switch, and is purple from there to the starter. Start chasing power from the ignition switch (hope you have a volt or multi-meter).