Dropped my car at Meineke today so they could change my motor mounts. Well they said they couldn't do because they can't reach the top bolts.

Well I went to leave and the car started but there was a second delay after the key was turned. Didn't think much of it. It did this 2 more times, now it will not even attempt to start.

The fuel pump will not even prime. The check engine light is NOT on but I still pulled code 53, charging system low. This is a new code, because I recently cleared ecm due to code 43.

The gauges, lights and everything else was all fine before and after I went to Meineke. Could this be a coincidence it happened today, or some retard mechanic touched my car?

Thanks for any input.

 

Also, I tried my second key. I cleared the trouble codes, but 53 came back after trying to start. The security light stays on when key is turned all the way.

 

Is this the VATS relay? It is next to the fan relay on the drivers side firewall. The wires are bare and were touching. This is the problem if that is the vats relay.

 

No one?

 

I though tthe two relays there were 1) fan, and 2) fuel pump. So if it's not the fan relay, might be the fuel pump relay.

This is exactly why no one works on my cars but me!

 

I thought the VATS relay was inside the car around the kick panel. Or at least one of them is there. I recently had a run in with VATS myself. No fun.

 

Yes it is in the panel. That is the fuel pump relay. I find it fishy that the wiring for fuel pump relay is all screwed at the same time vats is not working. I hope the shorting of the wires didn't cause bigger problems. Well the adventure begins.......

 

Could be they possibly removed the motor mount bolts to raise up the one side or entire motor to get at the mount bolt heads
on the block the motor/dist. chafed against or pulled out the relay wires!

A muffler shop ain't the place for that kind of work.

 

They didn't even do that because they looked at it first supposedly. I only went there because my friend knows the owner. I do my own work on the car except I had trouble trying to get the bolts on the bottom side.

Anyway, I got another fuel pump relay and harness from a junkyard. I also put a couple resistors in the 2 white wire going to the vats modual. Everything seems fine, starts right up and runs.

My question now is, will code 53 go away eventually? It is still present and the check engine light is not on.

Just for piece of mind I tested the batt voltage.... about 12.5V car off, about 14.5V car on. Everythings good.

 

the insulation on the wiring pulling away from those old style connectors is very common.
back before GM discontinued using them and switched to the weather pack
connectors and relays, i replaced them all the time.
im not certain, but i believe you can still get the new relays with a new pigtail connector from the dealer.

code 53 shows to be for the VATS on your car.

 

If you've fixed the problem, the code will eventually be cleared out of the ecm after the car has been started and shut off a bunch of times, can't remember how many start/stop cycles it takes. However if you want to get rid of the code right now, just disconnect the positive battery cable for a couple of minutes, then hook it back up. Disconnecting the positive battery cable will clear all the codes from the ecm. After clearing the codes it'll only come back again if the problem still exists.