I have a 1992 Z/28 5.7 sitting in the driveway, dead at the moment. I thought it might be the starter, and once i took it off, tested it against 12v, it was seized. SO, that being the case, replaced it, turned the key, and still won't start. Fuel pump is fine, so checked the ECU. It's giving me the code for VATS. I checked all the fuses as well, nothing was blown.

I am pretty much stuck at this point. I don't know enough about the interaction w/ VATS, the ECU, and the key turning the car over to continue.

Any ideas or suggestions would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

If the security light stays on.. verifying that your vats is armed..
I would replace the key when the resistor chip in the center of the key gets worn down on one side it stops making contact and arms the vats so your car cant be started for 3 whole minutes.. My key has been replaced on several seperate occassions with the same results.

 

I really don't feel like going to GM and getting a new key. Are there any better ways to bypass VATS and start ignition?

 

hate to say this but time for new lock cylinder and new keys.vats wire broken off cylinder on one side.

 

I went to ace hard ware and got mine for 15 bucks..
you can get a volt meter and check the resistance from each side of the key then sauder one in after you chase the wires out of your coloumn.
or get a chip burned to by pass the vats .

 

I've also found keys on eBay for short dough. Not sure how much I would trust them but its an option. Just have to make sure you purchase the correct key for your car. Any good locksmith or hardware shop stocks them now. I'd stay away from the dealer as they charge big bucks!

Just out of curiosity I would assume that out of the 14 or 15 VATS keys GM made they would have different resistances. Does anyone feel it is coincidental that we have two cars in the house that both chips are 4.7k ohm?

Just curious what other people are measuring for a resistance across their chips. Maybe there is more to that chip than I anticipated.

 

There are 10 different resistances 1 through 10 k...
I would only use the dealer as a last resort.

 

I've never had any VATS problems, so I've never had to find out exactly how the system works. However, shouldn't you be able to start the car if you supplied current at whatever line the ecm is expecting the VATS signal from?

I guess that the easiest fix is to get a chip without VATS.

 

The vats signal is a signal of resistance that is sent across the key to the ecm . If the signal is off its value or not jumpered simply because your key gets worn down and doesnt make contact the ecm triggers the vats security feature wich makes it impossible to start for 3 minutes .
When you burn you own chip you are in most cases given an option to have the vats option turned off or on.

 

Isn't there a module of some kind that is responsible for determining what the correct resistance in the chip is, and if it matches, then sending a signal to the ecm? That was my understanding.