I was just out tuning the car in the driveway and the car goes from running fine to nothing turning on. The battery reads 12+ volts and all the grounds are attached. I didn't touch anything. I turned the car off and was going to crank it right back up and nothing. The lights don't even come on. The car has been running great for a while, when I was tuning too. All I did was turn the car off, no funny noises or anyting out of the ordinary. I am at a loss here for what it could be. This is my 89 Camaro.

 

NM, think its the VATS stystem going out.

 

what do you mean by tuning? spark plugs, etc or do you mean ECM tuning? we need more details, but you could be right on the VATS.

 

Just resetting the idle, TPS, and timing. I guess that tuning really isn't the right word to use. The car runs fine all of the sudden so I think that it the reason.

 

Check all of your conenctions on the starter. Your (+) cable goes to the solenoid, then out to all of the other electronics in the car via fusible links. If the nut is loose then you will have an intermittant connection causing no power problems. I wouldn't be surprised if it happens again because I can tell you it's not related to VATS. Even if the VATS was kicking in, you should have lights, since the Anti-Theft does not affect them.

 

If you do find a busted Fusable link best bet if you got the time and money, rewire the wires, buy a fuse junction and bolt it near the passenger strut, to get rid of those pesty inlines, up to ya.

 

Starter is connected. Where are all of the fuseable links? I only know of one that is by the battery.

 

I'm with 2.8boy... Sounds like you cooked a fusible link at the starter. Some of the V6 cars also have a distribution block on the radiator support where the battery cable meets the fusible links. My 84 had the links at the starter post so fragged there were only a few threads of copper connecting each one. After I'd been driving it for a few days, everything just died rolling out the driveway one night. 10 minutes later with some 12ga wire and solderless connectors and it was good to go again. Usually there's a reason for the failure, you'll want to diagnose the problem, since the links are just like fuses. Replacing them will only be a temporary fix since they only melt when there's a short. In my case the previous owner got them too close to the exhaust and they melted and shorted out.

 

I may have done something like that. The starter is new and I have put headers on the car since I have had it.