This is the long awaited Vats Elimination writeup that I said I was going to put together.
I spent a good 10+ hours putting this together today and I hope this will be useful to everyone once it is 100% complete.

I need a few technical gurus to look this over to make sure everything looks as correct as possible.

I have not seen any indepth writeup on eliminating VATS anywhere, so I gathered what I found, plus all the advice I was given on the forums here and created something to share with everyone.

What I am looking for is any technical corrections, or things that could be made more clear.

It looks boring right now, but all I am concerned about is getting the technical aspects correct right now so this can be as accurate as possible.

One thing I was not clear on was the whole vats/ecm signal for the fuel injection. I am not too clear if this MUST be done or not if the starter enable relay is removed, or if that signal comes from somewhere else altogether.

My objective here is to make a crystal clear How To document that we can point people to for help on this subject. My goal is to make even the most untechnical people understand how they can bypass their VATS if they want to.

For pin numbers and color codes, I used the All Data Pro dvds that I have for looking up most of this stuff, along with some of the advice I was given on the forum here.

All the photos are mine (except for the stuff in RedRose's Vats Sim Chip writeup). If something could be more clear, let me know and I can try to take another pic. I still need to get under my dash to get a pic of my ECM harness and my steering column to show what goes where, and also how my ignition switch bypass looks.

The Vats Sim schematic was hand drawn by RedRose. I have redrawn it using Visio. It has already been corrected eariler this week and has his seal of approval that everything is accurate on it.

Anyway, have at it.

All constructive critism, corrections, etc are welcome...

...and as I said eariler, I will make it look pretty later once all the content is accurate.

http://www.joestradingpost.com/vats/

 

I tried to do what you are doing now. Search on my name and you will find alot of info I think you can use. I will review your write-up and will make some suggestions.

 

Beautiful work, Joe.

I know that I'm going to have to face this on my 1990. Just a matter of time.

 

I'll take a look at that this weekend, thanks

If you remember to when it comes time, let me know what info you find for the 90/91 cars since they are completely different from the previous years.

 

That is some real nice work. My 91 was making me sick. Every time I wanted to go on a cruise it would not start. Then you never stop anywhere just didnt know if it would start. Buy that 25.00 s.o.s. and bypass that s.o.b. Works great and now I go anytime I want. Best thing I did all summer.

 

Hey Joe, GREAT WORK!

BTW, my wire colors for the starter enable relay were the same as pictured, (87 Corvette).

Imtrumpeter

 

Nice piece of work and I'm sure many will appreciate your sharing it.

 

Next post will be how to epoxy a flashlight to your hood when your headlight stops working.
Instead of getting more and more angry when a faulty VATS prevents you from starting your car again and again, FIX IT! I did the FIRST time it prevented me from starting and I have had no trouble for more than six years now and I drive my 87 every day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND, my 87 Corvette will not be stolen like 99% of stolen cars are acquired, they are stolen by bashing the column and jumping the ignition. When you bypass VATS, you open yourself up for an easy steal !!!!

 

VERY nice write up Joe I got rid of that POS 6 years ago and went with an after market keyless entry etc.etc. with a ton of options..even remote start and remote windows... which I didn't use.

 

I've actually got an aftermarket system I had 1/2 disconnected a while back when VATS was kicking me hard. Now that it's all gone, I'm going to get it all hooked back up again.

I miss the keyless entry and the siren/horns going off when cats got near it hehe.




Thanks for all the comments guys. I am still looking for any constructive criticism you guys may have on the write up. Once it's all as accurate as can be, I will spend the time to make it look nice and much easier to read. Also, if anyone has an pictures to contribute please post them up or PM them to me (make sure to let me know what I am looking at)

 

So tell us how you fixed your VATS six years ago? You did not give any have any write up on how to fix this issue and only saying to fix it right. Do you know that GM does not make replacement part for our cars anymore

 

You must be very new on C4 tek because I have written over 300 times the method to diagnose VATS and how to repair it. Use the search function and prove it to yourself!

 

I think you must be the only person that likes VATS.

ok so I did some searching in the archives and then gave up after about 5 topics in a row where you describe how to bypass it, but not a single bit of advice on how to permanently fix it. What you have given is good information on how to disable it to get the car started, but then you preach about how your car will get stolen 99% of the time, adn that vats should never be bypassed, and then you leave it at that. I don't see all these posts you have describing what parts to get, how to tear the steering column apart to replace the lock, where you can buy a new start enable relay, etc.

its just easier and cheaper to bypass it. I can't recall the last time someone on the CF had their C4 stolen anyway.


http://www.auto-theft.info/Statistics.htm
http://autos.msn.com/advice/article....T1=3491Charlie
It doesn't look like anyone gives a crap about stealing C4's. They all just want Hondas.

 

So I have been looking at replacement parts just to see if they were available or not.

Ecklers:
Corvette Ignition Lock, VATS, WIth Automatic Transmission, With Key, 1986-1996 - $45 (Ecklers) (Requires a new VATS key to be cut)
new blank key $15ea x 2 = $30

Mid America:
1986-89 Relay, anti theft and door lock $15
This LOOKS like the same relay that is the Start Enable Relay, but doesn't specify if it is or not.

One reason you can't find anything is because everyone calls it something different. I found all the part numbers with All Data Pro's OEM part number listing for the billing estimator. Here is what I found if you actually want to replace this junkm but of course they call it different things that we do, so i don't even know if these are the needed parts or not. And does anyone know what would actually be needed to fix some of this stuff?

I will include this in my write up as well in case someone wants to replace it. I will see if I can dig up a schematic on how to replace the lock too for those that need to do so if they don't want to bypass the lock.

All parts for 1989, might get other years later if anyone cares.
GM Parts Direct:

Start Enable Relay: GM PART # 14093107 $12

Alarm Module parts:
Key Decoder GM PART # 16135270 $138
Circuit Interrupt GM PART # 16158276 $80
Body Multifunction Computer Connector/Module GM PART # 16146688 $120
Ignition Switch GM PART # 1990116 $13

So if your lock quits reading the key...WHAT needs to be replaced? the key decoder? the whole lock? what exactly?

Bypassing it is just so much cheaper and easier, with the benefit of never worrying about being stranded again.

 

Bypass the VATS... It's easy and painless. JFB always points out that thefts can happen, he has pointed this out countless times. What I have always pointed out is how does a thief know if the VATS is bypassed unless they break into the car and try to steal it to begin with? My cars insured. I'd much rather them steal the whole car than smashing the column.. Heck, both will cost me $500 dedectable...
Although I don't agree with JFB, I still appreciate his views... I say bypass it and enjoy your car....

 

I wanted to fix the VATS issue in my car and still use the function. But to buy a VATS module for $400+ and it could break again where I can put in an after market alarm with remote start for about the same amount. When the after market gone south, I can put in another, newer, better model as oppose to the out dated VATS. I don't want to step on any body toes, I just want to have the best, least expensive, safe method to fix my car.

 

I too fixed my VATS by replacing the lock cylinder. the 2 little wires broke at the cylider.
what is the big deal???? $40 and a new key.
no punk kid can steal my car now, only someone with a tow truck.

and I don't need some annoying aftermarket alarm that hacks into the factory wiring.

 

Punk kids don't steal C4's.
you have an LT4 car with keyless entry right? None of us L98 guys do. With an aftermarket alarm, we get keyless entry added

 

Punk kids would rather have a Civic

 

That's the most common failure. Not that I'm against deleting VATS, its just that its a pretty dependable system. There are hundreds of thousands of vehicles that have this system and they all seem to work for long periods of time without fail. The worst part of the system is when it fails you have to take it to someone like us who have the VATS interagator to have it properly diagnosed.
I think aftermarket alarms are much more of a PITA
Sorry for the hijack, and BTW nice job on the compilation of info in that particular thread.