Today I took my 92 in for an alignment and a rear wheel bearing and about a hour after I dropped it off the shop called me and told me the car would not start at all. The battery if fully charged, I have all interior, dash and exterior lights but when you try to turn the engine over there is nothing. The security light also stays on solid. no flashing. The guys at the shop jumped the starter and the engine turned over but did not fire. I did a bit of research and I see there are two wires that are knowing for breaking in the column. I also talked to a guy here in town that said for 150 bucks he can put in a resistor and bypass the vats all together. I would like to save the 150 bucks if possible and do it myself. I am hoping someone from here can give me the info I need to do it myself. I havent tore into a column on one of these cars so Im not sure how big of a job its going to be. I would just pay the 150 bucks but then I would need to pay yet ANOTHER tow bill .

So any help and info would be very much appreciated!

 

you can have your ECM tuned. to remove VATS.. but leaves you vulnerable.. for someone. to take your car.

I left this out.. if your ignition wire is disconnected..

DVMM set to Ohm's read your value. purchase that resister +/- 10% unplug your connector jump across the orange lead. with this resister. leading into your column. many times the wire wears out on the ignition lock. not allowing the VATS loop to close.

 

http://vats.likeabigdog.com/

 

You cannot bypass VATS at the key. That is only bypassing the key, not the VATS.

There are 2 parts to VATS. Starter and Fuel injectors.

you CAN bypass the starter enable relay. If it the VATS module that will not help. If its a legit VATS episode, only 5 minutes will help..

But
if VATS is mad or the module is failing, the injectors will not operate.

1st find out if the shop did something stupid like open the door from reaching inside when it was locked...that trips VATS,.
It was probably an isolated incident. Somebody did something and it did its job. Stopped the car from moving.

If it IS the failing module, buy a VATS bypass. $15 to take the module out and wire the bypass IN. Works everytime. You CANNOT just pull the module because the ECM wants to see a coded signal from the module telling it that some A$$hole did not hot wire the car and its ok to start,. so you MUST have the bypass unit installed to send that signal.

I like that option because....

you can use that when a shop has the car so they do not do stupid things...(a shop that did not understand the GM anti-theft system???? bubbas)

and when you get the car back you can stick the module back in for the full factory theft protection.

If your module is failing..rare but it happens...buy a new one. $100 new on FleaBay.

Bypassing the key. That just bypasses a bad key. VATS module is buried in the dash and the relay is under center display. Can't bypass that without the solid state circuit board and signal generator.

if the shop will STOP messing with things and put everything BACK as it WAS...and let it sit 5 minutes...it will start.
Really? a shop that had never seen a VATS car before? That system is on almost every GM car since 1990 in some form.

For $150 to install a $0.75 resistor...that dude was about to SCREW YOU HARD ! ! ! ! and as I said..thats NOT a VATS bypass....thats a KEY bypass.

Good luck

OK,
to see if its the key switch or what....test the switch like the Admiral said...

Find the 2 wire orange sleeve...unplug and stick the ohm meter in the KEY side of the wire harness..(2 wire) and turn the key to ON. Read the resistence.

Next...

read the resistence of the KEY itself, across the pellet in the key. The 2 should be the same. If it IS the same, your problem is in the relay OR the module or it was simply VATS was activated and not they have it all jacked up messing with things. Be sure they put it all back as it was or it will not test right or work right.If the key reading is different than the key in the switch..that tells you the switch or the wire is bad. There is something in the steering column that is at fault...install the $0.75 bypass in the orange wire..harness end, NOT the end that goes to the key switch. Other end of orange wires that go to the dash.

The theory is that the key completes a circuit more or less. You are testing to see if that is done. If the key does NOT complete that, the VATS will stop it all.

No prob at switch....
go to starter enable. Take green wire and jump it to ground. The relay just completes a ground to allow starter operation.
If that does not allow the starter to operate...
go to the module.The module has to be happy for the fuel injectors to operate. You can make it crank over but if its not letting the inj work...no go.

replace module or install bypass kit. (its not a resistor) its cheap but it takes a few days to get one...

 

The '92 has no VATS module it's CCM controlled. VATS and Fuel enable can be done in the PROM for the ECM but it's not something done locally as a rule! Don't even think about it!

For starters. Do you have a second key? If yes try it! If you don't take your key to a dealer or lock shop and have them "drop it" to get a resistance code. A key and a cut should be something near a $20 expense and it's the next least expensive approach. Is the car an AT or an M6?

The shop should likely be able to check the ignition lock cylinder for continuity from the base of the column, if there's no continuity then the next least expensive approach is buy a new lock cylinder and have it plugged into the connector under the dash and NOT installed in the column. Put the new key with the same resistance in that switch and use your old key to crank it from the column!

If it cranks now you can either tie the cylinder up under the dash or get it installed in the column. If the key and cylinder wasn't installed it should likely still be returnable to the parts shop by the tire guys if they're a good account.

This isn't exactly the way I'd approach the fix or diagnostics but it's reasonably easy, fast and maybe the least expensive.

To accomplish the above you only need to remove the hush panel under the column on the left side!

 

here is the link for the dual frequency bypass module....

It does both older (30hz decoder) and newer 50hz decoder signal for LT and LS cars. PK-I & II


updatde: the 92 with the prom/pass-key system uses a different bypass. this is easy.
LINK for the other by-pass module..little more money..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GM-VATS-PASS...81064956739%26

Follow the instructions in the package.
The real FUN FUN part is the Archeological dig you will do to find, ID and then access the VATS module.: Gotta find the right one.
I also have a link for a NEW decoder but you do not have that part in 92?

Once you locate the correct module, pull it, wire in this device and go. I installed a switch under the dash and at some pt will wire in the module with the bypass so I can switch to VATS or bypass as needed. I also included the starter enable relay bypass in a switch...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GM-VATS-or-P...c6e343&vxp=mtr

Not a bad price and it works !

I'll send the bill....its gonna run ya right about $149.95

seriously, you need to go smack that guy ! $150 to stick a resister in the column cable? Thats ballsy !

 

OP - Forget the by-pass just fix it! There's never issues about having to go behind yourself to attempt to recall what it was you did! It's quite likely that what I mentioned and suggested will allow you to "drive-off"! No tows - no cuts/splices - no second thoughts! Could it get worse? Maybe but unlikely - if the shop has patience the continuity check of the ignition cylinder will confirm my thoughts.

If everyone knows what they're doing and you have the second key or buy the second key is the resistance of the two could be compared at the connector near the column base. Everything is more straight forward than it seems.

 

THANKS GUYS!

I worked a long day today but I made a little time to go to radio shack and buy a bag of resistors. It turns out the orange coated pair of wires are really simple to get at right underneath the dash on the drivers side.

Before I started doing anything I checked the resistance on both keys and they matched. So then I unplugged the 2 wire plug for vats that is coated in orange under the dash and checked the resistance at the end of the wire coming OUT of the column with the Key ON and I had nothing., I am guessing that the guy who was working on the car got in and let the tilt column tip up hard and the brittle wires inside broke. So for a quick simple fix I matched up a few resistors to equal the amount of my key, cut the plug off the end of the orange wire from the column, spliced the resistors in, soldered and shrink wrapped them, and plugged it back into the original connector for the vats system. The car started right up and it cost me a whopping 10 bucks because I bought a big bag of resistors. Sure beats the 150+ towing bill or the 500 at GM.

To avoid my car getting stolen I am going to install an aftermarket alarm. Thanks for all the info and help gentleman!

 

That bypasses the key resistor....grounding the starter relay bypasses that part of vats and generating a signal for the ecm to fool it into firing the injectors solves that portion of it. I think your intrusion alarm that alerts with the horn is unaffected by these changes according to my research. Anyone feel free to correct me as i'm still learning here.

 

Get a FSM and followthe schematics before doing anything else.

 

Why would you NOT just correct the situation with a lock cylinder replacement and have it "FIXED". Your thoughts of an after-market alarm can surely lead to situations that aren't as easily solved and truthfully could lead to not so pleasant recovery. It seems you're a little more talented than you implied in your original post so you should likely be able to accomplish the "fix" yourself. Granted you'll have the expense of a cylinder and two keys but you'll have a fully functional OE system that "works"!

You did well and I believe after accompllishing your by-pass you can rationalize how simple my suggestion was in the first place. Think hard before considering anything other than an OE fix!

Good Luck!

 

Exactly !'

why not just fix the key cyl and have the most idiot prrof anti-theft system thats even been invented?

The only people that delete the VATS are the ones that cannot figure out the VATS...
You have done that and now "get it" or at least a portion of it and see the value of the system. NO aftermarket noise maker is going to do what VATS does...they just make noise and thieves have a hundred tricks to get around that. Nobody even looks up at car alarms anymore.

Just fix the key lock cylinder. Not a big deal.
It CAN be stolen now with that ign switch bypassed, so buy a new switch w/keys soon.

 

I thought about the aftermarket alarm but truth be told, were I live, I am not really concerned about someone stealing my car. And Even if it was stolen it is covered under full coverage insurance.

That being said, I probably will dig into the column and replace the lock cylinder in the future but there is no huge need. I thought of this as a cheap, easy and quick/painless fix to a simple issue. The vats system is a heck of a lot easier to understand with a bit of research than I initially thought. I plan on buying a good manual for all the complicated little things I am bound to run into with this car and I do apoligize for the seemingly moronic questions that could have easily been answered with a little time and patients. Unfortunately at the moment in time I didnt have alot of time since I was getting my car towed to either my home or a shop because it was dead at a shop that knew nothing about electrical on corvettes.

Anyway I do appreciate everyone's input and suggestions. It all helped alot!

 

I must have missed this WVZR-1. That is exactly what I should have done in the first place. It would have saved me 65 bucks.