car won't start!
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 655
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From: San Diego California
car won't start!
tried starting he car this morning and it wouldn't start. i know the battery and starter are good. i turned the key and nothing happened. no click of the starter or drop in voltage. I'm pretty sure it was the stock alarm system sutting me down, but i never arm the thing. i armed it this time and waited five minutes then came back to the car disarmed it turned the key and it started right up. this has happened a few times before. how can i fix this?? :cry
'90 L98 coupe
'90 L98 coupe
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 83,383
Likes: 87
From: Boston, MA
Sounds like VATS is busting you. Clean the resister on your ignition key with some rubbing alcohol. You may also want to get a new key made up, it will be about $30 at a GM dealer because of the resistor.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 5,192
Likes: 1
From: Airport Cruise-in 1 Veteran Airport Cruise-in 2 Veteran
Cruise-In II Veteran
Re: (scorp508)
I wipe my key clean every time I get ready to start the car as well as making sure I turn the key all the way to unlock the door and the VATS still acts up even with a brand new key. I'm seriously thinking about going to the fabric store and get some velvet type material and making a cleaning key for the cylinder.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
Re: car won't start! (eddieL98)
If its VATS, then you won't hear the start enable relay click behind the center of the dash when you hit the start position on the ign sw. First try your spare key, the pellet is not worn like your everyday key. The contacts in the ign sw that "make" with the pellet don't last forever. You can check this by finding the wires from the ign sw pellet contacts (on my 87 they come out at the bottom of the steering column and there is a 2 pin connector under the carpet), unplug it and with the ign key inserted, measure the resistance on the wires from the column. It should be the same as the pellet. If over 10k ohms, you need a new ign sw. You can temporarily defeat the VATS by clipping a fixed resistor the same value as the pellet onto the wires going over to the passenger side. Don't do this for long though because 99% of car thefts are done by bashing the column and jumping the ign. Also, if you do hear the start enable relay and no crank, you may have a defective clutch switch (xmsn selector switch if auto) and you can jump this switch and try a start. My 87 has 177k and I am on my third ign sw for the VATS reason and I never have to clean the pellet and get 100% starts until it is at the end of its life. Good luck.
[Modified by jfb, 11:03 PM 7/2/2002]
[Modified by jfb, 11:03 PM 7/2/2002]
