Hello all,

First and foremost I want to thank anyone who is kind enough to take time from their day to read and potentially even reply to this posting, you have done me a great service if you have even come even just this far, Secondly, and down to business, I have a very frustrating issue with my Corvette and I cannot for the life of me figure this out. It seems that everywhere I look for information online I find different and conflicting reports responses and forums. Let me digress and explain the issue before I go off on another tangent...

So actually, this is my friend's Corvette, but shes like family and she has no clue what shes doing, I didnt want her getting ripped off by her mechanic whom I believe has been taking her to the cleaners repeatedly and being im somewhat inclined with mechanics,I decided to have a look. Seemed pretty straight forward at first, She told me that she was running about doing her errands and after finishing with her grocery shopping, she turned her key over and nothing. She thought the car was dead at first and had a tow truck bring it home when a jump didnt solve the problem. After looking into it myself and speaking with some friends, I was advised to look at the VATs system. Sure enough the symptoms seemed to match the potential culprit ("security" light comes on and then will flash. Turning the key causing cranking but not turning over...and here is my first contradiction....ive been told both that VATS causes nothing to happen and that this is also a potential outcome.....). Now, seeing as a Timer brand GM VATS bypass module is only $25 on amazon, we ordered one and ive been trying to get it hooked up....I cant find instructions on how to install this thing either. I dont understand if Im looking for the BCM or the ECM or a fuel injector enable relay or what, This is a link to the instructions for it though...Instructions

I dont know if my friend possibly snagged a wire under her dash when she put her purse by her feet or on her way out before shopping, I dont know if a wire frayed or a relay burned out or if this really is VATS like originally thought. What I do know is that her car is completely dead and no matter how long I leave a jumper pack connected, the battery wont charge (and its brand new too btw), the alternator is i believe bad tho, and the car has never done anything like this for the year shes owned it for now. I have the original key, the pellet in it doesnt appear to be damaged at all and she has had an aftermarket stereo system installed, and the shop that did the job definitely is less than reputable as they seriously took advantage of her with what they charged her. the wiring harness looks a mess below the dash ever since they did the install of her radio, but that was a while before this issue started, so i dont think they caused the issue directly, unless something just took time to start malfunctioning.

So there it all is. Please lend whatever assistance you can, we both have very little in the ways of funding especially because of COVID, she needs her car back and has been in a world of hurt since this began because she has no other vehicle, and Im her knight in shinning armor so to speak....that cant figure out whats wrong...but I do know enough that I hate electrical issues already anyway, I know that a car can easily be destroyed because of a bad electrical system and that its easy to make this situation much worse by doing this i dont have a full grasp of understanding about before proceeding, so thats why im here. I may not be educated in this field, but that doesnt make me a fool!

Anyway, God bless you, thank you for your time and assistance and I pray that someone out there takes the time to read this, to reply and knows what to do. Feel free to ask me questions and I will do all I can to provide all information you require to lend assistance. Thank you again!

 

SirSmacksyou,
First and foremost we need the year of the car as there are many iterations between 1984 and 1996.
I personally had a vats issue with my 1986 and the cure was a new key. I went to a local key shop and they got me a key with the correct pellet and cut it for my car. A cheap fix for me and it's always good to have a spare key.

 

Yes, let us know the year. As said above the key is usually the first point of failure. You can replace the key or bypass that part. You can also bypass the whole system if you wish with the TimerShop bypass. That’s what I did on my 86 as I didn’t want to see what the ultimate endurance of a 36 year old VATS module might be. I can tell you how it’s wired if that’s the vintage vette you have.

good luck, it’s really a frustrating problem but it can be fixed.

 

We definitely need more info. Crank but no start can be because of a ton of non VATS issues. I would not touch the VATS at all until more diagnosis is done.

also, you say it is completely dead? Like no lights in the vehicle or dash?

if that’s the case, check the battery connections and main ground(s)...perhaps fuses. Also battery’s can short out/go bad instantly. I’ve personally had a loose terminal connection on my new battery manifest where key on everything looks good, go to crank and everything goes black and stays black. Cleaned and tightened terminal and it was fine!

where are you located?