General Maintenance & Repairs - Car Wont Start!?!?

so my car wont start and the security light on the gauge cluster flashes, everything but the motor itself starts up! What is causing this?

That damn VATS crap. Don't know much about it, one week after buying my car it was completely disabled.

There's another thread on this first page with the same trouble.

Yup it's your VATS disabling the startup. You'll have to get a new key pill. When it breaks your PCM doesn't see the resistance in your key the pill creates and assumes someon has cut a blank key and is trying to steal your car.

i had a duplicate made but am i supposed to program the new key into the pcm somehow?

i had a duplicate made but am i supposed to program the new key into the pcm somehow?

I just did this!

The key shop at my local Sears hooked me up. Bring your key, they will test the resistance on a little machine. They just slide it in, and the corresponding light on an ohm reader will light up.

I believe our keys can range from 1-20 ohms.

Mine happens to be 4.

They will cut you a new key off from a slug of the matching resistance. You could also clean your key, or spray some contact cleaner into your lock cylinder try that too.

Easiest place to start.

ill give it a try tomorrow, anything to get it to start up again!

I had the same problem and bypassed the vats, and it still didn't start. Turned out to be loose/corroded starter terminals. Free and easy fix. Get under there and make sure it's not that.