Stereo & Electronics - Is this VATTS or a bad starter

Hey All,

my 96 TA has strarted giving me issues when starting, sometimes when I start the car I get nothing, no cranking just the key going to start. Power comes on but no starting. The very next time I turn the car over it turns over fine..

I am thinking its VATTS or a flat spot on the starter...

Any other ideas would be great...

Thanks

IMO if it were teh starter you would hear started making noise

but if i recall atleast on my 94 when it was a vatts issue it would crank and not start, and then u had to wait liek 10 min and try again, but i could be wrong

IMO if it were teh starter you would hear started making noise

but if i recall atleast on my 94 when it was a vatts issue it would crank and not start, and then u had to wait liek 10 min and try again, but i could be wrong

Not every time. My starter wasn't making a noise at all. Turns out the Solenoid was cracked.


OP, remove your starter and take it to Autozone to get it checked out.

Ive had issues with my vatts not to long ago, supposedlly there is a wire in the ignition that tends to break over time in some vehicles. I did the vatts bypass and it didnt start up but then when I removed the vatts bypass and the vats connection all together the car worked like normal except for the security light always on. If your car is a manual try push starting it, and if it wont start its your vats

Thanks guys.. never thought about the Solenoid... will try and pull the starter out this weekend

also look at your key the little pill on it is the resistor that the vats reads, over time they get dirty and need to be cleanded off so it can get a good reading.

...I had problems ONE time with my VATTS and my security light was flashing telling me that's why it wouldn't start.

I left my car sitting for a week while I was TAD at another base, came back and the security light was on. tried starting it (not even a crank or click) lights and radio work fine, even my 12" subs still kicked. Tried starting it for a 30 more minutes before giving up and walking back to my barracks.

Day 2
Came back, tried to start it again (still no crank or click) and just said F*** it and left. Bad starter or a VATS problem? Btw I have a Viper Remote start Alarm and the remote start won't even turn it over. Help!!!!!

When the car doesn't start does the security light stay on? If it does stay on then it's VATS (Vehichle Anti-Theft Security) not VATTS lol. Like somebody else said just clean the pelet on your key and if that doesn't work bypass the VATS system all togather by running a few resistors in parallel under your dash that match the resistance of your pellet. That are 15 different pellet combinations. I bypassed mine because I didn't want to be stranded or late for work.

VATS # (K)OHMS (Set your meter to the 20k ohm setting)

1———— 0.402
2———— 0.523
3———— 0.681
4————-0.887
5————-1.130
6————-1.470
7————-1.870
8————-2.370
9————-3.010
10————3.740
11————4.750
12————6.040
13————7.500
14————9.530
15————11.801

Here is a link that will be helpful. It not hard fix it now.
http://vats.likeabigdog.com/ (http://vats.likeabigdog.com/)

Close... VATS = Vehicle Anti Theft System. But you're right - if the security light in the instrument cluster (not the alarm LED on top of the dash) isn't on then it isn't a VATS problem.

Hey All,

Thanks for all the ideas... have not had a chance to really look at it.. did clean the key so we will see what that brings... hoping for the cheap out :-)

Cleaned the key and no go. Security light does go off after a few seconds... Everything works, radio etc just does not start. The second key turn and it starts every time...

my 95 did the same thing. I was in the same situation as you, it would only start whenever it wanted to, then I did the vats bypass and Ive had no problem since.

my 95 v6 is doing the same thing, i replaced the starter and still nothing, took it to a mechanic friend and he is replacing the neutral switch. just an idea i will let you know.

had a vats problem last week, i went and did vats bypass works fine now!

im having the same problem, but i sprayed some electro contact cleaner into the ignition solenoid, and it is a temporary fix hasnt done it in a while but i will prolly bypass it eventually. is there anyway that you could put a switch in with the resistor so that you could hide a switch somewhere so that you could not start the car unless the swich is on. just as an extra safety precaution. so that you have to know where the switch is to start it

yea just wire in a switch to the bypass