Need help with VATS issue
03-22-2013, 01:06 PM
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Need help with VATS issue Ok I have a post in the general maintanence section but haven't got any help there so hopefully I can get some in here.
To sum up everything I've posted there, my trans am has been having an intermittent problem where the starter will not engage when trying to crank it. I have tested all the wires for the VATS running from the lock cylinder to the BCM.
The wires running from the BCM to the connector under the dash under the steering wheel tested good for continuity. When checking from the prongs in the lock cylinder down to the connector, I found that one of the wires is not reading, meaning it is broken off inside the insulation (which seems to be a common problem).
I would just throw the resistor mod on it (which I have made and is ready to go in) but the car is currently starting WITH THE VATS COMPLETELY DISCONNECTED. Can anyone answer why the starter is allowed to engage when there is absolutely no connection from the lock cylinder to the BCM?
To sum up everything I've posted there, my trans am has been having an intermittent problem where the starter will not engage when trying to crank it. I have tested all the wires for the VATS running from the lock cylinder to the BCM.
The wires running from the BCM to the connector under the dash under the steering wheel tested good for continuity. When checking from the prongs in the lock cylinder down to the connector, I found that one of the wires is not reading, meaning it is broken off inside the insulation (which seems to be a common problem).
I would just throw the resistor mod on it (which I have made and is ready to go in) but the car is currently starting WITH THE VATS COMPLETELY DISCONNECTED. Can anyone answer why the starter is allowed to engage when there is absolutely no connection from the lock cylinder to the BCM?
03-22-2013, 01:10 PM
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If your VATS system failed while the car was running, it goes into a fail-safe mode that allows the car to start regardless. I'm assuming your security light stays on?
03-22-2013, 01:57 PM
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Yes the security light does stay on. I couldn't figure out why it did so I removed the led from the dash a while back. So does this mean that it stays in this mode forever and I have another intermittent problem that's causing the starter not to engage?
03-22-2013, 02:23 PM
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Also is there a way to reset the system so that I can get it out of fail-safe mode? I don't want it to crank when the VATS is not connected. That way I can do the resistor pack mod and make sure it runs. Then if I have any more failure to starts, I will know for a fact that it has nothing to do with VATS
03-22-2013, 02:41 PM
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I am unaware of a way to reset the system, I was hoping it wouldn't do that when I had the issue so I wouldn't get stranded somewhere. You can try unhooking the battery for a while, not sure if that will work though.