So, is this VATS??? :(
So, is this VATS??? :( Security light had been turning on in my red Trans Am a few of the last times I started the car... I thought it was odd.
Recently, while the light has been on, the car won't crank when I tried to start it. I'd have to wait 5 minutes or so for the light to turn off.
Now it does something new. When I went to start the car, it cranked for a split second and then EVERYTHING turns off, courtesy lights, interior light everything, except oddly enough the seatbelt reminder light which stays dimly lit. The car then acts like a dead battery. I checked the battery with a multimeter and it was fine. When I reconnected the battery, everything came back on! The interior lights worked, the fuel pump would prime, etc. Then I went to start the car and it started.
Today, no matter what I do, it will not start and everything gets locked out, even the interior lights everything.
I don't want to be disconnecting/connecting the battery so I let the car be...
Is this my VATS crapping out, or something else too?
Thanks for reading.
Recently, while the light has been on, the car won't crank when I tried to start it. I'd have to wait 5 minutes or so for the light to turn off.
Now it does something new. When I went to start the car, it cranked for a split second and then EVERYTHING turns off, courtesy lights, interior light everything, except oddly enough the seatbelt reminder light which stays dimly lit. The car then acts like a dead battery. I checked the battery with a multimeter and it was fine. When I reconnected the battery, everything came back on! The interior lights worked, the fuel pump would prime, etc. Then I went to start the car and it started.
Today, no matter what I do, it will not start and everything gets locked out, even the interior lights everything.
I don't want to be disconnecting/connecting the battery so I let the car be...
Is this my VATS crapping out, or something else too?
Thanks for reading.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 503
Likes: 0
From: Manchester , UK
security light going on and the car not cranking is the VATS , i dont know details about it but its happened to me once too ..
try cleaning the chip on the key , or search for "disable vats" , you can get rid of it .
luckily my problem went away itself but same as yours , i had a security light and the car didnt crank , i had to wait about 5 minutes and it started. never done it again.
try cleaning the chip on the key , or search for "disable vats" , you can get rid of it .
luckily my problem went away itself but same as yours , i had a security light and the car didnt crank , i had to wait about 5 minutes and it started. never done it again.
TECH Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,399
Likes: 3
From: Jacksonville, FL
You've got more than one issue. VATS is one, battery/connections is the other. VATS won't disable everything just fuel enable and starter. I'd start with making sure the battery is good by having it load tested.
security light going on and the car not cranking is the VATS , i dont know details about it but its happened to me once too ..
try cleaning the chip on the key , or search for "disable vats" , you can get rid of it .
luckily my problem went away itself but same as yours , i had a security light and the car didnt crank , i had to wait about 5 minutes and it started. never done it again.
try cleaning the chip on the key , or search for "disable vats" , you can get rid of it .
luckily my problem went away itself but same as yours , i had a security light and the car didnt crank , i had to wait about 5 minutes and it started. never done it again.
Originally Posted by 2001NBMZ28
You've got more than one issue. VATS is one, battery/connections is the other. VATS won't disable everything just fuel enable and starter. I'd start with making sure the battery is good by having it load tested.
I didn't need to test the battery... I took my other one out of my other TA and it solved the problem (not the security light though, but at least now it's just fuel and starter... Lights work, etc. then I wait five minutes for the security light to go away). I'm going to just leave that battery there and get the bad one replaced.
As far as VATS, I'm going to see when I make a trip to my tuner. That should kill it, right?
Cleaning your key, keeping anything else off of your key fob, or even trying a different key (if you have 2) can keep VATS from activating as often. My brother has the exact same problem with his Malibu....switching to a different key helped, then taking the other 10 keys off of his key chain apparently prevented it from happening at all within the past few months.
I was going to comment on your other issue, but apparently you have it fixed. I had the same problem about 1 month ago, where I could see some warning lights and lock my doors (and that was about it). Turned out I had the original battery the car came with and the positive terminal corroded off, lol. A new battery we had at home and it's been running like a top ever since
I was going to comment on your other issue, but apparently you have it fixed. I had the same problem about 1 month ago, where I could see some warning lights and lock my doors (and that was about it). Turned out I had the original battery the car came with and the positive terminal corroded off, lol. A new battery we had at home and it's been running like a top ever since
