Need some help with my firebird 2000
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Teching In
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 36
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Need some help with my firebird 2000 ok i have a 2000 pontiac firebird was running great then all of a sudden wouldent start. so i figured i would google the issues and came up after watching multiple videos on youtube that it had to be the passkey system "vats" so i watched the videos on how to bypass it i matched the ohms to the resistors and hooked it all up like in the tut vids but still gives the same issue i will be showing a video of what it excatly does can i get some feedback on what the issue is or could be. Thanks in Advance , but atm i have a new Key ign installed after the bypass dident work figured that the new key could do the trick still nothing so please help out if you can.
http://youtu.be/ophUMJMKAqw
http://youtu.be/ophUMJMKAqw
Last edited by aaron564; Nov 28, 2011 at 10:53 PM. Reason: added video
Staging Lane
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 53
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If by "not starting" means that the starter motor does not engage, it could be several things, and if you are not going to actually trouble shoot the problem then I will tell you from my experience the likley culprits are either the starter relay located in the underhood fuse box or the starter itself. You can check the relay by swapping it with the adjacent relay (I forget what it is labeled as) and seeing if the starter then turns over.
Could also be the clutch pedal switch if manual trans or the nuetral safety switch if an auto, or even the ignition switch located at the base of the steering column.
Have you done any work recently with the wiring in the car besides the VATs bypass? If so it is always a good idea to look at the last thing you may have changed as it could be the source of the problem.
A lot of people are quick to blame "no starts" on the VATs system with out actually going through the process of verifying that it is the true problem. Sometimes it is, but not always.
Could also be the clutch pedal switch if manual trans or the nuetral safety switch if an auto, or even the ignition switch located at the base of the steering column.
Have you done any work recently with the wiring in the car besides the VATs bypass? If so it is always a good idea to look at the last thing you may have changed as it could be the source of the problem.
A lot of people are quick to blame "no starts" on the VATs system with out actually going through the process of verifying that it is the true problem. Sometimes it is, but not always.
Staging Lane
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 53
Likes: 0
So the motor turns over? (I can not see your video)
Then it is definitley not VATs. Vats will disable the starter as well as the pulse to the injectors.
How many miles are on the car?
Do you know if you have fuel pressure? Fuel pumps seem to start going out around the 180,000 mile mark.
Is there a chance you could have got some bad gas at your last fill up?
Have you checked for spark?
Has the check engine light been on, if so what codes.
Then it is definitley not VATs. Vats will disable the starter as well as the pulse to the injectors.
How many miles are on the car?
Do you know if you have fuel pressure? Fuel pumps seem to start going out around the 180,000 mile mark.
Is there a chance you could have got some bad gas at your last fill up?
Have you checked for spark?
Has the check engine light been on, if so what codes.
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Two hints:
- If you want the right people to see your thread and respond, you need a better and more specific title than "need help."
- Videos of gauge clusters don't work at night because you can't see the gauges...
You probably just have a dead battery. (Tis the season for that kind of thing to happen.) Start with a check of the voltage on your gauge when you are starting the car and that might give you a hint. (Even if the voltage is up, the battery could still be bad.)
- If you want the right people to see your thread and respond, you need a better and more specific title than "need help."
- Videos of gauge clusters don't work at night because you can't see the gauges...
You probably just have a dead battery. (Tis the season for that kind of thing to happen.) Start with a check of the voltage on your gauge when you are starting the car and that might give you a hint. (Even if the voltage is up, the battery could still be bad.)
I don't know if this will help but I know two things you can check.
Check the brake sensor under your pedals, is it pressing in when you press on the brake?
If so are your brake lights coming on when pressed? If it's not sending a signal that the brake is pressed in it won't start. (or at least I'm pretty sure.)
Also, not sure if this is what your talking about in the first post, but try moving the little resistor back and forth in your key, sometimes they get screwy and stick to one side or the other and won't make contact. That could do it too. It's happened to me from tiem to time and I would just wiggle it back and forth and try again.
Check the brake sensor under your pedals, is it pressing in when you press on the brake?
If so are your brake lights coming on when pressed? If it's not sending a signal that the brake is pressed in it won't start. (or at least I'm pretty sure.)
Also, not sure if this is what your talking about in the first post, but try moving the little resistor back and forth in your key, sometimes they get screwy and stick to one side or the other and won't make contact. That could do it too. It's happened to me from tiem to time and I would just wiggle it back and forth and try again.
Sounds like a VATS issue to me - is the security light coming on? Find someone with HPtuners, or mail in your PCM to a tuner with HPtuners and they can disable VATS in the tune.
It looks like your security light is just doing the self check when you key the ignition just like the rest of the lights on the dash. I'm not so sure you have a VATS issue especially if you have tried the resistor and it didn't fix it.
You need to do some diagnostics to help narrow it down:
You say it's not the starter or starter relay. How do you know this, did you test for power at the starter solenoid when the key is turned to start the car?
If you have no power there (assuming you don't unless the starter IS bad) then you need to work your way down the list and check the neutral safety switch.
If you have no power going there then you could have a bad ignition switch. If you don't have power at the N/S switch I would then go back to having an issue with VATS. I guess like someone mentioned earlier you can have it tuned out to eliminate that as a problem.
One last thing- I have seen motors lock up and just physically not turn over if they are seized. That's another possibility
You need to do some diagnostics to help narrow it down:
You say it's not the starter or starter relay. How do you know this, did you test for power at the starter solenoid when the key is turned to start the car?
If you have no power there (assuming you don't unless the starter IS bad) then you need to work your way down the list and check the neutral safety switch.
If you have no power going there then you could have a bad ignition switch. If you don't have power at the N/S switch I would then go back to having an issue with VATS. I guess like someone mentioned earlier you can have it tuned out to eliminate that as a problem.
One last thing- I have seen motors lock up and just physically not turn over if they are seized. That's another possibility
Yes this is not a VATS issue.
I had an issue where the car would randomly not start and it turned out that the nut for the ground on the starter had backed off. So intermittently it had no contact and didn't do anything.
lt1pwr1's suggestions are a good place to start.
I had an issue where the car would randomly not start and it turned out that the nut for the ground on the starter had backed off. So intermittently it had no contact and didn't do anything.
lt1pwr1's suggestions are a good place to start.