"security" light on dash - disabled car
"security" light on dash - disabled car 99 firebird base model. 74K miles. No power windows or doors, not even a remote entry fob:
today I came out of work and tried to start the car. The security light was on on the dash and nothing else. The car was disabled. Wouldnt turn over or even let me shift out of Park. I think it finally came back to life when I turned on an off the radio button.
Only problems I have ever had with the car is that sometimes the radio cuts out and has no power for up to a minute at a time. But it eventually comes back on. I have pulled and cleaned fuses, but it still does it occasionally, often associated with a bump. I know it sounds like a loose wire or connection.
But what does this "security" warning on the dash mean and why does it disable the car?
Thanks!
today I came out of work and tried to start the car. The security light was on on the dash and nothing else. The car was disabled. Wouldnt turn over or even let me shift out of Park. I think it finally came back to life when I turned on an off the radio button.
Only problems I have ever had with the car is that sometimes the radio cuts out and has no power for up to a minute at a time. But it eventually comes back on. I have pulled and cleaned fuses, but it still does it occasionally, often associated with a bump. I know it sounds like a loose wire or connection.
But what does this "security" warning on the dash mean and why does it disable the car?
Thanks!
Appears VATS thinks the car is being stolen.
http://www.ls1.com/forums/f6/how-byp...ur-vats-61262/
https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...correctly.html
Since you are close by, if you need assistance let me know.
http://www.ls1.com/forums/f6/how-byp...ur-vats-61262/
https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...correctly.html
Since you are close by, if you need assistance let me know.
First of all thanks you so much for the timely reply!
I read thru all of these as well as some other info I found on GM VATS on the internet.
Interestingly I regularly each lunch with a few engineers from the test labs at work. A couple of them are Corvette guys, one owning a 2002 Z06. He mentioned that he had had a similar problem with his Corvette. He discovered that if he cleaned the filament on the side of the key with a pink eraser (like on the end of the standard yellow pencil), it seemed to get the tarnish off of the filament. After the cleaning he has had no further problems.
I tried this and you could see it looked cleaner. I have had no more problems since them. I hope this fixes the problem, but am keeping track of this thread too!
Thanks again!
Mark
I read thru all of these as well as some other info I found on GM VATS on the internet.
Interestingly I regularly each lunch with a few engineers from the test labs at work. A couple of them are Corvette guys, one owning a 2002 Z06. He mentioned that he had had a similar problem with his Corvette. He discovered that if he cleaned the filament on the side of the key with a pink eraser (like on the end of the standard yellow pencil), it seemed to get the tarnish off of the filament. After the cleaning he has had no further problems.
I tried this and you could see it looked cleaner. I have had no more problems since them. I hope this fixes the problem, but am keeping track of this thread too!
Thanks again!
Mark
TECH Addict
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 2,103
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I started to have the issue and didn't want to have the possibility of the lock cylinder acting up again. So I simply unplugged the cylinder wire under the dash and put in the correct resistors to mimic the key.
This way if it happens again, I know it is not related to the cylinder OR key being the issue.
This way if it happens again, I know it is not related to the cylinder OR key being the issue.
