When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I have 2001 camaro SS and didn’t notice but turned off the car and the aux power was still on(radio(didn’t hear it) and security light(always on and ran fine)). Went in my car a few days later and tried to start it but nothing. I put in the key and it clicks once, should have dash lights but I don’t see anything other than security light and can turn on and off the radio. Tried cranking it but don’t feel any resistance or anything at all, it just turns.
I read up on changing the ignition lock cylinder and knew about the VATS.
So as I was taking the ignition cylinder out I notice one of the wires was broken off of the base of the ignition cylinder. Continued to swap the old to the new and after installing the new one I attempted to test it with everything else(steering/turn signal) off. Reconnected the battery and the security light and the radio were on and tried cranking, nothing, took key back out and it doesn’t shut the power off. I tried bypassing the VATS and put a resistor in where the cylinder is supposed to connect(purple and black/white wire) on the back and tested it from the front but still nothing. I even tried jumping it to see if I had no power cuz the battery was drained but still nothing, and security light and radio stay on with key out and driver door open. Kind of at a dead end now. Any advice would be helpful at this point.
I know it’s jenky, but I was just testing it from what I got from another thread. I measured the ohms on the key to about 521 and this resistor is at 520 with 2% play(or whatever it’s called)
This is the new ignition cylinder and after I jumped the battery, and switched the ignition and starter fuse from the engine compartment.
This is with the key in after one click and in the start position but moves somewhat freely
Last edited by Nastynas01; 08-16-2018 at 10:16 PM.
Did you disconnect your battery? I changed my BCM a while back but didn't know what the resistance should be for the VATs bypass, so I used a potentiometer to cycle through the known resistances that our VATs uses. Every time I changed a resistance, I had to disconnect the battery for a minute or so ... I guess to reset the BCM. But it worked.
Try disconnecting your battery for a minute or so.
Last edited by TA_Freak; 08-18-2018 at 10:03 PM.
Reason: Because I'm anal about grammar.
Did you disconnect your battery? I changed my BCM a while back but didn't know what the resistance should be for the VATs bypass, so I used a potentiometer to cycle through the known resistances that our VATs uses. Every time I changed a resistance, I had to disconnect the battery for a minute or so ... I guess to reset the BCM. But it worked.
Try disconnecting your battery for a minute or so.
Ok, I disconnected battery and tried to start and even tried resetting the resistor a few times between disconnecting the battery and still nothing. Would the resistor be the root cause of an issue like this? Feeling iffy on the whole resistor installation. One of my friends said there might be a short in my ignition cylinder or a short from the "start" signal to the "off" position, any other thoughts on that? Gonna try to meter it later on today and give an update.
Did you physically measure the resistance with a volt/ohmeter? As long as it's close (there is some tolerance) to 523 ohms then you should be good. The fact that the security light is still on, leads me to believe that your issue is there and not the ignition switch. After you verify the proper resistor in your by pass, make sure it makes it to the BCM.
Last edited by TA_Freak; 08-21-2018 at 06:29 PM.
Reason: Because I'm anal about grammar.
Man I fought this same thing last September for weeks thinking I had some crazy electronic gremlin. I thought my vats reader was junk so I sacrificed a spare key I had by taking the resistor from it and soldering it in line below. I then replaced the ignition switch on the top of the column. I tested the starter off the car with a battery and it acted normal..so I cleaned the connections, no dice. I finally said screw it after not finding anything in the typical diagnostics and bought a replacement starter as a hail mary.... it fired up immediately. Bizarre
Man I fought this same thing last September for weeks thinking I had some crazy electronic gremlin. I thought my vats reader was junk so I sacrificed a spare key I had by taking the resistor from it and soldering it in line below. I then replaced the ignition switch on the top of the column. I tested the starter off the car with a battery and it acted normal..so I cleaned the connections, no dice. I finally said screw it after not finding anything in the typical diagnostics and bought a replacement starter as a hail mary.... it fired up immediately. Bizarre
Sounds like you had a faulty starter to begin with. Did you have a "security" light as well?
with the same exact issue. It wasn't the ignition cylinder, to begin with, it was the rod(idk what it's called) that the ignition hooks on to, as shown in the video, on the top of the steering column. So just like the video, I broke the plastic piece right under the dash, just used a screwdriver and popped it up and snapped the plastic just enough to have space to pry the rod outwards, so when you turn the ignition switch to the off position the hook will go towards the rod and with a little work catch back on again. Again I just followed the youtube video and I am able to start it up, just gonna put it all together and I'll be back on the road. I'll post pictures of what mine looks in a few days for anyone with a similar problem.
08-16-2018, 09:46 PM
Car won’t crank/start or anything when I turn key 
