Ignition woes no more
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On The Tree
Joined: Dec 2002
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From: New Haven MI
Ignition woes no more For those of you who have experienced the "security lite lockout" problems associated with the VATS system in Gen III F-bodies, here's how one intrepid owner solved his...
I own two f-bods, an 01 T/A WS6 auto and a 00 SS 6 spd. A few months ago, the car started hesitating to start immediately upon the turn of the key. The "security" lite would illuminate briefly, and then a heartbeat later the car would start. Some research on this site indicated I was having problems with my VATS goin buggy. I traced the problem to a faulty ignition cylinder, specifically the sensor ring inside the cylinder that reads the resistance pellet found in our ignition keys. Several other readers discovered we could bypass the VATS entirely by wiring in a resistor that matched the impedence found in the resistor pellet in the key; the problem I discovered was that the connector linking the ignition cylinder to the BCS terminal wasn't always the color described by other owners!! Apparently GM thought to change the color of the terminals between manufacturer years. For instance, in my 00 Camaro, the terminal is black, with a white/black striped signal wire and a grey/black negative lead. In the 01 T/A, the terminal is also black, with the same color wires. The bypass is easy, you replace the male terminal leading from the ignition cylinder with a store-bought resistor of the same value, thereby tricking the BCS to think it's reading the key pellet. The other fix is, of course, more costly and labor-intensive, which was to replace the ignition cylinder.
If you are experiencing this problem, PM me and I'll be glad to lend a "typing" hand.
I own two f-bods, an 01 T/A WS6 auto and a 00 SS 6 spd. A few months ago, the car started hesitating to start immediately upon the turn of the key. The "security" lite would illuminate briefly, and then a heartbeat later the car would start. Some research on this site indicated I was having problems with my VATS goin buggy. I traced the problem to a faulty ignition cylinder, specifically the sensor ring inside the cylinder that reads the resistance pellet found in our ignition keys. Several other readers discovered we could bypass the VATS entirely by wiring in a resistor that matched the impedence found in the resistor pellet in the key; the problem I discovered was that the connector linking the ignition cylinder to the BCS terminal wasn't always the color described by other owners!! Apparently GM thought to change the color of the terminals between manufacturer years. For instance, in my 00 Camaro, the terminal is black, with a white/black striped signal wire and a grey/black negative lead. In the 01 T/A, the terminal is also black, with the same color wires. The bypass is easy, you replace the male terminal leading from the ignition cylinder with a store-bought resistor of the same value, thereby tricking the BCS to think it's reading the key pellet. The other fix is, of course, more costly and labor-intensive, which was to replace the ignition cylinder.
If you are experiencing this problem, PM me and I'll be glad to lend a "typing" hand.
