vats question yet again

[Kaos]

I have read many of the previous post regarding vats, and intremitant no starts
what i am unsure of is if the vats will allow the car to crank or not.
I have an 86 that will start and not start at will. when it does not start the
car cranks but does not start, wait 5 min. the car fires right up. (with out fail..always starts after 5 + min) may start 4-5
times without fail then no start, wait 5 min fires right up, and runs perfect, no stalling, sputtering or any other issue. does not matter if the car is warm ,cold
or sat for a couple of days.
Have replaced the fuel-pump ,fuel pump relay have spark at the plugs and
good fuel pressure......should i try the vats bypass???

 

[Ken]

I even went so far as to install the bypass, but still had the intermittent no-start condition. I never did figure it out, now it's a hot rod and I don't have any security, or radio, or cruise control, or air conditioning ... :L

 

[Kaos]

Ken, when your car would not start, would the engine crank or was it deadsville when you turned the key??

 

[G Winter]

I would try replacing the ignition modual in the distributer.

 

[Kaos]

never thought of that..what is the actual function of the ignition module?.
is it only required for start up? because once runnig the car runs great.

 

[Ken]

Ken, when your car would not start, would the engine crank or was it deadsville when you turned the key??

Deadsville. Nothing - nada - zilch!

Sometimes if I waited for awhile it would then start; other times it wouldn't respond no matter how long I waited. (It seems like forever to wait fifteen minutes like that, so I'm not sure if I ever let it sit a full fiteen minutes or so.) I could hear a "clicking" in the dash whenever I turned the key, so I replaced the starter enable relay in an attempt to isolate the problem.

There were some Service Bulletins issued that addressed some of the VATS problems; see our Knowledgebase (the tab at the top of this page.) for a review of those bulletins.

I'm pretty sure the VATS system was only a fuel/spark interupt of sorts, because, having a manual transmission, I was able to push-start mine and it would run.

I replaced the starter enable relay that's located in the dash, I used the VATS bypass, I had new keys made... Nothing helped.

Hang in there, more members will come along who have experience with VATS and its problems.

Good luck.

 

[Dons97]

I have read many of the previous post regarding vats, and intremitant no starts
what i am unsure of is if the vats will allow the car to crank or not.
I have an 86 that will start and not start at will. when it does not start the
car cranks but does not start, wait 5 min. the car fires right up. (with out fail..always starts after 5 + min) may start 4-5
times without fail then no start, wait 5 min fires right up, and runs perfect, no stalling, sputtering or any other issue. does not matter if the car is warm ,cold
or sat for a couple of days.
Have replaced the fuel-pump ,fuel pump relay have spark at the plugs and
good fuel pressure......should i try the vats bypass???

Sold my '86 a while ago but I remember the VATS problem as no crank, no nothing. Five minutes later...boom, started right up (actually at dealer instruction I had to exit the car and lock it, then unlock it the five minutes later). I put in the VATS bypass and never, ever had the problem again right up to the day I sold it.

Good Luck

Don

 

[jmccloud]

Vats

The VATS system inhibits the starter solenoid, so if the VATS senses the wrong key, nothing happens. Not even a solenoid click. If the solenoid is flakey (solenoids usually fail by intermittent functionality rather than immediate nothing forever), sometimes the car will start but sometimes not. A flakey solenoid will usually produce a 'click' (which may not me audible in noisy surroundings). Has your car ever started on the second (or third or fourth, etc) try without the 5 minute wait? Since it's cranking, I'd bet on the solenoid.
I put in a new starter with integral solenoid last month and it cured the intermittent non-start (with clicking). Mine was worse in cold weather but occasionally would not engage even when warm.

 

[ratorto]

vats bypass

I put the Vats bypass unit in my '87.
Bought from Mid-America.
I got the one with the 3 settings (toggle-switch), but leave it deactivated.
It's SOOOOO much better.
None of those gotcha problems that catch you just when you need to go.

 

[Kaos]

Jmccloud the car never starts if you attempt to crank over and over... and the car does
crank every time..... you wiat 5 minutes (from the last crank)it fires right up,seems without fail
if you try to crank ever minute or so it never starts. if it was the soleniod would,nt the car just "click" and not turn over (crank)?

 

[zog]

I used to have a similar start/no-start problem....an old Corvette wise man told me to have a new key made since mine was pretty warn. I guess the new key fit in the switch better so the system could read the key code (who knows??). Anyway, he was correct and I have not had a problem in two years...

 

[Kaos]

zog i believe you are right on this one....tested the key with my multi-meter then tested the wires at the connector...everthing seemed the way it should be untill i jiggled the key and noticed the resistance would drop to zero...since then when starting the car if i put pressure on the key downward when i turn it over
it has fired up everytime!! ...seems a new ignition tumbler may be in order...although i think i will try cutting a new key as you did...maybe that will fit better and allow me to put off buying a new tumbler for a while.
I would like to thank every one who took the time to responed, i do appreciate it!!

 

[Ken]

Ya know, someone mentioned in one of the threads here, an interesting fact regarding the ignition switch assembly in the steering column. They stated the weight of many people's key rings cause problems with the tumbler/cylinder over a period of time, and that one should never have more keys on the ring (while it's in the ignition) than necessary.

I utilize one of those that can be easily undone so you wind up with two rings; the Corvette's two keys are on one ring, while the house, garage, toolboxes, truck, mailbox, etc., are on separate ring.

(To top it off, while my brother is out of commision with his broken ankle, I've got his car and mailbox keys on that ring too!) :eyerole

Man, this world today... We need too many keys.

 

[G Winter]

zog i believe you are right on this one....tested the key with my multi-meter then tested the wires at the connector...everthing seemed the way it should be untill i jiggled the key and noticed the resistance would drop to zero...since then when starting the car if i put pressure on the key downward when i turn it over
it has fired up everytime!! ...seems a new ignition tumbler may be in order...although i think i will try cutting a new key as you did...maybe that will fit better and allow me to put off buying a new tumbler for a while.
I would like to thank every one who took the time to responed, i do appreciate it!!

Take your key and your vin number to a GM dealer they will punch a new key rather then grind it using your old key. This way the new key is not dependent on the condition of the old .

 

[Kaos]

picked up a new key from GM...when they went to check my key for the appropriate
code thry could not get a reading from it..luckely i had check the resistance my self
and new what the code should be...the new key had a noticably longer shank and
the exposed portion of the chip was longer as well. Seems to have work so far been a couple of days fires up every time...will keep my fingers crossed!

 

[ringleader]

Deadsville. Nothing - nada - zilch!

Sometimes if I waited for awhile it would then start; other times it wouldn't respond no matter how long I waited. (It seems like forever to wait fifteen minutes like that, so I'm not sure if I ever let it sit a full fiteen minutes or so.) I could hear a "clicking" in the dash whenever I turned the key, so I replaced the starter enable relay in an attempt to isolate the problem.

There were some Service Bulletins issued that addressed some of the VATS problems; see our Knowledgebase (the tab at the top of this page.) for a review of those bulletins.

I'm pretty sure the VATS system was only a fuel/spark interupt of sorts, because, having a manual transmission, I was able to push-start mine and it would run.

I replaced the starter enable relay that's located in the dash, I used the VATS bypass, I had new keys made... Nothing helped.

Hang in there, more members will come along who have experience with VATS and its problems.

Good luck.

I did everything above including the bybass switch from Mid America and finally got tired of fooling with it and had a new ignition switch and new keys maderoblem solved!!