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Question
there are no experts for chevy but this is a gm car. I have a 1986 corvette with auto trans. it will not crank with no sound from solenoid. it has a new battery. headlights and dash lights ok. I did some troubleshooting with my shop manual and located a dark green wire from the starter enable relay to the vats decoder module. when i jumper this wire to ground then turn key to start, it will start with no problem. does this mean that the relay is bad or the decoder module or the starter solenoid? does the relay ground the module or the module grounds the relay? or could I have a bad ground wire somewhere else? thanks for your help in advance, al.
Hello Al,
You are really challenging my memory on this one because what I remembered in the early years on the Trans Ams, Cameros and Vettes is they did not use a starter disable and would crank and not start without the proper key, but you may be right, however, it should not be starting and running by jumping this relay if it was a Vats issue because the fuel to was shut off.
No matter what you do, go to an alarm store (they have bypass resistors and bypass that junk! It will only give you problems.
Then install at the least a hidden starter disable toggle because it is 30 seconds to defeat the left side of the column and steal it! We did over 10,000 steering column rebuilds from theft!
I would check to see if the relay is ok. Take a different relay out of the car and put it in place and see if the car starts. If so, you need a relay.
Something is wrong here though because I am wondering if the vats already is bypassed. Vats shuts off the fuel and spark, so jumping that relay would not start the engine. Switch out the relay. It costs you nothing to test.
Let me know.
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Rob Painter
Expertise
Alarm system questions cannot be answered on this forum. These systems are not what I can answer. Without being physically at the vehicle and not knowing what kind of electrical service has been done on the vehicle, there is no possible way to give an accurate answer over the internet. My expertise is in Ignition/key based anti-theft systems. These issues include GM VATS (resistor chip in key blade) PASSLOCK (MRD)-ignition lock rotation based, no special ignition key and the PKIII Transponder (computer chip in key) systems. These systems are not alarm based and are integral with the starting of the engine. This is why I cannot diagnose alarm problems without physically looking at the vehicle: Alarm systems are a completely different annimal than ignition key/lock based anti-theft system. Many alarm questions come from vehicles 10 years old, and since older, many hands that had been involved over the years.I am an expert in all GM factory (ignition/key based)systems. Alarm system questions pose to many situations beyond my knowledge as to what has been done to the vehicle over the years. Some guy may have actually wired the stereo into the alarm system. Who knows? Over my past 30 years in vehicle wiring repair, I have seen unbelievable wiring disaters done by guys that consider themselves "mechanics." I have seen stereos and alarms intalled using surgical tape. I have seen modules burn up, un-fused circuits, wiring jambed between the doors and even lamp cord used for a starter kill. To answer alarm questions over the internet without examining the vehicle is like asking; What does it take to remove a dent?
Experience
Education/Credentials-ASE certified. 11 years with a GM dealer and 17 years with a repair facility dealing with only the repair of theft recovered vehicles.
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