Expert: Rob Painter - 2/6/2010

Question
QUESTION: i replaced the didgtal dash with aused one it displays remove key wait 3 min. then says start car but wont. starter disable displayed. how do i reset securty.

ANSWER: Hello,

there is no such thing as to reset the very low tech resistor based vats (vehicle anti-theft system) as it is called even though it was never designed to stop theft, unless you file a theft claim with the insurance company. Then you will be accused of involvement with the theft because according to the INS company and their experts the car is " unstealable."

Because you worked on the car, you may have inadvertantly altered something here. Just so you understand, I am not saying there was any wrongdoing on your part, it is just things by nature change when replacing parts, so please do not misread my answer.

Let's back up a little. I assume this is a problem you did not have before changing the cluster. Did you drop the steering column to get the cluster out? If so, I expect that one of the vats wires in the column broke.

If you remember how small home phone wiring was, this is the size of the bats wires in the column. Notorious for breaking inside the plastic insullation, so you would never see a break. I was up to 15 requests a day as to bypassing this system. I charge $100 per car and I was so overwelmed and believe it or not, the
business was losing money because we could not concentrate on our court business.

This tells you the vats was a very serious problem for GM owners to start their engines.

Now if you shifted any of the column wiring replacing the cluster, the vats wiring will give you the message you have on the cluster and the engine will not crank. Cadillac made a whole bunch of money here. The charge for a new ignition was $500 plus. Locksmiths with identical parts charge $250 for a new
lock cylinder and keys. Who are the thieves?

To test the wiring is easy. All you need is an ohm meter and a 7/16 socket (11mm) and ratchet. A 9/32 (7 mm) socket and a (10 mm) socket.

Under the dash there is what is called a hush panel under the steering column. Remove the 2or 3 screws holding it. At the back of the panel at the fire wall you will find (2) 10mm head bolts or possibly wing nuts. Remove. The hush panel will come down and you will have access under dash. You will see where all the steering column wiring is attached to a bullhead at the fire wall near the kick panes. Remove the 11 mm center bolt and then the harness. The vats wires are real thin and should be white in color.pst have an oreange sheath on it, but you cannot miss the thin vats wires.

There are two contacts inside the keyway of the ignition lock. These are locted where the resistor pellet on the key contacts when inserted. Insert the ignition key. Take the ohm meter to both wires at the bulkhead. If there is no reading, you  have a broken wire in the column.

At this point you can have a new ignition installed only to have it fail in the future or you can get the car to any alarm store that does remote starts and have the system bypassed. They have the bypass kits. At the same time, have a hidden starter kill installed, making the vehicle harder to steal. Yes, old cars are stolen all the time.

If there is any misspelling here, I apologize, but to have quicker access to my questioners, I am using my iPhone.

Let mr know how it turns out.



Rob

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you for your reply on 97 devill i removed cluster thru. top after removing dash pad if i put old cluster in the car starts the old cluster dont have mile.s and other items .

Answer
Hi,

I have had many (too many) in which the cluster displayed the same message and had never been removed and it was the vats issue. Please write mr at robo14@aol.com and let me know what happens after the cluster is switched. I do not claim to know everything and am always learning, but I do know a lot.

Even if changing the cluster gets it running, you need to get the vats bypassed or it will strand you and you will not be happy. It is an inherent problem and the quetion is not if the vats will fail, but when.

If you appreciated my answer, please give it a rating. I do not get compensated and just try to help questioners.

Thanks,

rob