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Cadillac Repair/my 1999 deville wont start

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Expert: - 5/13/2010


Question
I drove my car to church,it ran fine then I came home and parked my car and now it won't crank up,all systems read fine and the fuel pump comes on but the car won't start.

Answer
Hello,

When you say it won't start, does the engine crank?

If it doesn't crank, play with the tilt. Up and down in different positions and see if it will crank then. Hold the brake and run the shift lever through the gears. Try to start in neutral.

Sounds goofy, but if the small little VATS wires broke in the column, by doing this they may connect. The purpose is only for diagnoses because these cars with the VATS anti-theft system were very problematic. So much so I was getting 15 emails a day to bypass.

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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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