Expert: Rob Painter - 7/23/2011

Question
QUESTION: i have a 91 caddy eldorado i just got it great car but its not starting now it is say 3 mins to start due to thief systems,it did it once b4 i waited the 3 mins started right up now it is doing it again and i get nothing after 3 min,i read on here one time that it is the key is this so,i dont no if i got the right key anyway i may have a valet key i was told please help this is only car i got to drive 9374503043

ANSWER: Hello,

Yes, the wonder garbage GM VATS


VATS

A very, very common no start problem was built into these vehicles with their so-called anti theft system that has stopped more owners and left them stranded than thieves.’
The chip embedded in the key blade is not a computer chip as some think, but merely a resistor. There are 14 different resistor values used. You can measure the resistor chip on the key with an ohm meter to find its value. If you go to radio shack to purchase one, you are allowed to be within 10%.

Alarm stores have an abundance of the GM VATS bypass kit which comes with all 14 resistors and a sheet with their values. Included with every alarm with remote start and are rarely used these days

Cadillac never manufactured the locks and keys and this was subbed out to Strattec of Milwaukee. So, the dealer and the locksmith get the lock and key from the same place, but the dealer has at least 2 middlemen.

The dealer will first charge $50-$75 per key and when that doesn’t work and they scratch their head, they will hit you another $300 to change the ignition lock and 2-wire wiring harness. It’s common to see a dealer charge $500 for this repair and $250 from a locksmith and if you are not mechanically inclined, the alarm store may bypass it all together for $50.

There are 2-very thin wires that run up and down the steering column with contacts in the front of the lock cylinder that contact the resistor in the key to complete the circuit. This very ancient (introduced in 1986-how high tech would a 1986 computer be?) was riddled with the same problem. The wires break inside the insulation. Even if you were physically looking at the wires, you would never see the break!

These thin wires break, causing the engine not to crank. The wires have to be located at the junction box going through the firewall under the dash. They are the only two white wires as thin as old telephone wire. Commonly in an orange sheath hat will make it look like a regular 12 gauge wire. You need to move up from the junction box making sure you found the 2 small wires about 6”, cut the sheath. You will no longer use the wiring to and from the column. Slide back some shrink tube. Solder the resistor to the wire from the junction block. Heat the shrink tube. Attach to the other cut thin white wire and do the same. Now, that’s fixed and the computer thinks the correct value resistor is being used every time.

Old cars are stolen all the time and the kids know that this was such a problem, that chances are good the system is bypassed.
I just examined a questionable theft in a 1993 Suburban a couple of weeks ago because there was no ignition damage.
Well on the same style column there does not have to be. All the locking mechanisms and starting and shifting are accessed on the left side of the steering column exactly opposite the ignition lock. Amount of time to break the column and drive off by a teenager that probably learned the process in jail-30 seconds!! We have rebuilt over 10,000 of these columns from theft or for being loose!

You need to put in a starter kill (starter interrupt. Easy to do. All you need is some plastic cable ties. A toggle switch from a parts store-single throw, some yellow butt connectors. A package of 10 foot 12 gauge wire, a cheap test light, electrical tape.

Your electrical ignition switch is located at the top of the steering column under the dash. You are looking for either a yellow or purple wire coming from that switch. (Don’t go into the large yellow air bag wire!!! Lots of warnings on that one. You are looking for this wire running with many others coming from the ignition switch. Put your test light in the yellow or purple wire; turn the key/lock cylinder to start. You will have only power on start. Cut the wire.
Take your 12 gauge and cut in half. Tape together side by side making a harness. Strip all the ends. Put your yellow but connector on and then the next. Strip the starter wire ends. Attach the 12 gauge ends with the but connectors Crimp. Tape tight on wire, putting pressure on butt connector so the wires won’t come loose.
Connect your toggle on the other end. Take your cable ties and attach your harness to a dash brace or harness in multiple locations. Take your harness, run it under the left kick panel and under driver’s sill plate to about the middle. Put your switch there, exposing only the toggle lever. You could put a rag on top, or get some touch up the color of your interior to paint over the throw. Once installed, tie up any loose wiring under dash and reinstall dash hush panel.

You can be driving and flip the switch. It will not stall engine, it just won’t crank until you toggle the switch again.

The idiots in the newspaper business across the country are acting like stealing old cars these days is a new phenomenon. Its not! Great for joy rides while the newer cars are more complicated.

http://www.autotheftexpert.com


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

QUESTION: ok u said cut the two little wires,then u say solder the resistor wire to the other white wire,sorry sir this is where i get lost.do u mean solder the two white wires togeter and then u r done ? i am reading this and u say the two white wires are soldered to the resistor, so where is the resistor wire at? if there r only two white wires is one of them the resistor wire please b more detailed im not very good on cars.and anymore help on how to find the two white wires to make sure i got the right ones?

Answer
Hello,

You need to read the resistance in the key pellet with an ohm meter. Once you have that value and you are allowed 10% one way or the other go to radio shack and get a resistor.
Back to car, cut two white (very thin like phone wires. Give yourself some room at the junction block. You are bypassing the wires leading up and down the column. You should see a orange sheath on these two thin wires making it look like a thicker orange wire. At the fire wall junction block under dash you will find them.
Once cut, solder resistor to one side, then the other. Don't forget to put the shrink tube on first to cover the solder. Once wires are hooked to resistor, computer thinks you are using the proper resistor key each time.

If you have problems call me at 866-490-1673 and I will walk you through it.
http://www.autotheftexpert.com