VATS question

Hello, I seem to have the famous "VATS" problem everyone seems to have. I have read numerous posts from many many members and have finally found two solutions:

1) Go to a dealership and get it fixed. However, I'm a broke college student and am unable to pay $200-$300 to get it fixed.
2) Bypass the security system by buying a resistor from Radioshack for like a couple of bucks and then installing it.

My question is, since I am going to be doing choice #2, I need to get the OHM reading from the sensor on the key. I am just wondering, for anyone who has done this or anyone that might know, what kind of resistor do I need from Radioshack? Is the ohm reading different on every car or is there one for all cars? And if there is a different reading for them all, how can I get one? Anyone knows where I can find an OHM meter?

You can buy a multimeter or just borrow one from a friend. Any shop should have one. Here's a list of the different keys and how to do it.

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#pass_key

Thanks, so after I get this resistor in, can I just have a copy of my GM key without the sensor in it?

yeah u shoudl be able to, i tried it at the hardwarre store and i think they messed my copy up cause it wouldnt even turn in the igntion. I know my resistor bypass works cause my remote start works like a charm everytime

Once you bypass it, you can use your key, resistor or not.

OK, well I went to Radioshack to get an OHM reading on my key. Funny thing happened though, we got a reading at first (1.2K OHM) and then it went back to 0. I wanted to make sure the reading was right and we tried to get a reading, but nothing happened. I tried about five times and nothing. Finally I decided to go ahead and get a resistor from their shelf. Well, they had the 1K OHM 1/4 watt resistor and the 2.2K OHM 1/4 watt resistor. They didn't anything else in between. Nobody really knew what they were talkin' about so I went ahead and got one of each. My question is, which one should I use? I'm reading to solder but I don't want to solder the wrong one. Also, my little mishap at the store confirmed that my key sensor had gone bad 'cause as I was leaving the store, I tried to get a reading once again and nothing. I went to my car, tried to turn it on, and I got a security light.

its deff not the 2.2K resistor. Its most likley the 1130 ohm key that you have. Try the 1k resistor it may work it may not. You might have to wire 2 resistors in series for it to take it. Most likely a 1k and then a 100ohm resistor or something like that. You dont have to solder you can just try wrapping the wires around it and taping it up and seeing if that works. If i recall theres a connector under the dash for vats and you can undo the little connector to split the connection and try sliding the resistor in the end to test and see if it works. If i recall for my car I needed to use 2 resistors to get what I needed.

See http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#pass_key

Yea I got that site bookmarked as a reference, I did a search here and I found someone that wrote a thread with the different steps. He got a potentiometer with 10K OHM w/.75 watts. I got the same thing so I'm going to try that way because I seem to have a faulty sensor on the key (I went to Radioshack just now and got a 6.2K OHM reading on it). With the potentiometer I can adjust it so I can get the OHM I want (I also got a regular copy of the GM key so I can have it tomorrow morning when I'm setting the potentiometer) I have some electrical tape so I'll try that first.

*UPDATE* So this morning I got up really early to finally fix this problem but it was raining, so I patiently waited for the rain to stop pouring down and at about 10 o'clock I went outside to attempt to bypass the security system. Well, I took the cover off from under the steering wheel and took out the little black plug out, cut the wires, hooked the potentiometer and VOILA! The car started up with the "sensor-less" copy of my GM key with no problems at all (just that the security light was still on bu I tried it several times and it worked every time) So now I'm a happy camper 'cause I feel like I've achieved something great. Thanks to everyone who helped me get this done.

Renzo

the light deff shouldnt be on thats weird, but it works

Yea, I've read posts where people's lights do stay on but I will tell with time and maybe get someone who does good soldering to solder the wires and then I can tweak it more and see if the light will stay on or not.