I bought a 91 RS for $150 because of a bad Key, her son tried to change the ignition switch w/ a hammer and screw driver. Has anyone ever bypassed the VATS and just run a toggle swith? Thi car is eventually going to be my victim for the northstar, buut I'd like to drive it on the 3.1 for a while. I plan on grinding the column smooth, and bondo-ing ove the gaping hole where the key switch went.

 

You need the original key to bypass VATS. All you have to do is check the resistance across the contacts with a multimeter, then go to RadioShack and get a resistor of the same (or evry close) size. If you don't hame a multimeter, take the key to the store and try to talk them into checking it for you, or letting you "test drive" one of their multimeters.

When you get home, unhook the connector at the bottom of the column (2 tiny white wires in an orange sleeve) and splice the resistor into the OTHER side of the connector (not the tiny wires.) Tape it up and leave it be. That's it, you're done.

 

That's the whole prob. the key is no good. It got magnetized or something.

 

It is a resistor chip not a magnetic chip. You might have to bring it to GM to get it scanned.

 

You don't have to take it to GM, and a magnet won't hurt it. Just take a multimeter (set to read resistance) and touch one lead to each side of the "chip." Whatever it reads, that's the size resistor you need. You can get a resistor at RadioShack for about $1.

 

You can bypass the vats by just getting someone to burn you a chip with the VATS disabled. Then the computer doesnt even know its there!