I have a 2002 Firebird V6. Lately, and this has been a spuradic problem, not always occurring but when I turn my ignition, nothing happens. The dashboard lights up and all the accessories come on, but no crank whatsoever, its as if the starter didnt even exist. I turn the key again and nothing. Then I pull the key out and put it back in and it will crank just fine like nothing was ever wrong with it. Battery connections are fine, no loose cables... Im not sure whats wrong??? I cannot remember if I saw the security light illuminate

 

yup, its vats. There is a couple things you can do. If you have a spare key, try it for a while to see if the contacts are just worn. You can also clean the contacts to make sure they are making a good connection. If all else fails, you can bypass it with a resistor, just use a meter to find the resistance of the chip in your key and match it.

 

What is the normal cost to replace vats and where exactly is it located? The steering column?

 

I dont know the cost but its almost always just the reading of the reisistance at the column that is the problem, either worn or dirty key or key cylinder, occasionally a connection breaks. they are very small wires but are in an orange protected sleeve.

 

Not necessarily.

How long did you wait after pulling the key out before trying the ignition again? Because once VATS locks you out, you have to wait 3 minutes before you can try again. If it happens again, make sure you notice if the SECURITY light is on or not. It could just be a bad ignition switch.

 

I just pulled the key out and reinserted it and it started like nothing was wrong so like maybe 2 seconds top?

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How hard is it to replace the ignition switch?