My car won't start because the security light is on now. I never had a problem with this until for some reason I wasn't paying attention and tried to stick my house key in the ignition. I laughed at myself and put in the right key drove my car and when I was driving I noticed a security light on but it went away after a couple minutes...so I thought nothing of it. Parked my car got out and when I came back from eating dinner my car wouldn't start and the security light came back on. Did sticking my house key complete a circuit and screw something up? I know my key is fine. I am going to try and disconnect the battery for 15 minutes or so and see if I can start the car again. Any thoughts on my situation? Appreciate any input because my car is my DD.

Thanks

 

Its your Vats security system, it sent your cars computer into theft mode. This just happened to me recently, a few times actually. I had to replace my ignition cylinder lock and get new keys, but turns out there was just a short in the security wire that goes down the steering column

My advice to you is bypass the security system after you replace your ignition cylinder to avoid this problem from happening again.

Any half-brained mechanic can do it, or you can do it yourself. You just need to figure out the resistence needed for your vats key, go to radio shack, buy a tiny resister with the same #, and I think solder the two ends of the security wire to the opposite sides of the resister and viola!

No more vats keys, no more security issues.

Hope this helps!

 

Also, the battery won't help at all.

With the security light blinking, trust me, your car isn't going anywhere so I suggest you call a tow truck asap to avoid frustration.

I even tried to jump the starter and the computer shuts off the fuel going into the motor.

So here are the steps:
-Get your car towed
-Replace the ignition cylinder
-Tell the mechanic to bypass the security system in the steering column.


Easy as pie!
The only expensive part is gonna be the tow and of course the ignition cylinder. Don't let the mechanic screw you either, it should only cost around $285-$300 to fix your cylinder so if he gets a reasonable amount above that, tell him you know the price range.

The cylinder itself costs about 55 bucks, and labor shouldn't be too expensive, plus they'll charge for extra keys

 

So if I want to bypass the vats system and not have to deal with this again I still have to replace the ignition cylinder? So I messed up the cylinder sticking my house key then? lol.

 

You may have damaged the contacts that read the resistor pellet on the ignition key.

 

If your key will still turn the cylinder and you are going to bypass the VATS portion of the cylinder, then I would not see why you would have to replace the cylinder. In order to fix the issue, if you fix the vats with the resistor, it will no longer be connected to the cylinder, then it is just like any other, if it turns, it should work.

 

How much of a pain is it to access the wires I need to cut to put in a resistor? I am going to try and bypass it before I get involved in doing anything else.

 

That's the thing though. My key was totally fine. It read the right resistance in this little device at the chevy dealership, so the cylinder itself was ruined due to it being in security mode.

Replacing the cylinder was the right thing to do in my eyes, but who knows. Maybe if you just bypass the VATS system, you won't need to replace the cylinder too.

Good luck man. Its all trial and error from here. If you run into any more problems post them and I'll try my best to help

 

Just remove the knee bolster and you'll see it:

http://shbox.com/1/air_bag_disc_2.jpg

 

So I installed a resistor and my car still won't start. Not sure what else could be wrong. Do I just need to replace that lock cylinder and how involved is that going to be for me to do?

 

This started to happen on my 94Z last summer.I read in the owner,s manual that if security light comes on, wait for 3 mins and try start it then.This worked for me and i didn,t need a tow.I am going to try a new key if it ever warms up enough outside and as a last resort i will get the vats bypassed thru Madz tuning.Hope this helps.

 

With the resistor in, there is no need to replace your lock cylinder (unless the key is not turning it). You said you put in a resistor, make sure it's the right resistance. How did you splice it in?

http://shbox.com/1/pass_key.html

 

If you have a problem with the key being read by the VATS, tuning it out is still not going to allow you to start the car. The VATS still has to read the key pellet to allow starter engagement. The tuning only bypasses the need of the VATS signal being sent to the computer to allow fuel delivery.

 

I messed around with it again and the bypass using the resistor worked! I am so happy I didn't take my car to the dealer. Thanks for the help all.