VATS/PassKEY Problems

[rjk5088]

Hey All,

I am new to the forums here but I come looking for some information.

So during the summer of 2011 my security light in my 99 LeSabre came on; the car would have problems starting, I would sometimes have to use the trick of leaving the key in the on position and waiting until I could start again. However, I changed to my spare key and the car has since not given me any problems other than the security light staying on.

Within the last couple of days, though, the security light will periodically turn off for a bit then come back on for awhile. From what I understand this is the next stage before the car stops starting for me. This is really bad timing as I am starting a new job and need my car to commute.

So I did some research on the interwebs and came across this website www.Newrockies.com that sells a kit that is advertised to completely bypass this security system and fix and problems. The kit is about $180+s&h, which is much cheaper than these repairs would cost. So what I am looking to find out is if anyone here has purchased/installed one of these kits and, if so, did it work and how difficult was the kit to install? I am by no means a mechanic but the site claims that the kit takes less than an hour to install, and if this is the case I feel like I could handle it.

Well, I suppose that's it...any help/insight would be much appreciated!

Edit::

So for some reference as to when this problem originally occured -- I was working as a pizza delivery driver and right before the security light had come on my MAF went out so on top of constantly starting/stopping my car for delivering, the MAF caused the car to stall out so I had to crank the car on even more often. After I had replaced the MAF was when the security light came on and I had problems with the key that I was using. Upon further research it sounds like the problem is most likely the two white wires coming out of the ignition cylinder that connect to the VATS system; I just find it odd that the car has been working fine for so long (and even now minus the security light blinking) which is the only sign that says to me that these wires may not be the issue (or maybe I have just been lucky).

If this is in fact the nature of the problem I came across another site that describes how to create a resistor pack that essentially tricks the VATS system into bypassing the wires on the ignition cylinder using the same resistance as the "chip" in the key (website here http://vats.likeabigdog.com/). I suppose my only concern would be that if this is the case, would it be an issue to keep using my key with the chip in it or would this cause more problems? I suppose it would be of very little cost to get a regular, non-chipped key made if this was the case.

Once again, just looking for thoughts/suggestions.

 

[journeyforce]

If you have some minor tool and electric skills you can build your own with a few dollars of Radioshack resisters.
Check youtube
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9QQrrRxrxI[/ame]

It is easy to do and should only take about an hour or so. You need a digital multi meter though

There is a better one involving a Oldsmobile 88 that somebody posted a link to it here on this forum but I cannot find it now

Good luck

 

[redmondjp]

+1 on the above.

You just permanently connect a resistor (that matches the resistance of the chip resistor in your key) into the system, bypassing all of the now-flaky connections inside the ignition key lock cylinder.

The security system module then thinks the key is always present. If you want to still maintain some sort of security, install a hidden switch in the resistor circuit.