There are a few things you must do first before starting. You will need to determine where you are stuck in the troubleshooting process.
I will be using wording like “most likely” and “probably” often because of the nature of VATS. Even if something is a clear indicator to a VATS issue, it’s still not 100% that it’s VATS. Many troubleshooting sessions have resulted in many different problems ranging all over the place with these cars. Use this guide as a “most likely case scenario” if all other answers point to VATS and you have no other indications of anything else being wrong with your car.
The actual repair/bypass steps will be listed each in their own VATS Help section by Corvette model year. This page is only used for troubleshooting to figure out what to do next. There are more technical troubleshooting steps you can take, but these are the most basic easy to follow steps to use when getting started.
Do any or all of the following, write down your experience an/or answers.
I will write a more comprehensive guide one of these days. This is the first update I’ve done to the site in over a decade.
I will be using wording like “most likely” and “probably” often because of the nature of VATS. Even if something is a clear indicator to a VATS issue, it’s still not 100% that it’s VATS. Many troubleshooting sessions have resulted in many different problems ranging all over the place with these cars. Use this guide as a “most likely case scenario” if all other answers point to VATS and you have no other indications of anything else being wrong with your car.
The actual repair/bypass steps will be listed each in their own VATS Help section by Corvette model year. This page is only used for troubleshooting to figure out what to do next. There are more technical troubleshooting steps you can take, but these are the most basic easy to follow steps to use when getting started.
Do any or all of the following, write down your experience an/or answers.
- Is there a constant blinking security light on the dash?
- Yes – Most likely VATS
- No – Check to make sure the light bulb for the Security light, and all fuses in the entire car are good.
- Turn your key to the ON position, but do not start/crank. Do you hear a soft whirring sound behind the passenger seat area? This is the fuel pump priming.
- Yes – The lock cylinder and key most likely works (for now)
- No – The lock cylinder or key may have failed.
- Try bypassing the lock cylinder
- Try reprogramming the ECU
- Try starting the car, does the Starter engage?
- Yes – The Start Enable Relay is most likely good.
- No
- The Start Enable Relay may be at fault. Either replace or bypass.
- Using a set of jumper cables, you can attempt to connect the positive battery terminal to the positive post on the starter while turning the key to the Start position. If the engine turns over and starts, it’s most likely the Start Enable Relay.
- The Starter could also be bad, have a local parts store check it.
- No Security Light, Fuel Pump primes, Starter engages, but still no start
- You may have some other issue that is not VATS related.
- Various VATS components may be functioning, but the BCM or something else in the VATS system may not be sending the “all clear” code to the computer. If you’re still convinced this is a VATS issue, your only other option is to have the computer reprogrammed. If your car has an older EPROM style chip, you will need to contact any number of vendors (there’s several in the USA) to have a new EPROM chip programmed with all of VATS removed. If your car has a newer style of re-programmable computer, you can visit any performance shop or dealership that handles General Motors vehicles and they can remove all of VATS for you. If this doesn’t take care of it, then it most likely wasn’t VATS.
I will write a more comprehensive guide one of these days. This is the first update I’ve done to the site in over a decade.