Security light stays on, VATS?

HEARTSHAPEDNOOSE

MEMBER
1995 CHEVROLET CORVETTE
5.7L
V8
2WD
MANUAL
132,000 MILES

Bought the car listed above with a 6-speed about a year and a half ago. Never had issues starting it other than a battery drain that constantly drained the battery. Recently I bought a battery quick disconnect and installed it so I wouldn't have to charge the battery all the time. The problem I am having now is when I put my key (non-chip) in the ignition and turn it to the on position the security light stays on and I get no crank whatsoever. The security light used to blink. I do not have the original keys (with chip) as I bought car second hand without them, and everything worked fine. I'm trying to see if you had any idea of what I could do to get this back to working.

3 Replies

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

This vehicle has the pellet style system which basically uses a pellet in the key that contains a resistor and when a key with that same size resistor is used to turn the ignition, then the security module will allow the engine to start.

So, this means we need to find out if your key has a pellet on it. You do this by measuring the resistance on the key.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-a-voltmeter

If you don't have a pellet on your key, then this system was most likely bypassed this by adding a resistor. However, this is unlikely if this stopped working and the theft light stays on.

It could just be a coincidence but let's start with seeing if your key has this pellet shown below.

If it does then we need to check the resistance on it and see if it lines up with any of the ones listed below. Then we need to call a dealership and just ask that they run your VIN and tell you what code your vehicle was built with.

This will tell us what key you need to purchase in order to get it operating again.

Please run through all this info and let us know what questions you have, and we can go from there. Thanks

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Thursday, December 2nd, 2021 AT 2:29 PM

HEARTSHAPEDNOOSE

MEMBER
57 POSTS

The keys that I have do not have the pellet or resistors in them. They are just blank keys that someone had cut. This is the first time I have had this issue with this. I usually just put the key in, push the clutch in, turn the key and it starts. Now I put the key in, push the clutch, turn the key and nothing happens at all other than the security light being on and other normal lights. I don't know if the brake pressure light is normally on when trying to start or not as I have never paid attention. I would guess that the resistor is bypassed but it doesn't make sense to me that disconnecting the battery would change that at all. Is there a way to get the information needed for the key without having any of the original keys if we can't find out what is causing the issue?

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Thursday, December 2nd, 2021 AT 3:20 PM

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Yeah. I think the best course of action is like I stated above where we need to call the dealer and they can run your VIN to find out which pellet you need.

I agree that it was bypassed somehow, and the battery disconnect caused it to lose that bypass. I am not sure how this was done because the normal way to bypass this system is to just put a resistor on the wire so that the module things that whatever key or object that turned the ignition has the correct pellet. That does not go away after a battery disconnect.

No matter what, I think the best thing to do is just get the pellet size and have a key cut because they are not that expensive.

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Friday, December 3rd, 2021 AT 6:40 AM