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Power but will not crank

T

thetech

New Member
I shut my car off last fall at a gas station, got back in and turned the key & nothing. Thought I had a dead battery that was not the problem.
Calleda a tow truck and he said it must have something to do with alarm sys. He said turn the key forward and I'll start it for you I didn't believe he could, he proceeded to open main wire harness in engine compartment (drivers side). he found a blue or violet wire small gauage and by using a jumper touched it to the input side of the altenator. It started no problem ...I couldn't believe it!!
I am still stumped as to why it won't start via the key. This is what I done so far:
- changed ign switch
- removed alarm system
- had 2 mechanics look at it and they say they don't know why it won't work either and offered to run new wire. I passed on that cause I want to stay orginal.
I really need to get it working the way it should be. If any one here has had this problem or has any Idea on how to fix it I would appriciate it.
You can email me direct at [email protected] or just post a msg here.

Thanks :0)
 
Maybe when the alarm was installed they bypassed the chip on the key, and now that the alarm is disabled maybe it has something to do with the Chip in the Key???

Just a thought...

Anyone Else??????????
 
I tried the spare key I got as well and it made no difference. I was told by the gm mechanic that
if you insert say a copied key of org. key but the wrong resistor value the car will start but will shut off in about 10-20 secs and the security light will start to flash. The ecm detects no resistance and kills the engine.
In my situation my car runs fine if I jump the violet wire to the altenator and does not shut off. So I don't think its the key at fault.
Any other ideas ?
BTW where can I get the service manual for the 89 TTA ? I sure hope its still avail. Do you know if it has any schematics for the vehicle wiring ?
 
Talk to George "mr.turbota" about the manual. He may have one or twenty
 
Well I found the problem!
I had a mechanic come done with shop manual and we
traced it down to the starter enable relay. That relay checked ok but we found the green wire (small gauge)coming in had no ground. That ground is supplied by the PASS key module. So I found the pass key module to be defective.
Just thought I would pass this on as someone else may encounter this problem.
 
thetech said:
Well I found the problem!
I had a mechanic come done with shop manual and we
traced it down to the starter enable relay. That relay checked ok but we found the green wire (small gauge)coming in had no ground. That ground is supplied by the PASS key module. So I found the pass key module to be defective.
Just thought I would pass this on as someone else may encounter this problem.
Click to expand...

I am having this exact same problem as yours. I don't own a service manual yet, can someone point me in the right direction to the PASS key module and the starter enable relay

thanks
 
Sorry guys!
I don't have any more spare manuals.
I may have to do the same thing you guys are doing. I seem to be having problems like you. Doesn't happen all the time though.

George :twisted:
 
I had this problem on my '89 350 car. It is caused by one of three things - starter enable relay, the VATS module, or a worn/dirty key or ignition switch. I don't think you need the TTA supplement manual to trouble shoot. The procedures will be in the standard firebird volume of the service manual. To complicate the matters if you are stranded, if the VATS registers the wrong key resistance, it not only wont let it start at that moment but it sets a timer for about 5 minutes. If you try again before the timer is up it wont start even if the correct key is registered, and the timer is again reset!
The problem on my car was the ignition switch. The wires at the switch chafe and it eventualy shorts or opens the circuit. The cheep and easy fix that worked for me was to measure the resistance on the key resistor chip. Then went to Radio Shack and got an adjustable resistor and set it to the same resistance as the key. Then cut the VATS wires coming from the ignition switch and splice the resistor in line. Has worked perfectly for 6 months and its driven daily. Only downside is I dont have an effective VATS system.
 
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