1998caddy

QuestionEdit

my cars dash board is reading theft system activated and want start.is there a reset button for this

AnswerEdit

Hello,

There is no reset. This, however is a common GM problem and I will enclose a canned answer that will assist you.

VATS

The chip embedded in the key blade is not a computer chip as some think, but merely a resistor. There are 14 different resistor values used. You can measure the resistor chip on the key with an ohm meter to find its value. If you go to radio shack to purchase one, you are allowed to be within 10%.

Alarm stores have an abundance of the GM VATS bypass kit which comes with all 14 resistors and a sheet with their values. Included with every alarm with remote start and are rarely used these days

Cadillac never manufactured the locks and keys and this was subbed out to Strattec of Milwaukee. So, the dealer and the locksmith get the lock and key from the same place, but the dealer has at least 2 middlemen.

There are 2-very thin wires that run up and down the steering column with contacts in the front of the lock cylinder that contact the resistor in the key to complete the circuit. This very ancient (introduced in 1986 in the Corvette-how high tech would a 1986 computer be?) was riddled with the same problem. The wires break inside the insulation. Even if you were physically looking at the wires, you would never see the break!

Old cars are stolen all the time and the kids know that this was such a problem, that chances are good the system is bypassed. I just examined a questionable theft in a 1993 Suburban a couple of weeks ago because there was no ignition damage. Well on the same style column there does not have to be. All the locking mechanisms and starting and shifting are accessed on the left side of the steering column exactly opposite the ignition lock. Amount of time to break the column and drive off by a teenager that probably learned the process in jail-30 seconds!! We have rebuilt over 10,000 of these columns from theft or for being loose!

You need to put in a starter kill (starter interrupt. Easy to do. All you need is some plastic cable ties. A toggle switch from a parts store-single throw, some yellow butt connectors. A package of 10 foot 12 gauge wire, a cheap test light, electrical tape.

The idiots in the newspaper business across the country are acting like stealing old cars these days is a new phenomenon. Its not! Great for joy rides while the newer cars are more complicated.

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