My 1994 camaro z28 will not stay running. Every time it starts then shuts off a second or so later. I hooked a computer up and it said the vats module is bad, if i put a new one on or a used one is there a sequence I have to follow to make it work? The relays right under the glove box are jumped so that the car will even crank so I don't know if they previous owner decided that because the vats module broke and he would try to rewire it, If i get a new vats module will that fix the not cranking and sputtering out problem? Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks

 

check the fuel pressure you could be getting enough to fire but not run. filter maybe pump but most of the time you will get no fuel if it is the pump.

 

VATS works by disabling the start relay and signaling the PCM not to pulse the injectors. If some one attempted to jury rig around the VATS module he would fail. The start relay can be worked around, but the VATS module cannot be forced to tell the PCM to fire the injectors. The starter would crank the engine and within a few seconds the PCM will stop firing the injectors. The usual problem with VATS is failure of the VATS to see the proper resistance from the resistor pellet embedded in the ignition key. This could be due to a defective pellet, bad VATS contacts in the ignition switch, or a wiring problem between the ignition switch and the VATS module. This part of the VATS system can be bypassed by soldering the proper value resistor directly to the leads going from the ignition switch to the VATS module. Check these links:
4th Gen LT1 F-Body Tech-PassKey/VATS
4th Gen LT1 F-body Tech Articles
http://shbox.com/1/vats_bypass.jpg
If the VATS module itself went bad, a used module will not work unless you have the key associated with it, or at least know the pellet resistance. The reason being that the VATS module will marry to the first pellet it sees and won't accept any others. A new module will work fine but it is expensive, if you can still find one. This leaves two choices: reprogramming the PCM to delete VATS, or to obtain a universal module that does not need to interrogate the ignition key and always sends an OK signal to the PCM. These are available in E Bay or can be made up by using plans found on the web or on this forum.