'93 lesabre won't start

My '93 lesabre would not start the other morning. I took the steering column apart and found that one of the 2 wires going to the ignition cylinder was broken. Bought a new cylinder and installed it - and the car still won't start. So I have a few questions:
- What do those 2 wires do? Does it matter in which order they are connected to the wiring connector?
- After I put everything back together I noticed that the security light is flashing when I turn the key to on. Is this normal?
- I am assuming that the original reason for my car not starting was because of the broken wire, and I must have done something wrong when I was installing the new one. Any ideas what could have gone wrong? The new ignition switch seems fine, turns ok and the dash lights come on when the key is ON. It just still won't start.

Thanks in advance for any help.

y- I am assuming that the original reason for my car not starting was because of the broken wire, and I must have done something wrong when I was installing the new one. Any ideas what could have gone wrong? The new ignition switch seems fine, turns ok and the dash lights come on when the key is ON. It just still won't start.


What did the car do when it wouldn't start the first time? Did the security light flash for 3 minutes and then turn off and allow you three more key insertions and rotations to "crank"?

That would indicate it was the VATS system getting a wrong resistance.

So you replaced the key cylinder which I assume comes with the pigtail wires going down to the connector on the steering column? Did you replace the key for the new cylinder with one that has the same resistance as the chip in the old keys? There were 15 different resistances. Look for VATS on the internet for a list of the 15.

More commonly, people just jumper the two wires down low on the steering column with resistors of the same value as the old key had. That makes the electronic control module think it's getting a key resistance reading when it's actually only getting a ficticious reading.

This is what alarm shops do when they install and alarm system--they put in a resistor that they get to bypass the reading of the key.

What did the car do when it wouldn't start the first time? Did the security light flash for 3 minutes and then turn off and allow you three more key insertions and rotations to "crank"?


I did not notice if the security light was flashing the first time the car would not start. I just know the dash lights came on but the car didn't make a sound when I tried to start it. After I replaced the key cylinder and turned the key to on the security light was flashing. I let it sit for a good 20 mins to see if the security light would stop flashing but it never did.

So you replaced the key cylinder which I assume comes with the pigtail wires going down to the connector on the steering column? Did you replace the key for the new cylinder with one that has the same resistance as the chip in the old keys?
Yes I replaced the cylinder which came with the pigtails. I did not know that I needed to use a key with the same resistor chip though. The 2 keys that came with the cylinder I bought do not have any chip in them.. So the car would never start with those keys unless I splice a resistor onto one of the wires? Does it matter which wire I put it on?

I did not notice if the security light was flashing the first time the car would not start. I just know the dash lights came on but the car didn't make a sound when I tried to start it. After I replaced the key cylinder and turned the key to on the security light was flashing. I let it sit for a good 20 mins to see if the security light would stop flashing but it never did.


Yes I replaced the cylinder which came with the pigtails. I did not know that I needed to use a key with the same resistor chip though. The 2 keys that came with the cylinder I bought do not have any chip in them.. So the car would never start with those keys unless I splice a resistor onto one of the wires? Does it matter which wire I put it on?

The resistor pack you make has to replace the circuit which is the two wires up to the key lock cylinder. And you need to use an ohmmeter to measure the resistance of your current keys and match it up to the 15 choices in the VATS list. Your resistor pack needs to be within 5% or 10% of those values. Radio Shack resistors put in series in combinations can make most of the resistances used. I think one of the lists on the net tells the minimum and maximum values for the range of each of those.

OR you can go to a GM dealer or a real locksmith shop who has the GM chip keys and have them cut a key with the right resistor in it for your car. That might be easier but probably will cost.

When the resistance read by the computer is correct, the security light flashes on briefly when the key is turned to ON and then right back off.