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1999 Monte Carlo LS rescued in under 1 hour!
Thank you Andrew for the feedback and we wish you many more years with the Monte Carlo. Your story is perfect. Sounds very similar to my first experience.
A great car, a bad VATS PassKEY system
“My first car after high school was a 1999 Monte Carlo LS. My parents purchased this car in 2009 with only 26000 miles on it! This car served me well through summer internships, college, job interviews and trips back home from school.
Once I landed my first full time job I knew I needed reliable transportation to commute daily with. My Monte Carlo was working great for about 6 months into my new job, then one cold winter morning my car did not start.
A resistor temporary fix…
I have spent lots of money on starter replacements, numerous shops to look at the car, and they got me no where.
Once I knew that the issue was with the VATS system, I placed a band-aid on the problem by bypassing the ignition system. This worked for about a month or so until I was stranded in the parking lot at my work for more than an hour.
The Permanent VATS PassKEY Bypass
At this point I was fed up and was looking into purchasing a new car. As I was looking at new cars, I decided to search around on the internet if there was a fix for the broken VATS system.
That’s when I came across the NEWROCKIES PRO Module, which is how a VATS system should be bypassed.
30 minutes installation!
The PRO Module looked fairly easy to install, and the price was cheaper than buying a new car! Infact, it only took 30 mins for me to install and my car started on the first go.
I now have renewed confidence in my Monte Carlo that still has plenty of life left. I’m certain that the PRO Module will last the life of my car and beyond!”
From table to installed in under an hour! Great job Andrew! Nice choice of butt splice connectors as well. Always better than simply twisting wires together!
What’s Inside the Monte Carlo VATS PassKey Bypass
The 1998–2001 Monte Carlo shares its VATS PassKEY setup with the Lumina and Grand Prix of the same era — a resistor pellet in the key that has to match what the Theft Deterrent Module expects, or the car won’t crank. The PRO Module replaces all of that permanently (including the TDM) instead of patching around it, which is why the resistor “band-aid” fix only lasted a month before it failed again.
If you’re working on a 1998 or 1999 Monte Carlo, the exact wiring steps are in the Monte Carlo/Lumina installation guide.
