hey guys,

I have a 90 RS V-6 which I bought about 6 months ago. It never had a computer chip in the key......the hole is there. My car runs fine. What does the chip do??? Will it hurt anything to drive the car w/o it?? Thanks.....

 

our windstar van has one. if the chip is missing the key wont work to start the car. it is a ani-theft device. since urs isnt there i am assuming it never came with it to begin with otherwise the key wouldnt turn. it is a bithc to replace. ours cost 130 from ford just for a friggin key

 

ford = PATS transponder system
GM = VATS resistor pellet in key

both effective at preventing a vehicle from being hotwired. the ford system probably more so than the general motors one. GM only has 16 different resistor combinations, ford has billions of different codes.

ford is also a wireless system, key head transponder pellet just has to be somewhere physically close to the ignition cylinder. no physical contact between transponder and computer. works on a system similar to the mobil speedpass and wireless tollbooth payment setups.

gm system uses a visible resistor in the key. ignition cylinder has little metal contacts inside that have to make physical contact with the resistor pellet. this system is troublesome on older cars with a lot of [put key in ignition]/[remove key from ignition] cycles. each time the key slides across the contacts inside the lock cylinder, a little bit of the metal wears away. sometimes the wires break off too.

 

Must be a fake then, dont know how it would start without chip. I bought a spare from the dealer about 4 years ago for my '91 Formula and it was 50.00 back then. andy

 

more likely the vats system started malfunctioning and the person bypassed it. if you have a remote starter installed, that may explain the lack of vats too.

FYI: some of the newer cadillacs are now using rf transponder setups instead of vats.