Hey guys, well my Dad just called me from Europe (Hungary) finally something went wrong on his nice Olds Regency 98. Im going to describe the problems hes having as best as i can, though they are very vague. The car is a 1992 Olds Regency 98, he says he can put the key into the ignition and get all the dash lights to light up properly but when he turns the key to get the car started, nothing happens, no clicking nothing. Now he has also stated that the trunk release button on the dash does not work iether. My father thinks these two are possibly related, my dad said you can only pop the trunk in park, and also only start the vehicle in park. My dad thinks he ruled out the started because if he connects a wire from the bettery terminal to the starter itself the car starts up just fine. Another last bit of information my father stated was that the car is having trouble taking in 4th gear aswell. Please any type of information would be very well appreciated. Thank you and i am sorry for being so vague in this matter.

Does he have another key?

If so try using the other key

Appreciate it that thank you, i was thinking something along the lines of ignition switch?

Well, it kind of is. The Olds came with something called VATS. Basically what it does is read a certain resistance on the key, and if it can't read the resistance, it doesn't start. So, if your key is dirty, or the resistor broke some way, the car won't start. I've never heard of the actual system failing, so it'* safe to assume this is the issue. A sure-fire way to know is if your security light is blinking when you try and start it. Good luck!

(BTW, did your dad have to import the olds, or did he buy it in Hungary?)

I am very aware of the VATS system, and really appreciate the info aswell. I have had the bad resistor problem on my buick also. Although after a little cleaning shes working up to par. I will notify you and let you know the update tomorrow when my Dad calls. The Old'* was an original B.C. car and was purchased by my father and imported to Hungary. Thanks for everything.

I am back and this time with a nice little update, the Regency 98 is once again alive, its quite funny because i had this same problem on my 86 caddy fleetwood, but was so sure that it is such a rare occurrence that it must not be true. As i first suspected the computer was being told it was not in park and thus would not let the driver start the vehicle. If you look closely under the master cylinder in our engine bays you will notice the shifting control arm. This is the arm that moves when you shift your shifting lever into any position. As you guessed it the bolt loosened up and was making the car think it was in another gear. I find this really odd as it happened exactly like it did with my 86 fleetwood, i was wondering was this a major issue? or just plain old luck.


Once again i would like to thank everybody for their help, it is greatly appreciated.