Dashlights on but Car not Starting. Bad Key?
 

I am so glad I found this forum. I've got a '95 Bonneville and the gremlins in the car are getting real nasty. One of the problems is sometimes it won't start. The dashlights, radio, etc. would go on but total silence from the motor. It was very puzzling until I read a post on this forum that said wait three minutes for the security system to "reboot." THANK YOU!!!!!! I could have been stranded two times today but I waited three minutes each time and the car started.

However, my question is this is happening way more frequently now. Is it a question of replacing the key? Now that I think of it my husband's key does the same thing to him once in awhile. What else should I be looking at replacing/fixing?

That car is equipped with a VATS security system, which means there is a tiny two wire harness that snakes up to the ignition lock cylinder that has two contacts, which the pellet on the key completes. It is a common failure where the tiny harness breaks due to movement when tilting the wheel up & down & from starting...

There are good ways to bypass with a resistor, or replace the cylinder head by swapping heads from a new cylinder assembly. The dealer I work at sees this at least once a week in some form or fashion....

I posted something similiar here: VATS Q&A - GM Inside News Forum

How to bypass the VATS system in a late model GM vehicle
And here is another good article and how to so that maybe you can work around that no start situation. i have used it myself many times and it is very simple but elegant solution.