I got a remote starter laying around not being used. I was thinking about installing it in my firebird. Would i need to disable the VAT system if i want it to start remotely? or can you somehow hook it up so that when you use the remote it will start but if you were to use a key it needs to have the vats chip in it? people tell me the car would be a lot easier to steal. Also this thing has a open-hood cutoff switch so the car wont start when the hood is up. Anyone know if that means it wont even start w/ the key if the hood is up or just when trying to use the remote?

i like the idea of a remote start, but i dunno it may be more hassle then its worth, any of you guys put one in and do you still like it?


BTW, off topic but the remote starter has options for working power locks too but my locks are manual. would there be any way to hook up the lock button to work on turning on my headlights? or maybe the horn?

 

Some brands of remote starters have an optional add-on (sold seperately, of course) to enable them to work on a VATS-equipped vehicle...might have to look into that.


Pete

 

Most cases, remove the VAT. Some alarms come with a resistor set that lets you bypass the resistor key. This is nice if you tired of buying special keys from the dealer. As far as your lights.....they have parking light outputs generally. If not, you could run a relay from the lock output to blink the lights. The outputs on any alarm are not to be used for more than 100mA of current. Get door lock actuators for you doors or factory solenoids, way worth it. Aftermarket solenoids cost 25 each, available from any car stereo shop. Hope this helps.

Have fun!

 

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Go to the junk yard and get the factory power door lock motors, or just buy them aftermarket. If you want to blink the lights with the door lock wire, make sure you use a relay.

 

As long as your remote starter has a wire that turns negative when the remote start is activated, you can get it to only bypass vats when it is remote started. I have the schematic for it here somewhere, and if I find it I'll post it up. Basically though, you have two relays. One cuts a vats wire in half (negative wire from remote start goes to 85, 12+ goes to 86, one vats wire goes to 87, one goes to 87A). The other relay is wired up to feed the vats resistance to the computer. Probably looks something like this: negative from remote start goes to 85, 12+ to 86, 12+ to 35, and the resistor value to 87. The resistor wire would then tie in with the vats wire closest to the computer. Basically what this does is when you try to hotwire the car, VATS is still activated and the car won't start. When you try to remote start it, your relays are activated and vats is temporarily bypassed.

If some of this doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll clarify

Matt

EDIT: If you do this, make sure to hide your relays VERY well. If a theif that knows his stuff finds these, he can bypass the VATS quicker than you can press the button to remote start the car.

 

This post continues on my one above, I didn't want to make it to confusing.

The hood pin cutoff will only work for the remote start. It's just a safety feature that prevents the car from being accidentally started while someone is working on it. If you don't want to hook it up the remote start will still work.

Most remote starts have specific outputs for parking lights and headlights. If it doesn't, you can get the headlights to flash using the lock and unlock, but of course you'd need relays to provide the amperage. If you want them to remain on constant, you would need some kind of pulse timer to lengthen the short pulse into one as long as you need to keep the headlights going.

I have put the remote starts in a couple of my cars, my girlfriends car, and hundreds of customers cars, and we all love them. I am about to put another in my project car. It is VERY nice in the winter

 

thanks onebinky! i had given up on the idea but now you make it seem possible to wire it up how i want it. So usually the hoodpin cutoff switch will only disable the remote start, but if the hood is up i can still start it with the key?

 

Yeah. There is a wire off of the brain that will not allow the remote start to activate when it sees ground. So when the hood is up, it won't start. It doesn't interface the starter wires or anything like that, so if you're not using the remote start it won't matter. Good luck if you decide to try it

Matt

 

a thirdgen remote start & car alarm installation guide is avaliable here:

http://www.p71interceptor.com/thirdgen/alarminfo

some info on adding power locks is avaliable here:

http://www.p71interceptor.com/thirdgen/powerlocks