Remote Car Start Challenges

[ohnmyohngoldcard]

BRRR from below Zero Canada.

 

I have a problem and hoping that someone has some brilliant guidance for me.

 

My truck - 2000 GMC Sierra 1500 - I purchased about 3 years ago privately came already with a remote car starter. I do not know the manufacture of the starter, nor do I know how long it was installed or by who.

 

What I do know is that it worked great when I first got it. There is an on-off switch inside the cab that apparently is intended for the car starter. (not sure if this is a security by-pass??)

 

This year, it seems to be working on the halves - half the time it works, half the time it doesn't. I changed the battery in the remote thinking that was my problem. But it didn't change anything. I had been finding that the only time that it would start was once I was already in the truck - kinda' defeats the purpose

 

I now have been paying attention to when it works - most often it works when I have a door open. It's about 1/2 time with the driver door open, and I would say about 100% with the passenger door open. Again, defeats the purpose....people joke that I have a redneck car starter.

 

I checked with an installer, and they mentioned something about a security by-pass. I have no intentions of trying to do this myself, but my dad is quite handy working with vehicles, and so if I had some guidance of where I could tell him where to look, perhaps I just have a wire (or maybe it's the by-pass) that needs to be replaced.

 

Thanks

Janice

[illMATTic]

Please answer these questions.

 

Does it start then stop right away?

 

Does it act like it is not getting the signal from the remote?

 

What brand is it?

 

You can shoot me a PM if you like.

 

Matt

[jblakeney]

BRRR from below Zero Canada.

 

I have a problem and hoping that someone has some brilliant guidance for me.

 

My truck - 2000 GMC Sierra 1500 - I purchased about 3 years ago privately came already with a remote car starter. I do not know the manufacture of the starter, nor do I know how long it was installed or by who.

 

What I do know is that it worked great when I first got it. There is an on-off switch inside the cab that apparently is intended for the car starter. (not sure if this is a security by-pass??)

 

This year, it seems to be working on the halves - half the time it works, half the time it doesn't. I changed the battery in the remote thinking that was my problem. But it didn't change anything. I had been finding that the only time that it would start was once I was already in the truck - kinda' defeats the purpose

 

I now have been paying attention to when it works - most often it works when I have a door open. It's about 1/2 time with the driver door open, and I would say about 100% with the passenger door open. Again, defeats the purpose....people joke that I have a redneck car starter.

 

I checked with an installer, and they mentioned something about a security by-pass. I have no intentions of trying to do this myself, but my dad is quite handy working with vehicles, and so if I had some guidance of where I could tell him where to look, perhaps I just have a wire (or maybe it's the by-pass) that needs to be replaced.

 

Thanks

Janice

 

 

You need to find the module that drives the remote start (most installers stick them under the drivers side of the dash black box with BUNCHES of wires oh yeah it will NOT HAVE GM on it anywhere).... It should have the brand and model on it...... Your going to need a wiring diagram to figure this out (sounds like a bad connection or a dying module)........ Why would you even open the door then crank it with the remote thou????

 

I have seen several installs where they put a toggle switch under the dash or in an odd spot inside that will kill the fire to the module to keep the car from being cranked with the remote. Heck I have even seen alarms that require you to turn the blinker on before cranking the car or you will have no fire at the switch..... (every one of my antiques I have has 2 kill switches, ignition coil and starter they are no where close to each other either..... plus a dummy switch that cuts the horn and cuts the hazard lights on under the dash........ I parked in a mall for a car show and they tried to move one of them and hit a curb inside the mall with the car (about 4000 bucks damage I had to eat they would not pay up)..... Mall required that they kept a set of keys in case of emergency)

 

Adding anything like that to a car is beyond me to understand why people do it...... It hacks up your perfectly good wiring harness and usually ends up like this after a period of time.....

 

If you find where the module is run the power lead down back to where they tapped it for a 12volt hot..... Wire bent and stuck under a fuse (aka an improper tap in to the fuse box) I have seen wreck havoc on finding problems.......

 

Jbo

[illMATTic]

If you have never touched a remote start, it is not time to start running extra wires.

 

IF it starts then stops....... it is a bypass issue.

 

IF it starts most of the time with the door open, it could be a weak transmitter.

 

The switch under the dash is most likely a valet/programming switch.

[jdubya]

+1 If it worked fine before and now does not it is definitely not a wiring issue. Probably a bad bypass or even the module.

[ohnmyohngoldcard]

sorry for the dealy in responding, I didn't realize that there was some great feedback.

 

 

iLLMATTic - once it's running, it stays running. Not sure of the brand, I don't see anything on the remote. It feels to me like it's not receiving the signal, because sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't...not really a true science to when or why.

 

 

You need to find the module that drives the remote start (most installers stick them under the drivers side of the dash black box with BUNCHES of wires oh yeah it will NOT HAVE GM on it anywhere).... It should have the brand and model on it...... Your going to need a wiring diagram to figure this out (sounds like a bad connection or a dying module)........ Why would you even open the door then crank it with the remote thou????

jblakeney - The only reason that I thought about the door was because one day I was getting in the truck and happened to have the keys in my hand. While getting in the truck it started....it wasn't that I was trying to, but must have been pressing the button without realizing it. So that's why I was wondering if it had to do with security feature.

The remote starter is likely not a GM as the only function on the remote is a little rubber button. You have to press and hold it, watch the green light flash a few times and then it stays solid green. Once that happens, the truck theoretically should start.

 

there is a toggle switch under the dash on the drivers side - on/off switch - not sure what it is other than I was told that it had something to do with the remote starter.

 

 

*Update* this morning - I haven't tested this several times yet today to see if this has fixed the problem, but I have retightened the screw in the remote to see if that helps. I tried it from inside the house, and it did work. But yesterday it also worked from a distance away, and then wouldn't work again the next 2 or 3 times that I tried.

 

I will not be working on it myself. My dad will take a look at it - he is a mechanic and has had to fix the remote start on my mom's car - turns out it was a wire connection. If it's not something like that, I will look at getting a new one installed.

 

Too bad "they" (whoever they are) didn't make this stuff easy

[slemmer]

Would you be able to take a picture of the key fob remote? We may be able to identify the brand by the transmitter. I had a similar situation it would intermittently work. After trying to power down the unit to reset the unit it turned out to be a bad system module. Another thing you could try is remove the connection from the battey to drain any residual power. Reconnect and then see it that resets the module.

[ohnmyohngoldcard]

Update - I tried the remote - no go - I was excited thinking that it might just be the transmitter being lose. It could be the transmitter who knows.

 

Would you be able to take a picture of the key fob remote? We may be able to identify the brand by the transmitter.

I will take a picture later today and post it - good suggestion slemmer

[ohnmyohngoldcard]

Would you be able to take a picture of the key fob remote? We may be able to identify the brand by the transmitter. I had a similar situation it would intermittently work. After trying to power down the unit to reset the unit it turned out to be a bad system module. Another thing you could try is remove the connection from the battey to drain any residual power. Reconnect and then see it that resets the module.

 

 

I just thought to type in the FCC number on the back of the remote. Found a site called remote-superstore with a picture of my remote I've attached it along with this link.

http://www.remote-superstore.com/webstore/...7_56&page=1

 

The info on the back of the transmitter is:

DOC: 1854 K 1066

FCC: J5FRS-3T