I am looking at doing my first ever electrical work on my 93 bonneville. I have done as much research as i could and I am at a decision point.

I want to add remote start, and the model i am looking at is the audiovox aps-996. I am trying to keep the cost low (college student) but still get a nice setup out of it.
My first question is, is this a good model to go with? Or is there something else that you would suggest.

My next question is which bypass kit would you suggest that I use, both economically and for ease of install?

One friend suggested I use a 3m device that just crimps onto both wires (existing and remote start) instead of splicing in and soldering. Is this a good idea?

I have for the most part figured out every wire that I am going to need, where they are, etc, granted this is before I have opened anything up, just research through chilton and a few online wiring diagrams. Am i going to be in for a big suprise when i open everything up?

Any other tips, advice or warnings are greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone for your time!!

i got astrostart installed on my bonnie...it was 425 bucks...i decided to put it inb ecaus eof the remote start in mn winters but also because my keyless entry didnt work and they did that too....it can reach up to 2000FT away...so they say...havent tried it but i have gone really far and started it...anyways....it works very good and im happy with it...

actually i am looking at a hornet 554t now instead since there is more information out there about them.

Please let me know what you think.

anything dei is good (viper,hornet,atvial,clifford) etc

(I came back and edited this post of mine to fix a couple of boo-boos below...)

If you do a Keyword search in this forum using the search term "Dashboard AND Diary AND Chapter" you should turn up my postings of how I installed a BulldogSecurity remote starter ( http://www.bulldogsecurity.com ) in my '93 SSEi. That should cover a lot of your questions. I don't really have a preferred brand of remote starter; everyone has their favorite. It'* more an issue of how you install it in your SSEi. All systems are interested in the same wires in the car; it'* more important to tap into the right ones, rather than which brand of box you choose.

It'* going to be a little impractical for the large-gauge wires on the main ignition switch, since those are 10-gauge or 12-gauge in size. While 3M does make quick-splice connectors in that size range (they're yellow instead of the more-common 14-18-gauge blue ones), you're going to be attempting to connect 14-gauge or 16-gauge wires to 10-gauge or 12-gauge, and the gauge mismatch can be a little difficult for a quicksplice connector to accommodate. If you're good with a soldering iron, just do it that way and you'll be fine. (Bulldog Security has a whole lot of hand-waving in their installation manual about how you're supposed to twist the wires together a certain way, then heat-shrink tubing over them, _then_ put a couple of tie wraps over _that_, but that'* insane. Most likely their lawyers had them write that; I can't imagine any engineer doing it that way.)

Since I have not seen what you've been reading, I don't know how surprised you're going to be. I'm sure there'll be something you need to ask us about, so keep in touch. (Just so you're visible among the clutter, give us a useful Subject line to home in on like "Need to identify switched accessory wire," rather than a generic "Help!" or "Having a problem"...)

The only specific thing I can think of right now is to connect your keyless-entry Lock and Unlock leads to the Yellow and Light Green wires (respectively) that go to the exterior key lock in the driver'* door, rather than to the inside power-lock switch. This way the factory security system will be armed anytime you lock the car via the remote (if it'* not running). If you connect to the inside power-lock switch instead, the security system will only arm if the door is open at the time (such as when you're getting out).

The Factory Alarm Shutdown Wire (FASD), which must be grounded to disarm the security system when you unlock or start the car remotely, is that light-green wire attached to the exterior key lock. It also unlocks all the doors at the same time, which is unfortunate, but if that wire is not grounded, the security system starts flashing and honking as soon as the car starts.

Aside from all that, take your time. If you've never done this before, it will probably take you at least a day and more likely two, working all day. If you have a backup car so that you don't have to go chasing parts in the Bonneville while half the dashboard is disassembled, even better. This is _not_ an easy installation (even J.C. Whitney warns about this in their catalog, and I've never seen them print warnings like that for any other products), but one that you can work through if you're patient. I have installed three of these systems and I still have a respect for the complexity of the task; it doesn't get _that_ much easier with time. Good luck and keep in touch.

I can't thank you enough for your reply. I read thru your diary a few times and it deffinately will get me going in the right direction. I decided to take it slow and i just ordered the vats bypass from bulldog, ill take it slow and put just that in one weekend, see how it goes and move on to the remote start at a later date.

im still tryin to decide between the audiovox aps 996 and the hornet 554t, the hornet is $70 more but seems to be a more used product from what ive seen im my searches.
I have read the install manuals for both products and have a few questions from each, but i wont bug the forum till i know which one i am deffinately going to get.

Thanks again!

Randy

Um, I don't have any problem with your choice of Bulldog instead of another brand like Audiovox or Hornet, but I would recommend buying all the components you need (VATS Bypass, Remote Starter and whatever else) from the same supplier, rather than trying to mix and match your components across brands. The BulldogSecurity VATS bypass needs a certain signal at a certain time in order to do its thing, and its instructions show how you connect to the BulldogSecurity-brand remote (i.e. which colors of wires to tap into, etc.), but you're probably going to have headaches trying to connect it to another brand of remote starter instead. (Besides, the other brands have their own bypass kits.)

In other words, the VATS bypass devices connect to the remote starter box, not just to the car itself, usually so they don't defeat the VATS protection when they don't need to (e.g. when the car is parked), only when it'* time to actually start the car and drive it.

I can't seem to find a vats bypass kit by hornet or audiovox. Do they make them? If not is there a specific generic vats bypass kit that is typically used.

Randy

They must make them, if they plan to successfully sell any remote starters; most upscale cars have had some sort of antitheft system for years now. They're usually hanging on hooks near the remote starter kits themselves. Try one of the mass-merchandiser outfits like Best Buy or Circuit City; I've seen them on the hooks (don't recall exactly which brand).

Wal-Mart and Meijer both sell BulldogSecurity kits, although Meijer is a lot better stocked, including selling spare key-ring transmitters and the BulldogSecurity universal bypass kit that bypasses the VATS system as well as a whole bunch of other ones.

Well, the whole idea with bypassing the VATS system is to bridge it with a resistor whose value matches that of the little pellet in your ignition key. The universal bypass kits do that by cutting in their bypass only when starting the car, so you retain the VATS protection when the car is parked.

You can certainly hotwire the system permanently, by getting the right rating of resistor for your car (1 of 15 possible values) and cutting it into the right pair of wires behind the dash, but using the right bypass kit instead is more, um, elegant, becuase it doesn't defeat the anti-theft value of the system.

Anyhow, if you've picked out the remote starter kit you want to put in, you should certainly be able to find a bypass kit matched to it, even if the first store you go to hasn't got it. At worst, go to the manufacturer'* website, or ask us here.

I went back and did some more research, and here is what i have found out. For the VATS systems with resistor pellets, neither DEI or audiovox have a bypass module. Both suggest that you wire your own external relay with the correct resistor for your car. Essentially you are wiring your own vats bypass out of a relay.

It looks to me that the relay will work the exact same way as the bulldog 791 module will. These are all assumptions, so please let me know if i am wrong in any of them. The self made relay has 2 inputs being power and the remote start device. split one of the two white wires that are in the orange encasing and connect them to each side of the typically closed relay for when starting your vehicle with a key. Then you connect your resistor to your relay and splice that into the other wire, so that when power coming from your remote start is introduced, it flips the relay and sends the signal across the resistor you installed.

Now to me, this sounds exactly the same as the bulldog vats bypass system, its just that the bulldog vats bypass is easier and i dont have to physically cut any wires.

in the bulldog model 791 you have your typical remote start and 12v power source supplied to your bypass module, then you have one wire that you just solder onto one of the white wires in the orange vats encassing(how do you know which one? does it matter?). This leaves me with the ignition positive, which i am assuming will flip a relay in the bulldog bypass not allowing your remote start to activate if the ignition is turned on.

Let me know if i am wrong, or what you think of my assumptions. I would rather not have to create my own relay since i believe a factory created auto sensing item could be used, and since i have already purchased the bulldog one .

also what is the ignition positive supposed to connect to? i assume that is the pink wire in the ignition harness, but i am not positive.

Thanks again for all your help!!!!

Randy