Andy, my advice would be to dump that remote starter (take it out, all of it!) and then install a new one if you want a remote starter. What kind of remote start was it? I had nothing but problems with Clifford alarms back in the day (now owned by DEI).

Episode 4:

The car is still awake and happy this morning; the culprit was the remote starter, with its Lock circuit stuck on. The box is coming out, permanently, as soon as I can label all the connections going off to various places in the wiring harness, so I can easily install some different brand later.

I still have to relocate my Lock and Unlock connections from the driver'* door switch to the driver'* outside door lock, so that zapping the locks with the remote will also set the factory security system. The way it'* set up right now, the system only arms if the inside door switch is pressed _while_ the door is open, since the system assumes that you're getting out. If the Lock pulse is sent to the driver'* key lock instead, the system thinks you're already outside the car, locking it with a key, and will arm the system with all doors closed, as it should.

The culprit is a BulldogSecurity RS-102, the second one to go bad on me in routine service. The first one failed in a more spectacular way on our '96 Trans Sport minivan. One morning about two hours after I'd left for work, I got a frantic phone call from my wife to say that the minivan had suddenly started itself _in_ the garage, and was still periodically cranking the starter, grinding it into the flywheel (even though the tach connection was set up, so in normal use it would detect the engine running).

It didn't stop by itself until it had fried the starter solenoid. After she got the engine shut off at last, I had her pull _all_ the fuses until I could get home and sort things out. That box also came right out, of course, and she would appreciate it if I did _not_ put in another one, no matter what brand it is.

(If you want to smell something _rancid_ sometime, try replacing a fried solenoid.)

So I'll take recommendations for a new brand of remote starter, and BulldogSecurity is definitely off my Christmas card list forever. (Still gotta look at the original paperwork and see if I've got a warranty claim on any of this mess...) I'm looking for a reliable brand (Duh...), preferably without an alarm, since I don't need one; with good range, so I can zap it from my train as we're pulling into the station; and with some 2-way communication and/or LCD display so I know when it'* running.

Andy..Bulldog? don't you care about your car a little more than a Bulldog?

Check out UNGO, they were a small company doing things so well that Clarion wanted the technology and bought them up.

Now, now... I was young and impressionable, they looked kewl at the time, etc...

Okay...

An UNGO came with my car. It fried a douple of it'* own fuses once (might have been my fault for playing with the new toy so much) but other than that, not one single problem with it.

Duly noted...

Anybody got one with an LCD feedback screen on the transmitter?

Going from one extreme to the other?

Ayup. After all, most every wiring connection is already done; all I need to do is swap over the inputs from the old controller connector to the new one.

DEI makes some great stuff (they make the Viper, Python, etc.). I've never had one go bad and they are not sensitive to varying voltages that a car can have compared to other brands. However the VIPER brand is only sold with an installation, but you can check DEI'* website and see what other brands you can buy that will allow you to 'do it yourself'....they have like 5 or 6 brands if I remember correctly, all for different dealers.

Chris, do you have to count the beeps with DEI'*? One of the nicer features of UNGO'* were they had a tricolor led and you changed all your settings like a man. Turn key on press transmitter button and follow the steps. No reaching under dash and saying...."how many freakin beeps was that????"