i agree that it would be expected not to crank if it thought the hood is open. and since ive checked all other wiring im leaning towards the tach wire needing to be connected. im just not sure what wire it is at the pcm. the factory service manual shows 2 white wires on the black 32 pin connector. one if for circuit 423 or ignition control, the other is "PRNDL P", obviously not the one im looking for. i know the white wire im looking for is circuit 121 (white wire) but its supposed to be on pin E of an "8-way ignition harness connector."

i have no idea where to find this connector though. all the alarm install diagrams say theres a tach signal wire on the white wire at the pcm. so i guess im confused if this is the ignition control wire (circuit 424) because thats the only white wire ignition related at the pcm.

The ignition harness plug should be right by your coils. From that plug it should go to the ICM, a ground wire, the cam sensor, and the crank sensor. I'll look threw my service manual and see what I can find.

Did I miss you mentioning what year and make this is on.

looking at my manual im finding the info on page 6E3-A-7 of book 2. so are you saying there really might not be a place to tap in at the pcm? because thats what it sounds like if the ignition harness jumper connector is under the hood

sorry, its a 93 SLE

Ack, don't have that service manual.

I think what ill just do for now is run a long wire from under the hood to the tach wire and see if that will keep it running. if that keeps it running, i ll keep looking for which wire to tap into at the pcm. if its not that then i may have a defective unit or something. im pretty sure i have all the other wires connected right so that would be the only viable reason.

That'* all I can think of. The unit needs to know the engine is running, and that'* how it does that. No RPM it thinks the engine didn't start, it will wait a moment and then reset and restart.

i really appreciate your help and input. one thing that bothers me is that it can run anywhere from 10 seconds to like 6 mins before shutting down and restarting. i would think there should be some consistency in the time before shut down if it was looking for rpm info. but ill see what happens with the tach wire. its hot as hell today so ill probably wait 'till tom. to see