2000 Nissan Xterra remote start woes

I've been helping my friend install a cheapo bulldog RS for the past couple of days, and have had all sorts of problems. I'm familiar with the dual crank wires (one hot, one cold) that nissan implements, but I need help with the rest of the wiring. The problems: when remote started, starter re-engages as key is turned between position 0 and 1 on the cylinder. accessory is position 2, on is 3, and crank is 4. I'm not sure what position 1 is for, because nothing happens there. sometimes the remote start continues to crank vehicle after started, but only occasionally. (my friend doesnt use it because of this, but in testing this was found to happen) sometimes the remote start sets off the alarm, even though I connected the FASD wire correctly. Thoughts: At first, I had the 2 crank wires hooked up with a relay, so that the main wire would trigger the relay and give the other one 12 volts, but the techs at bulldog said to just tie the 2 together...I called them a total of 5 times and was told 5 different ways to wire up the ignition wires, so I pretty much gave up on them. I think the way for it to work is like this, but please help me in my thinking. -cut main starter wire in half and connect to a relay so that when remote started, the starter is disabled. (should be an anti-grind circuit, and may take care of the "grind on acc problem"), -I heard that the accessory wire needs to be isolated and this is why the starter re-engages during the accessory position, so pretty much cut the accessory wire in half and wire it up the same as the anti grind circuit above. The only problem with this is, I tested all the wires in the ignition and the cold crank wire is the wire that gets voltage when key is in position 1, so I'm not sure if isolating the ACC circuit will fix this or not.    -hook the 2 crank wires back up with the relay as I had previously done, so they are not just tied together as the techs at bulldog told me to do. Will this make it work? I'm sooooo tired of back tracking and cutting/re-connecting wires, I have spent way too much time on this and it just needs to get done. Thanks a lot, and sorry for such a long post. -Craig

i had exactly the same problem as he is having when I did a x-terra, when I added the relay it fixed the problem

Yep, me too. I've done dozens of them but had an Exterra a few months ago that did just that. I added a relay to break the starter wire and it was fine. As for the two starter wires, they must be isolated. It will cause problems with the ignition fuse blowing. Do that on a Camry and the AM1 fuse will blow after 50 or so starts...Mike M2

Tech Manager

CS Dealer Services

so I just have to use a relay to cut the starter wire and another relay for the 2 crank wires, and it will be good? Do I have to worry about the accessory wire at all? Thanks for the help guys

Yes, wire the relay so it disengages the starter wire whenever the remote start is on, as Kartune describes above. Use another relay to energize the second starter wire. Mike M2

Tech Manager

CS Dealer Services

Never tie two wires together without a relay.  If the vehicle manufacter wanted them together he would have done so.  The second starter wire needs a relay as described.  Make sure the remote starter's starter wire is conected to the moter side of the relay for starter kill.  then you will not get the ground.Ryan Lybeck

"Wiring diagrams are nice but still double check with DMM"!

Well it seems now my friend is going to scrap that bulldog RS and get a compustar with a 3000' range. He isnt sure if he wants to go ahead and get the alarm too or not. The compustar has built in relays so how would hooking this one up be? I just want to know what i'm getting myself into this time instead of jumping into it like with the bulldog system and spending 3 days of troubleshooting. Thanks for the help everyone.