I installed a remote start in a 2004 Honda Accord. The alarm was a Panther P-10, a basic alarm with Lights, Locks, Starter Kill, Door Trigger, nothing fancy. The accord has a factory alarm remote in the key, and a transponder which sends a signal to the ignition before the car is started.
My problem is that now the car won't start. It cranks, so its not the starter kill. There is a light in the dash shaped like a key which blinks whenever the key is in. There is a problem with the transponder in the remote communicating with the vehicle. I tried completely disconnecting the alarm, leaving the key in the door, and leaving it in the ignition for about 15 minutes each. I tried leaving the battery disonnected as well. Honda claims that they must use a handheld computer to reprogram the system, and that there is no other way to fix it. I have a friend who works at Toyota and does it all the time. He says it take five minutes tops, and he usually does it for free. Honda claims it takes an hour and costs $90.00
Right before I finished the installation, the car started fine. Then I realized that the parking lights were not working. The TechSoft printout said that the parking light wire was RED / Black, and was located in a large white plug above the fusebox. I had connected the parking white wire(+ 12V output) to a RED / Black wire in a green harness directly to the left of the large white one. I tested this wire, and it tested as constant 12V+ I believe. After correctly connecting the parking light wire, and ensuring that the incorrect wire I had used was connected properly, I attached the alarm remotes to the keychain and tried to start the car. The alarm functioned properly, parking lights included, but the car would not start. Several people double-checked my work and we have now decided to pay Honda to reprogram it.
My questions are:
Is there anyway to manually reset the transponder system, and avoid paying honda $90.00? The customer has no other keys to this car.
What could have caused this problem? All other vehicle functions seem to work. Could Misconnecting the parking light wire have caused the problem or fried something? Remember the car did start and work properly with the parking light wire misconnected, it wasn't until I connected the parking light output to the correct wire that I experienced problems. Or could the problem be related to connecting the alarm remotes to the keychain, then arming/disarming the alarm with the key in the ignition? The owner's manual/person at honda said foreign objects around the ignition could cause signal problems and cause the transponder to malfunction.
I am trying to determine how avoidable this mistake was and how to prevent it from happening in the future.
Thank your for your replies, sorry for the long post.