newbie, avital 4103, 2004 buick century

I have been searching high and low for a solution to this problem and cannot find anything. I am really hoping someone can help me out with this issue. I bought my wife an avital 4103 with an xk09 last winter for her 2004 buick century. She went out of town for a couple of days so I figured I would use the opportunity to install the system before this winter. Once I got everything installed and tried to program the xk09 according to sheet, all I get is a solid led on the xk09 and a blinking light on the 4103. I have tried resetting the k09, and it blinks, then turns off as the sheet says it will, but then it turns back on to solid. Neither unit really seems to respond to the buttons for programming. I have checked all connections, brake is 12 volt only when pressed, hood pin is disconnected at the moment, tach is getting a tach reading, ground is good, ignition is connected to ignition, the two 12v are connected to each other and then to the red 12v at ignition, accesories connected to accesory wires. the door locks and trunk all work using remote, but when I hit start it will ding as if the key is in, parking lights come on, relay clicks, but starter won't engage. Car starts normally when I turn the key, but won't start by remote when key is inserted.

Here is my thinking, and if someone could help me out I would appreciate it (manufacture won't talk to me and commando car alarm that I ordered the system from phone is disconnected and won't respond to email):

1) the dinging when starting tells me that the car thinks the key is inserted, so the bypass is working.
2) the car responding to the start command means it is trying to start but for some reason the starter is not engaging.
3) the lack of response from any of the buttons on the units themselves is what really confuses me.

If these symptoms bring any problem to mind please let me know. Wife gets back tomorrow night and I really wanted to surprise her. If I can come up with some solution, I can work on it tomorrow for a while.

Thanks!

Here are some thing to check / try :

If the XK09 flashed with the PLXR firmware?

Any chance that you did not connect this wire to Chassis Ground ?
H2/1  BLACK/ WHITE  (-) NEUTRAL SAFETY SWITCH INPUT

Are you going D2D between the XK09 and the Avital 4103?  If yes, did you do this :
   Avital /  Python BitWriter/ESP to DBI mode port change over.
  To use as D2D mode follow the below steps:
1. Remove all power from the Avital R/S brain.
2. Make sure Avital's WHITE/ Blue activation wire is grounded.
3. Power the unit up. The system LED flashes for 5 seconds to confirm D2D mode change.
4. Remove the WHITE/ Blue wire from ground.  ( Do this cleanly, without pulsing the WHITE/ Blue wire.)

Actually, if you live in a fairly safe area, you might consider bypassing the VATS immobilizer system all
together.  You can use the DEI 652T resistor kit ( under $5 ) and not use the XK09.

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Soldering is fun!

The neutral safety switch is grounded and tested- I put the on/off switch between ground and the 4103 and it is working. I did connect the xk09 blue/white wire to ground, but did not get the pulse. This is kind of where the install documentation gets a bit obscure. If I have all the harnesses disconnected, what would be the proper order to connect them? Should I have the bypass connected to the avital and ground before putting the fuses into the brain? I thought that is what I did, but it very well could be that I had power to the avital before connecting the xk09. Also, just to check myself- the wires on xk09 that connect to the VATS- yellow and yellow and black- do the have to be connected to each other as the wiring diagram shows, or should one go to each VATS wire? I only get voltage on one of the white wires.

I considered doing the VATS bypass (I live in South Dakota- it is still relatively safe) but the chiming when I activate the remote has me thinking that the bypass is working.

Thanks!

The one question you did not answer is very important.  The XK09 can be flashed with many different versions
of firmware.  Your Buick Century needs PLXR.  Anything else won't work.  There is a white sticker on the module
that lists the firmware that was flashed at the factory.  Of course, anyone with the XKlLoader2 cable and inter-
net access can change it.

Please forgive me if I am making bad assumptions.  It sounds like you have done your research.  The instructions
on DEI products are always deliberately vague...

If you are going with D2D mode, the D2D harness is connected between the Avital 4103 and the XK09 as shown.
At this point the all of the dashed Blue lines ( wires ) are handled by the D2D harness.  You only need to hardwire
the solid Black lines / wires.  That means the XK09 Pink wire in the 20 Pin Plug needs to be run to the Avital's thick
Pink Ignition wire.  Everything else is connected with the exception of the solid Black wires going to the Century.
You can join the XK09 Yellow/Black and Yellow wire near the bypass module and just run / connect one wire to
the VATS resistance wire.  You should not connect the XK09's Blue/White GWR wire to anything, it is handled via
the D2D harness.

The D2D / ESP port directions above are only for the Avital 4103 and have nothing to do with the XK09 at this
point.  This just ensures that the Avital 4103's port is set for DBI D2D communications.

The XK09 gets it's power through the D2D harness.  You can use this cable to do the Factory reset prior to
programming ( Page 11 ).  Follow the Type 4 programming steps starting on Page 10.  It gives the proper
sequence for harness connections.

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Soldering is fun!

Ok. The flash is PLXR. Right now the yellow wires are connected to the VATS wire that shows voltage- (2.x volts if I remember correctly but at this point it is all a little bit blurry) is this the resistance wire or is the one that shows 0 volts?

If I am reading the wiring diagram correctly- and this is how I wired it, the only wires that are connected to anything other than the D2D are the two yellow wires (connected to each other and then the white wire with voltage from VATS) the pink wire to the pink ignition on the avital, and then connect the brown and BROWN / violet wires to each other.

Then I hook the D2D from the unpowered avital, then the 20pin with the blue and white to ground, then insert 30 amp fuses into avital to establish power. at this point the xk09 led should flash for 5 seconds to show D2D and I unhook the ground. (that is what I have been unable to accomplish- just xk09 just stays at a solid light)
Assuming this works I then program the system to an installation 4 and lock it in, then program the key. After that I suprise my wife with more than just a "guess what I tried to do while you were gone!"

By the way- I Really appreciate you taking the time to help me. I am just frustrated because I went through this whole thing very methodically, labeling wires before, double and triple checking several of them using multiple sources, soldering and testing all connections, etc. and it is stopping just short of being successful. Then to find out that directd and the company I purchased from were no help- just frustrating.

Thanks again!

Guess my directions for the Avital 4103 D2D / ESP aren't too good.  Sorry.  The wire that gets connected to Chassis Ground
is the Avital  H1/4  WHITE/ BLUE  (-) ACTIVATION INPUT wire.   Once again, the XK09 is out of the picture at this point.
We are only working on the Avital 4103 to get that 4 Pin D2D port set-up correctly.  The LED you are watching is the
LED on the Avital 4103 ( not the XK09 ).

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Soldering is fun!

And I now have an AHA moment. I will try this in the morning and let you know- but I KNOW this is not what I have been doing! Thanks again!

Your directions were fine- it is this thick layer of bone in front of my brain that wasn't opening up.

This procedure will switch the Avital's 4 Pin port from ESP mode to D2D mode ( or visa versa ).  This will allow the Avital to use the D2D port to send commands to the XK09.  The only signals are GWR and Starter.  This will tell the XK09 when to do its' VATS bypass routine.  The XK09 must be programmed to "learn" ( and save ) the proper voltage / resistance level previously for a remote start to work. 

You might also want to list all your Avital to vehicle connections, just in case there are other gothca's. 

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Soldering is fun!

I took out the xk09 and did a resistor bypass- car starts with key in it, so that part is working. xk09 is now out of the picture. still having same symptoms on the 4103, so here is the list of connections with a couple notes on the connections or lack thereof that I consider questionable:

H1/1 NA
H1/2 NA
H1/3 NA (THIS MAY BE THE PROBLEM)
H1/4 NA
H1/5 NA
H1/6 Horn at BCM (black wire) (12 volts, drops when horn honks)
H1/7 Trunk @BCM works
H1/8 Ground
H1/9 Headlight switch- lights working

Satellite harness not connected

Heavy Gauge:
Pink to pink @ignition
purple to yellow@ ignition (starter)
Orange to Orange @ ignition (accesory)
one red to the other to 12v @ign (12v constant)
pink/white Brown @ ignition (accesory 2?) SHOULD THIS BE TO THE IGNITION WIRE?

Door locks connected correctly and working

Remote Start Harness:
H2/1 ground
H2/2 tach to ign coil- tests for good AC voltage
H2/3 to brake switch- tests at 12v when brake pressed
H2/4 Hood pinswitch- disconnected for now, tests for no ground when hood shut, ground when open
H2/5 Rear defogger to neg pulse wire on back of rear defroster switch (dont remember color)

Anything jump out? the H1/3 and heavy gauge pink/white are my two suspects at this point.

Thanks!

Are you able to do a "pit-stop?" If so this rules out many things outside of starter wires, immobilizer bypass, and engine sense.

What is a pit stop?

when I press the start button on the remote and hold it down for a few seconds the car "powers up"- lights, radio, heater come on, something clicks under the dash like it is about to start, but the starter never engages or cranks the engine. it will shut down for about 5-10 seconds and then do it all again without me pressing the remote start button, and keep doing this until I press the brake to shut it off or start it with the key.

thanks

Ok- just changed the programming from virtual tach to tachometer. same behavior, shut down code is showing low or no rpm,low battery. does this tell me anything useful? the low rpm is because the starter isn't engaging to get me any rpm.

oh- I also checked my battery- it is at 11.98 volts after having the door open for a minute, so it should be fine.

GOT IT- it was the pink/white wire on heavy gauge. needed to go to the ignition 2 wire - a white wire in the ignition cluster. (just in case anyone reads through this in the future and wants to know the resolution.)

Thanks again!