retain illum entry puddle, h/l, etc?

Hello all,

I've got an 07 Ford Expedition and I want to add an aftermarket remote start / alarm.  I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to retain the factory illuminated entry system.  The way it works now, when I unlock or open any door, the interior lights, mirror lights, daytime running lights, and parking lights all fade on.  In addition, if it's dark outside the auto-headlights come on.  Then, when I start the car, the lights fade off except the headlights.

I've been searching through posts trying to figure out if it's possible to retain these features but have come up empty.  I am concerned because as I understand it, the "brain" turns off after a period of time so simply connecting to the door trigger isn't an option.

If anyone could help / clarify I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks,

Russell

Domelight supervision is grn/blu at the dimmer switch, it's a (NEG)- pulse.

Make life a bit easier on yourself....use (POS)+ park lights. PURPLE / white at the electric brake plug under the dash (near the center console)

If left in the ON position, the headlights should come on during remote start. You will need to turn them off after run time.

Most people do not WANT the lights to even come on.... so the only info I have is how to prevent them from doing so!

Open the PURPLE / green at the light switch with a relay.

First off, thanks so much for the replies!  I was hoping I could ask a couple more clarifying questions.

Big Dog,

Are you saying that pulsing ignition will wake up the brain or will illuminate the vehicle?

KarTuneMan,

I'm a little bit confused by your response (because it's been a while since I've installed a remote start). 

Are you saying that if I use the domelight supervision output from the alarm (Code SRT6700) and connect it to the grn/blu at dimmer switch, all my lights will come on (puddle, DRL, etc?)

When you suggest using the + park lights to make things easier, what will that actually do?  Will the + Park lights connection actually turn on all my interior and exterior entry lights?

Thanks for the tip on disabling the headlights during remote start.  I hadn't even thought about that!  I probably would want to disable them during remote start.

Thanks again for the help guys!

Russell

The negative parking light conection requires a relay and additional wiring. The posative is just a (1) connection.

Find a diagram, you'll see what I mean.

Yes , I would use the dome supervision output to the grn/blu @ the dimmer. Not sure on the functionality though.

Thanks again guys!

Big Dog, I'll definitely give it a check to see what effect it has.

KarTuneMan,

Will defnitely use the positive connection. 

The functionality is what I'm really curious about.  My wife and I both find the puddle lights useful when entering the vehicle so I'd like to keep that functionality.  To be quite honest, I haven't tested to see what happens if I just open the door after some time.  If the convenience lights come on when simply opening the door I guess I could just tie into the door trigger, but I don't think it's that easy.

If I recall, the lights only work if unlocking from the keyfob or keypad on the door.

Chris,

That's a really good idea!  I did some testing yesterday and confirmed that even after the truck has been sitting for hours, using the keypad to unlock the truck does turn on all the lights.  I don't think the keypad is tied into the brain in any way so there must be a way to turn on the lights with a pulse on one of the keypad wires.

Hopefully this will all be a moot point if they all come on with the domelight switch :)

Thanks for the tip!

Russell

Okay,

So after some testing: the outside lights do come on when I manually turn on the interior dome light, however they do not fade on.

I don't know if this will work once the GEM has been deactivated.  Truthfully I don't really know how the GEM even actually works.  I know that it will turn off lighting circuits that are left on for a period of time, but I have no idea if it actually goes to "sleep".

I left the door to the car unlocked and after ~4 hours went outside and opened it up.  All interior and exterior lights faded on as expected.  I closed the door and the lights stayed on for ~30 seconds then faded out.  So there has to be a wire that I can pulse to fade the lights on when disarming, I just don't know what it is.

I took some time to think about when and what lights I want to turn on/off:

Alarm Disarm:   All interior / exterior convenience lights should fade on then off after 30 seconds.  Parking lamps and auto-headlights should turn on then off after 30 seconds.  This is exactly how the stock system works when the door is opened.  (I'm thinking I could use the factory disarm pulse connected to the driver door latch wire?)

Alarm Arm:  All convenience lights should fade off immediately, parking lights and auto-headlights should turn off immediately.  This is exactly how the system works when the keyfob or keypad is used to lock the truck.  (I'm thinking I could tie the "factory arm" pulse from the alarm to some wire in the truck to do this, but don't know which one to tie into?)

Remote Start: Parking lamps should turn on and stay on for the duration of remote start.  Do not want auto-headlights to turn on.  (Should be straight forward connection using the parking lamp output on the alarm, I'll have to use a relay to open the headlamp circuit during the remote start duration though)

Alarm Trigger:  All lights should turn on and stay on for the duration of the trigger.  (Not sure how to work this?)

This would be a heck of a lot easier if I knew what was going on when the keypad is used because the keypad does everything that I want with simple pulses that I'm sure I could replicate from the alarm.

Russell