'02 monte carlo remote start issues

A PLJX or PLZAP would also work well - GMBP supplies seem pretty short during the peak season right now (Bypasskit's out of them and my local distributor's down to 3).C Renner's Auto Electronix

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I scored a cheap cheap 555LW. I intend on installing another remote starter on my wife's Impala, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with this. I have a friend who is looking at having me put one in his Grand Prix(I don't know why, I barely can manage with the one in my Monte!) so I'll take a look at both the PLJX and GMBP. Thanks again, I'll let you know when everything is up and running!

Well, the UPS man dropped by with a new 791 bypass, and I figured this would be the last step, and I'd have a fully operable remote start. Not so, the thing still won't work, and exhibits the same issues as previously. So maybe it's not the bypass, and maybe it is. It does everything but start the vehicle; it will lock and unlock, run the accessories during an attempted remote start, and even do the valet take-over. But that's about it. I tried calling their customer support, and they of course were already closed. I'll try them in the morning, and again would appreciate any suggestions on where to chase the gremlin in the system now. Thanks.

If you are able to do a valet take over, that that tells you that all the right ignition wires are powered. you either have an acc ouput connected to an ignition and it drops out durring cranking, or, you still have a passlock problem.

I have two ignition wires connected to the RS, both correctly, and one accessory wire. I have two accessory wires to power, so I relay powered the second wire, using the primary accessory wire as the power for the relay coil. I tested, and all the outputs are coming on when they're supposed to, so I'm guessing it's still a Passlock problem. Thanks for the hint though.

adryan16, Try manually grounding the remote start input to the bypass. I don't know if I mentioned earlier that the ground output might not be strong enough to drive a relay and a bypass? See what that does for you. Also, since you mentioned potentially doing a Grand Prix, I'll point out that the immobilizer bypass will be slightly different. Grand Prixs came with either VATS('92?-'96), no immobilizer('97-'99), or Passkey III('00-'03). PLJX would work for VATS, GMBP would work for Passkey III. '04 and up use the PKU-GM.C Renner's Auto Electronix

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Chris, I want to be sure that I understand what you are suggesting. Do you mean to just use a jumper wire or such connected to a ground at one end and connect the bypass output wire from the bypass, or ground the wire for the bypass input to the remote starter? The bypass is powered from the same 12V+ constant that the remote starter is, and then grounded via the ground from the Passlock circuit. This diagram shows the wire layout for the bypass. The blue wire in this diagram is connected to the white wire in this diagram. I'm assuming that these are the wires you are mentioning, though I'm not entirely sure of their purpose and method of activation. Thanks for the info on the Grand Prix. I hadn't looked into it yet, and assumed that another similar year W-body car as my Monte would have the same anti-theft system. I'm glad you mentioned things. I read a little bit more into the GMBP and other databus bypasses, and they sure seem like the ticket. Thanks again for the help!

From your diagram - you'd be grounding the blue "(-) activation input". This is to rule out the possibility that the remote starter is not putting out enough current on that wire to activate the bypass. Agreed that the W-body is bizarre as far as the anti-theft, which I tend to cite as an example. From '00 to '03 the Impala/Monte Carlo had Passlock, the Century/Regal had VATS, and the Grand Prix had Passkey III. Also much of the switching is vastly different(e.g. Monte Carlo locks are negative through a resistor, Regal and Grand Prix would both be straight negative, but the wire colors are different). I don't know what it says about GM engineering that they couldn't eliminate minor differences like this that the customer would never notice. C Renner's Auto Electronix

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Chris, Thanks again for your reply; you've been a lot of help in diagnosing this! Through reading through quite a few manuals and other notes concerning my particular bypass and remote starter, I stumbled upon something noting that the blue wire out of the bypass would be grounding the system when it's activated, which is how you explained it as well. In lieu of this, I did yesterday hook up a jumper wire to a ground, and tried to remote start it, with the same no-start results. However, in one of the bypass FAQ sections on the Bulldog Security website, they explain the way to clear the resistance memory by grounding the blue wire and hooking the harness back into the unit. I'm a bit confused on how this should work. It seems confounding that the module needs to be grounded to activate the bypass, and also grounded (as basically a jumper) to clear the EPROM. However, if you read below it states:"The BLUE wire on 791 may not be receiving a ground from the main unit while Remote Starting. Check this wire for GROUND when you press START on the Remote Starter." I didn't check it for ground when I pressed start, so I'll do that this evening. Thanks again for the help!

Adryan, The "memory clearing" procedure makes sense to me since you've mentioned it - many other bypasses(e.g. Bypasskit) have something similar, where there is a "program" button which is held in while the unit is being plugged in, and this resets its memory. The electrical reasons for this are a bit beyond me however :-)C Renner's Auto Electronix

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