Background:
I purchased a 2002 Grand Caravan Sport with this Viper 160XV already installed. The r/s seemed to work correctly, but the parking lights did not flash for anything, and it was randomly honking at us for no reason. I located and reviewed both the user and installer manual and could not find an answer the random honking, sometimes even while driving down the road... other than maybe it had something to do with the passive arming... Now that the weather is warmer I decided to tear into the system and see what I could fix. I am a big DIY guy, and it helps that I have a background in electricity and basic electronics, but when I combine a lack of documentation with something that some other DIYer installed...
So far:
Parking lights have been resolved (maybe) - I discovered that the previous installer connected the + parking light output to a relay which also involved a hot + wire and a WHITE/ brown wire near the parking brake, headed for the back of the van. When I disconnected that wire completely, and turned on the parking lights manually the left rear p/l did not light, when I restored the connection it worked with the p/l but there was still no flashing from the r/s. I could not find a WHITE/ brown wire anywhere on my exterior lighting diagram for the Van, so I had no idea exactly what wire that was, but am guessing my diagram had different colors than my van. Regardless, the existing wiring was not working, so after some research, I remove the relay, put the severed wire back together, switched the parking light output to the (-)200 mA and connected it to the WHITE/ brown wire behind the headlight switch (that also caused the headlights to flash, but I have since added a 2.2k ohm resistor to make only the parking lights come on.
HELP REQUEST 1. Here's the first question, I keep reading that for what I just did "a relay is required" Is it really? and Why? It's working, but I don't want to damage anything...
Next, the Honking - Resolved (I think). I discovered that the valet switch had been snapped off (probably the first time the parking brake was used judging by the location). When I took it out to replace it, I put my meter on it just to make sure it was a normally open switch, when I did that I noticed that the slightest vibration was causing the broken switch to contact - I suspect this has a lot to do with the honking, I think it kept thinking I was trying to program it... I also programmed OFF the "chirps" the passive locking, and the passive arming. No questions there (that I can think of) the Valet switch has also been replaced and will be mounted in a less hazardous location.
I looked briefly into connecting the defogger activation - It looked like that was more work and more risk than I was interest in...
Main Problem:
*Now on to the next issue/question:* (and the main reason for my post)
I'd like to use the AUX to activate the power sliding door.
This van has only one power sliding door - the passenger side. The driver side is not powered.
As I understand the documentation, the channel 2 output is the AUX output on this model.
I have located information that tells me that the power sliding door control is pin 1 on connector 3 at the BCM . I also see notes that say 2 relays are required, and that I need 2.7K Ohms of resistance and that it is a (-) input.
HELP REQUEST 2: the channel 2 output is (-) 200mA, and can be set to only be activated by holding the AUX button, and it disengages when you let go. So why then, do I need relays, and how do I wire them?
And here's the twist: while examining what would need to be done for this procedure, I discovered that the channel 2 wire was already connected to something. It was connected to a relay. The other relay connections were: 1.ground, 2. a wire that already appears to be connected to pin 1 of connector 3 (although I'm not positive for sure if it is pin 1 of connector 3, as I haven't located any diagrams of the BCM, and I can't see any markings) and 3. a tap into the pink wire from the door lock harness (H4) on the 160XV - which according to the documentation has "no function". This pink wire is connected from the "no function" plug, into the terminal on the relay, and then continues on with the blue and green lock/unlock wires, and I have not yet been able to spot where they terminate. I would love to tell you exactly how those wire were connected to the relay, like an idiot, I lost track of where they were connected while I was trying to track them down. So, the relay having been removed completely, and the pink "no function" wire being cut in the process, I thought I would test the functions that I had so far, and interestingly enough the pink "no function" wire definitely has a function, because while it was cut, the doors would unlock, but would not lock (the lights flashed only once, but the doors were sent the unlock signal instead of lock) so I put the pink wire back together, and lo and behold the locks worked correctly again. - So now I am wondering, is there more than one version of the 160XV, and I have the wrong install guide? So with that wire just continuing on, and the other 3 connections off that relay just dangling (one ground, one wire connected to pin 1 connector 3 of the BCM, and one wire from the Channel 2 Output.
Can anyone help me make this power door control happen? And explain the pink "no function" wire having a function? And any guess at all why those wires were all tied together in a relay?