problems with audiovox prestige aps 785

Couple facts – car alarm is Audiovox Prestige APS-785 (with remote starter), car is 2003 Honda Accord. The car alarm was installed at the dealership 6 years ago, when we bought the car. It used to be my wife’s car, but when I got it couple years ago, I’ve noticed that couple functions were not working or working a little bit differently. For example the starter didn’t work – it cranked the engine two or three times with no luck – someone later told us, that it’s because the battery in the transmitter was replaced. It didn’t bother me as long as the alarm worked, although it would be nice to have that remote starter working especially during winter in Chicago. So I had this alarm, with many features, but only lock/unlock worked. I was fine with that.

Then couple months ago one of the transmitters failed to work. When the battery is in the light blinks continuously, and the transmitter doesn’t work.

Then last month the other transmitter started acting – I couldn’t disarm the alarm, even though I tried many times. I changed the battery – it didn’t help. I drove my car to the dealer, with alarm sounding all the time, and when one of the service guys touched the transmitter… a miracle happened – it started working. I didn’t want to take chances, so I disarmed the alarm, and left the transmitter at home.

Last Wednesday I wanted to charge my car’s battery, so I had to disconnect it. After I reconnected it, the alarm sounded (of course), but didn't respond to the transmitter. I had to manually override it using the valet switch.

I tried reprogramming the good transmitter doing the following: ignition on, press valet switch 3 times, press lock (the alarm sounded once), press valet, press unlock (the alarm sounded twice), press valet, press the third button (the alarm sounded three times), press valet, press the fourth button (the alarm sounded four times)… and the transmitter still doesn’t work. What do I do wrong? How do I program the good transmitter? What should I do with the other one? Is it reparable?

Thanks for any help.

Thank you, Chris for your advice. I'll try to re-program the "good" transmitter one more time, then I'll get back to you with results.

Ok, I tried to reprogram the "good" transmitter today one more time. I did the following: ignition on, pressed the valet switch 3 times, the siren chirped once, pressed and hold the lock button for some time, but there was no loud chirp, and after about 6-7 seconds the alarm sounded once, and it was it. It looked like the unit exited the program mode. Oh, and from that single chirp until that one sound, the dash mounted LED was flashing, then it went off. I tried it two times. Does it mean that the unit doesn’t recognize the transmitter/the second transmitter is also bad? The battery is good, and when I press any button the LED on the transmitter blinks as it used to before I started having those problems. Any thoughts?

I've been very busy at work lately... but here is an update: the antenna cable was loose. I've plugged it in, I've reprogrammed the good transmitter (I changed some features), and the car alarm works. The other transmitter is dead though, so I'll have to think about a replacement. Chris, is your offer still valid?

Now - the remote starter. I've programmed the tach rate, I've made changes to some features, but it still doesn't work. The lights flash once, the starter inside the car tries to start the engine, but after three attempts nothing happens. I've tried to enter the diagnostic mode (feature #7), but the description in the manual is so vague, that I has not been able to figure out the reason. I think I've turned it on, but the lights were not flushing... Do you have any idea why the remote starter doesn't work? Is there anything I can do to check/fix it?

Chris - you are the man!

When I tried to start the engine remotely, the green key light on the dashboard was flashing. I put the key in the ignition (in the Off position), tried again and the engine started... So what's the next step? How do we fix that transponder bypass issue?

Thanks for all your help!

PS. No, I still have my original keys (no replacement). My wife (who's been using the car previously) said that the remote start hadn't been working for a long time.