Transmission Destroyed By Python 871xp

You've definately got your homework done.

Another piece of advice to give you is that statistics and hypothesis will only go so far.  The insurance company will ONLY cover this if they can find a direct connection between the alarm wiring and the tranny failure.  That is why it is important that YOU or someone you trust inspect the wiring in the vehicle BEFORE a CC associate gets to it. 

I'm not trying to say that they may try to hide things or cover things up, but they may try to hide things or cover things up.    :)

Again, if possible, record (and take pictures if possible) of every splice and every wire that looks like it has been probed.  I would be very critical in the search for wires that have had their insulation peeled back and no tape on them.  Your problem sounds very familiar to a wire intermittently grounding out.

The 'typical' alarm wiring guide is 1 to 2 pages printed out from a computer printer.  If he had a couple loose leaf papers with him, that was the guide.  To be dead honest, a circuit diagram would only confuse the majority of installers in the world.  Installers work much better with Where, What, and How (were to find, what color, and how to verify).

Keep the updates coming!

This can go both ways.  Circuit Citys standpoint on this is if the customer has a problem with their remote there should be an easy way to bypass the system.  Not many thiefs are going to pop the hood and look for an alarm fuse.  At that point, they might as well just cut the battery cables, since they are already at the battery.  The fuse, in my oppinion SHOULD be at the battery, an easy to access spot where a customer can disable the alarm to deactivate the starter kill if they should break/lose their remote.  I always hid the fuse around the battery as much as possible so that it wasn't clearly visable.

Typically, the fuse is only important when the remote has been lost or damaged.  Most alarm customers don't know where their valet switch is hidden or how to use it anyway.  There is nothing more frustrating then trying to tell an irate customer where you hid their valet switch 9 months ago when their car is completely disabled by the system you installed.  Although it isn't your problem, it is YOU that is expected to provide a quick fix over the phone.

If the thief has already cut the siren wires, the alarm fuse, at that point, is worthless anyway.  Like I said, there are two ways to look at it, and in my opinion, I would want the alarm fuse at the battery.

Yes, I’m definitely looking for a “smoking gun!” I’ll try to avoid the statistical probability and the “what constitutes scientific proof?” approach; I agree that it wouldn’t ‘play well’ in Buffalo or elsewhere. I guess I’m simply trying to explain why I appear to be “begging the question” – assuming the problem is related to the Circuit City installation without identifying the exact mechanism.

I have been searching the web for reports of others who have had similar experiences. I found (on this site) that this problem can occur on GM products if the second ignition wire is not connected. I haven’t found much on Ford products yet. I was hoping that my posting here would cause some ‘flocking’ of others who have experience with this problem in Fords. This problem may be beyond local expertise; thus, my reaching out to the World Wide Web for help.

Meanwhile, my patience has run out. I’m going this afternoon to AAMCO with camera in hand to see if I can photograph the installation. I have avoided touching anything myself; I don’t want my fingerprints on the alarm installation. But tomorrow afternoon will be one week since the alarm installation with subsequent transmission failure, and it’s time to get things moving ahead.

I’ll try to post point-by-point comments in a reply to your specific comments later this evening (e.g., I stand corrected -- he probably did have a page or two indicating the wiring for my vehicle, and I concur that a real wiring schematic for the vehicle was unnecessary and would have only confused him).

In case you missed the original link with the transmission pictures and long narrartive, it is repeated below:

www.AddictionScience.net/CircuitCity.htm