remote starter in 1998 maxima

Well Im about at my wits end, and I need some input.

A Viper 4204 remote starter (with the Responder LE remote) goes in a manual Maxima. Ive hooked up everything but doors and hood pin. I did BOTH Ignition wires and figured I would try it out before buttoning things up.

So with the car running, I set it into MTS mode and it worked fine. Car ran with ignition shut off, open door, closed door, pressed lock button on remote...car shut off. Perfect.

But when I try to use the remote to start the car, it activates the ignition, but does NOT try to crank the engine. It does this cycle 3 times, and the same result. Now I know what your thinking, theres no clutch bypass....true, but Im still in the car holding the clutch pedal down. Now I thought it had to do with the factory alarm system.... but the doors were never locked. The RS system just thinks its locked.

im lost and dont know what to try next.

Any thoughts?

MTS Mode requires Tach Mode ( for most Viper units ).  Did you program it for Tach Mode, connect a Tach wire to a good tach source and do a Tach Learn?Soldering is fun!

I did attach the tach wire directly to where it attaches to the cluster instead of the ECU.

Also went through the menu and changed it to Tach learning instead of the Virtual Learning used in autos.

Sounds like a Tach issue.  Don't think they started using a transponder until very late 1999. 

Did you verify the tach signal with a DMM?  Did the Tach Learn work OK?

What does Shutdown Diagnostics show?

Did you connect / power both Starter wires?  Does the Viper output +12V to the Starter Outputs during the remote start attempt? 

Perhaps if you listed your Viper to Maxima connections we might see something there.

Soldering is fun!

I started thinking about the two starter/ignition wires.

From one of my readings on some random site, it noted that they are 2 IGNITION wires, so I wired into the Viper

• Blk/Red  into IG 1......                                                                                                                Pink
• and I believe  RED / Blue into IG 2                                                                                           Pink/White
• Wht/Pur as Constant 12V  .....                                                                                                Red
• Blu/Wht as Accessory......                                                                                                       Orange
• Also added RED / Wh,Red,RED / Blk from the Viper unit to a constant 12V for IG 1&2,ACC, and starter relays in unit.

Im going to veify everything tomorrow when I can get out of the cold, Ill make sure that the tach wire is correct as well as the 2 starter wires joined as one

Thanks for the input.

Can't find an install guide for the Viper 4204, but you should keep the two Starter wires

seperate / isolated.  The Viper should have an output called (-) 200mA Starter Output, usually a thin  Violet wire.  Use that wire to control an extra 30/40A SPDT relay to power the Starter2 ignition wire. 

Wire extra relay as follows :

Relay Pin 86 and 87 to +12V constant thru 20 Amp fuseRelay Pin 85 to Viper (-) Starter OutputRelay Pin 30 to Maxima Starter2 wire @ ignition switch harnessRelay Pin 87A not used - insulate

There appears to be some differences between major wiring guides.  Use a DMM to

test the ignition wires to be sure.

DEI info  ( Bulldog is basically the same )

12volts         wht/red - wht/pur   +       ignition harnessStarter          blk/yel - blk/wht   +          ignition harness   Starter2        grn/blk - RED / blu   +         ignition harness   Ignition         blk/wht - blk/red   +         ignition harness   Accessory    RED / yel - red       +            ignition harness   Accessory2  blue - wht/blu      +         ignition harness ***  The ignition harness wires change color at a plug. The above listed        colors show both sides of the plug.

Tachometer  WHITE/ green         ac     ECM

***  The ECM is located in the front of the center console on the transmission        hump. The wiring is easily reached by removing the small black panel just        to the front of the center console on the passenger side. the wire is in the        middle row, 7th one in from the left.

Audiovox info ( Omega is the same )

 Battery             WHITE/ RED  (+)           IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS    Ignition 1        BLACK/ WHITE  (+)        IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS    Ignition 2        RED / YELLOW  (+)         IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS    Accessory 1   BLUE  (+)                        IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS    Starter 1          BLACK / YELLOW  (+)    IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS    Starter 2          RED / BLUE  (+)              IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS

Soldering is fun!

Now Im really going to lose my cool. I was right, I did use the second starter wire as an ignition wire, so temporarily I just attached it to the other starter wire. Wired up a relay for the clutch and everything worked great. Car started on its own, beautiful. So I finished all my soldering,heat shrink and tucked the unit up and away, put the panels back on and went to try it one more time and....NOTHING!!! Door lock/unlock works, double pulse for the unlock. But I cannot for the life of me get it back into MTS mode. The sequence is brake on/park brake on/brake off/button on remote/key off/ remote lock. But it wont enter this at all. The shutdown/startup diagnostics say its (A) + Brake shutdown and (B) transmitter shutdown I verified the brake wire with my DMM,and it shows 12V only when the brake is pressed. Verified my park brake, and it is grounded when applied, like its supposed to I checked every wire utilized and everything is just like it was when it worked. I need a toke man :)

Time to triple check everything.  Here is what DEI has listed in the install guide :

• Remote start MTS mode failure

   The remote emits a failure notification when trying to enable the manual transmission   mode or the vehicle fails to stay remote started when the key is turned off.Possible causes are:   • Hood Open (gray wire).   • Foot Brake active (brown wire).   • No Parking Brake input, BLACK/ white neutral safety wire not showing ground with parking brake set.   • Tachometer is not hooked up or programmed.   • The unit has not been programmed for tachometer mode   • Toggle switch not installed or not in the ON position.

Soldering is fun!

I think im onto check-over number 8. I unplugged everything from the unit, plugged everything back in. Re-learned the tach sensor. Went through the menu and changed from Virtual Tach to Tach. Park brake is grounded, Foot brake is grounded unless pressed, then it shows 13.4V Toggle switch is ON, Hood pin is not hooked up so its not grounded, so it sees the hood as closed. Went through the MTS sequence, and nothing happens with the unit, no internal relays click over and no park light flash. Remote signals back Error, but system never flashes lights as to why. Shut car off, Go through RS S/S Diagnostics. Now it says ... MTS mode not enabled & + Brake shutdown & Transmitter shutdown. Checked to make sure it was NOT in Valet mode, Re-Paired the remote to the system. You don`t know of a way to restore the brain to factory default? Ive looked everywhere for a way, but nothing for a total reset. By the way, I really appreciate your help with all this. Being the `electronic guy`out of everyone I know, I have no one else to turn to when Im stumped, So again, Thanks

A BitWriter would be nice right about now ( to verify Tach Mode, etc ).   Perhaps a Viper person can add some insight.  I believe unplugging all the connectors for a 20 minute time period might reset the brain. 

Soldering is fun!