Ready Remote issues

I have installed a couple of these before model 24926. I just put one in a 96 Pontiac Grand Prix. The wire diagram says the purple wire is a second ignition. When I test the wire it tests as a accessory wire, only has power in the accessory position. So my question is should I just leave it not connected? Issue i am having is at times when I go to remote start the car. The parking lights come on like it has received the signal from the remote but the car does not start. Usually after I try and start it with the remote two or three times it will go ahead and finally start. Other times it will start on the first try. Wondering what would prevent it from starting when I know the system has received the signal to start. but it just doesn't do anything. This really only seems to happen when the car has been sitting for awhile. If I have just drove it. The thing seems like it will start on the first try every time. I have also experienced the car starting, running maybe 10-15 minutes it will shut of and then remote start itself again. Other times in runs the half our I set it to and it shuts of like it should.

How did you make your wire connections????

Stripped back plastic, split wire put wire from remote through the car wire twist and solder and tape.

This purple "accy" wire is at the ignition switch? Does this car have a floor shift, or column shift? To what color wire, and where, did you connect the RS starter output wire to?

Yes the purple wire is in the ignition harness. Floor Shift Hooked the two pink wires on remote to the red 12v constant. Yellow starter output wire on remote start to yellow starter wire on car. Blue ignition wire on remote to pink ignition wire on car. white accessory wire on remote to orange accessory wire on car Green Ignition wire to purple ignition wire on car (but it tests like and accessory wire)

cougarcat454 wrote: Yes the purple wire is in the ignition harness. Floor Shift Hooked the two pink wires on remote to the red 12v constant. Yellow starter output wire on remote start to yellow starter wire on car. Blue ignition wire on remote to pink ignition wire on car. white accessory wire on remote to orange accessory wire on car Green Ignition wire to purple ignition wire on car (but it tests like and accessory wire)

Ok, that all looks good. I asked "floor or column" because it makes a difference for the starter color at the ignition switch. Floor shifts are yellow, you got it right. The orange wire is hot in RUN (not start) for HVAC, and windows. There is a brown wire that is hot in RUN or ACCY (not start) for wipers and radio. (You didn't mention this wire, but it should be there. You don't need to power it unless you want the radio in an unoccupied car. I found a wiring diagram for the 96 Grand Prix and it shows a Purple IGN 2. It is hot in RUN. (Same as the Orange). It powers the dual zone HVAC and some other things that need to be powered in RS. So you got it right by using the green IGN2 output. I can't explain why it tests as ACCY-only, because that's not what the diagram shows. For your starting issues: Does it crank, but not start? Or no crank at all. You said "does nothing" so I assume the latter. Does it occasionally not crank with the key? Ie, is it an intermittent problem with the key as well as the Remote Start? If so, find the "anti theft starter relay" and replace it. It is used every time to activate the starter. They do go bad electrically. I've replaced several in C5 Corvettes which have the same circuit and relay. When it does not crank, watch the Inst Panel. Do the indicator lights come on indicating the system activated the IGN circuits? Does this car have VATS, PASSKEY, or something similar? Is there a pellet in the key? Is there a "SECURITY" light on the panel? When it doesn't crank, is the SECURITY light on until the RS times out and turns off the IGN? Did you install anything to bypass the PASSKEY? If you leave the key in the ignition, but NOT on, does it reliably Remote Start? Put your VOM on the yellow starter output. Activate Remote Start. If it doesn't crank, but there IS voltage on the starter output, it's the car, not the system. Probably in the VATS or PASSKEY or relay. There's some ideas to check out.

When I say it does nothing. The parking lights flash like it has received the signal from the remote, but the car does not start, no crank or anything. I have not been sitting in the car when this has occurred. The car always starts with the key, no problems at all. Now I have in the last couple of days tried to remote start and on occasion the lights don't even flash to acknowledge that the remote signal has been received. I did sit in the car and had this happen. I could hear a click in the remote start brain, but no light flash to confirm remote start pulse was received, no lights on dash or anything when this happens. The key does have a pellet in it. I just tested the resistance and put in a resistor the same as the key. This must be working fine as it starts every time with the key and if the resistor was not correct it would not start with the key as it has been bypassed. The order of things when I started it this morning. First three tries no light flash or anything. Next try lights flash no start,no crank or anything. Next try lights flash car starts and runs. I had another 96 grand prix that would do a no crank with the key.I by passed the starter relay on it. Then it always cranked, it would start and die on occasion, so I knew that the security system was then shutting off the fuel. Security light would come on during this. I bought something for about $15.00 from a guy in a Pontiac forum that I wired in and it fixed that problem. So I have dealt with that kind of thing on a like vehicle. I don't think I am having any of those issues with this car. I appreciate your input. I am going to double check all connections again just to be sure. Don't look forward to getting under the dash on my head again, but it will bug me until I at least check it out. Thanks again.

You know your car well. Cool. Thanks for the reply, it reinforced that my recollection of these cars is correct too. I didn't realize the Ready Remote is a DEI product. I searched and found a manual for 24926 here. There are some interesting features and optional hook-ups. The non DEI Standard wire colors are particularly amusing. I wonder why they did this? One thing I noticed in the failure to start diagnostics is that there is a low voltage threshold of 11.0 Volts, below which it will not initiate a remote start. That it seems OK after its been run that day, but not first-start or after it sits a few days, would lead me to investigate the low-voltage thing. Most cars will crank and start with 11.0 volts. Maybe the battery in the car is tired, and triggering the low voltage protection of the RS. Anyway, there are 3 diagnostic menus. The .pdf has the procedures for accessing them. If another visual inspection of your installation doesn't reveal any deficiencies, run the diagnostics for any clues. Also review your programming selections, and verify that those are correctly set. Double-check any unused wires from the module. Be sure they aren't able to short to ground or voltage or each other. There are a couple of inputs that could cause weird behavior, particularly Diesel wait-to-start. Also check your hood-pin and brake inputs. The diagnostics should pick these up too. There's some more ideas. I've learned some stuff from this thread, which is why I participate on forums. Thanks.

You know what? I think you may have hit the nail on the head about the battery needing the 11.0 Volts. That also crossed my mind because the battery did discharge enough while I was doing the install. I had to put it on the trickle charger. I actually grabbed my multi meter and brought it to work with me one day last week. Because I wanted to test the battery. I didn't think about testing it until I drove across town on my lunch hour so it was probably charged back up, plus the half hour drive to work that morning because it tested 12 volts. The battery also went too low to start once last year when I was working on the car and I had to trickle charge it then. Been in the back of my mind to replace the battery anyway, because it probably won't be long and the thing is going to leave me stranded. Good catch thinking about the battery being weaker after sitting for awhile. The car actually sat from last Wednesday over the holiday and I drove my truck to work on Monday due to some bad weather coming through so I wanted my 4wd. So the car sat from Wednesday last week till Tuesday this week before I tried it again today. Went out on lunch today and it started right up. RS started it when I got gas and RS started when I went in to Menards and it worked every time. I got some good discount offers for $30.00 of at advance auto. Better get a battery picked up. I really need to even if that isn't the problem, but my gut feeling is that will take care of the RS issue as well. Thanks for letting me pick your brain. I will let you know what happens once I get the new battery installed.

Put the new battery in. Still had some of the same issues. Last night I took all of the wiring apart and redid it. Working so far. Must of had a bad connection or something. Needed a new battery anyway, so at least that won't leave me stranded this winter.