alarm only works with headlights on

I recently installed an Avital 5303L, 520T Back-Up Battery, and PKALL in an '06 SR5 4Runner. Everything was working with the alarm and remote start except for the Hood Pin Switch. I mistakenly believed that since the vehicle had the factory hood pin wire that there was a switch somewhere. I was installing the hood pin today and noticed that remote start was no longer working. The only thing that changed prior to this problem is that I changed the parking light bulbs a day ago because one was burned out. I also took both out to no effect. What I noticed earlier this evening was that the two-way remote stopped working entirely. It was displaying locked but the doors were unlocked. I started the truck manually and when I turned on the headlights the alarm went off. I also noticed that after I turned on the headlights and remote started the vehicle it would be killed immediately if I turned them off, but if I turn the lights back on the truck will start back up immediately. As it turns out the remote start was the first thing to stop working properly, the rest of the alarm followed soon after. Basically after turning off the vehicle the alarm will work but the chirps will be very weak, but after an hour or so it will not respond to commands from the remote at all. I also noticed that when the lights are turned on to the parking light position I hear a brief chime (like the key was in the ignition) for about a second. I attached the appropriate (Green) PKALL wire to the (GREEN/ YELLOW) keysense wire but I did not diode isolate it. I suspect the backup battery or somehow a bad connection (even though everything was soldered), but I haven't had time to take everything apart to check. One thing to keep in mind is that everything worked more or less perfectly for over two weeks.

First thing I would check is the ground.Kenny

Owner / Technician

KKD Garage LLC

Albany, NY 12205

X 2 with Kenny. There is a hood switch, microswitch built into the lock mechanism. A careful look will reveal two wires trigger and ground . NEG (-) trigger, driver kick, blue 18 pin plug.

All of the wires were tinned and grounded to the same location with a ring terminal on a factory bolt. I will re-terminate the wires after cutting of the tinned ends. As for the hood pin I originally connected the (Gray) Avital hood pin wire to the (Pink/Green) factory hood pin wire (as shown on this site) but it did not work. After visiting the dealership I saw that later models of the 4Runner (2010) had a similar hood pin as to what was included with the Avital on a custom bracket near the fuse box under the hood which my vehicle does not have. Also a thread on this site seems to confirm that the SR5 4Runner does not have a hood pin switch. https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp~TID~98689

You guys were right, the ground bolt was loose somehow. However another issue emerged shortly after correcting that. Long story short I had to disconnect the battery to make some changes to my stereo setup. After reconnecting the battery I started the truck with the key. After that I was able to remote start probably 5 times over the next two days then remote start completely stopped turning over. I wound up re-soldering the TX & RX connections (probably needlessly) and then reprogramming the PKALL. Prior to taking everything apart to recheck and re-solder the connections, reprogramming the PKALL did not work. I hope this is not an issue I will face with every battery disconnect/change. Also the aftermarket hood pin switch was required and does work properly.

The PK-ALL should not lose programming on a battery disconnect. Some remote start systems will automatically go into valet mode, but that doesn't seem to be the issue in your case. Not sure why it lost programming unless there was possibly a cold solder joint somewhere and that was causing the problem.Kenny

Owner / Technician

KKD Garage LLC

Albany, NY 12205