compustar cma3000 stater kill problem

Ever since I hooked up my 2w900fmr alarm/remote start my starter kill/anti-grind never worked.

If you understand how this function works skip the next paragraph.

If you don't know, the way it works is there is a relay. you cut the starter wire. You attach both ends to the relay, the ignition wire, and a wire from the alarm that provides a (-) when armed or if the car is running which is violet. It is a normally closed circuit so the starter wire is closed and I can usually start the car, but if the car is running the alarm is supposed to supply - so I can't grind the starter or if the alarm is armed I can't start the car.

now here is the problem. When I arm the alarm or start the car the violet wire doesn't provide a (-) output. I know the system works because when I splice in a ground then it opens the relay. So why doesn't the alarm provide a (-) output?

The starter kill relay only has a neg from the brain when the ign1 wire is hot. This is so the relay is not always active and drawing power. Since the engine can not start with out the ignition, this is a good way to minimize power consumption.

With the alarm armed, put the key in and rotate to ignition/start and you will see the ground.

I can start the car with the alarm armed and I can grind the starter.

I did check it with the ign on and I found a weird result. When I checked to see if the violet wire was grounded with the ign on and alarm on it showed that it was. But the here is the weird part. If I unplugged the relay it was no longer grounded, or if I switched the leads it wasn't grounded. Also it shows 5V across the violet wire and the ign.

shouldn't I see a ground at the violet wire even with the relay unplugged if the ign is on? The alarm is supposed to be outputting a (-).

Is something maybe hooked up incorrectly? I checked my ground to the alarm and it is only .001 ohm resistance to the (-) terminal on the battery so that is a good ground. Maybe something I should program?

Something isn't hooked upright. Is the yellow/black on the key side and yellow wire on the vehicle side of the starter wire and cut between them?

I don't think you need absolute 0v, just a potential difference from the 12v wire will cause the electricity to flow.

Try checking voltage both armed and disarmed. There should be a voltage drop and this is your ground when armed.

I believe it is hooked up correctly since the remote start does work. So the yellow wire must be hooked up to the starter or else remote start wouldn't work.

The ign must be correct since that is all prewired in to the green wire. So really the only thing I should be checking is the violet wire.

I should see 0 ohms when I have one lead on the violet wire and the other on a ground w/ the alarm armed or the car started and I do not see that UNLESS the relay is hooked up and the + lead is on the violet wire and the - lead is a ground. But if the relay is not hooked up then there is no ground. This doesn't seem right. Maybe my relay is messed up.

I wouldn't worry about ohms, there is probably a diode in place that keeps you from getting an easy continuity. A wire either has 12v (or there about) or it's a low voltage (around 5vdc) or it's a ground (1volt or less) as a general rule, basically you aren't going to find absolute grounds in most vehicles. So keep your neg probe grounded and probe with your positive.

I think I am getting what robertsc is stating. The wire used for the starter kill is an accessory (a wire that has 12v when running but not during cranking or off.) You need to find an ignition wire that is 12v when the key is in Run and Crank/start.

when the relay is unplugged the car will not start because the starter wire is open.
the voltage at the ign wire going to the relay reads 12V when the car is in acc, start, and when I'm trying to crank it.

I think that the trigger wire isn't working off of the alarm, so I'm just going to wire in my own starter kill and anti-grind.

from your message reax I think I understand the wire and I think I'm using the right one.

now about the voltage. When I have the + probe at the ign wire and the - probe at the trigger and the car is off I read -0.1 V with the car armed I read -5 V. This is with the ign off. If the ign is on then I read .073 V.

Now when I test it like reax said where I have the - probe grounded and just go around with my + probe this is what I get.
at the ign wire: ign off = 0 V ign on = 12V (alarm doesn't change this)

at the trigger wire: alarm disarmed = .12 V alarm armed = 5 V. (ign doesn't change this)

so the ign wire is working like it should, but the trigger is putting out a low voltage signal? Did compustar mess something up? The violet wire is pre-wired into the relay and the alarm so there is no way I messed up the trigger.

I'll do some more testing before I wire up my own starer kill and anti grind

It looks like 0.12v when disarmed and 5v when armed. The 0.12 is a ground so it is grounding when the alarm is disarmed. When the alarm is armed you have 5v flowing. My first question is that with the relay in place or not? If it is with the relay in, perhaps your drawing some current off the positive lead to the coil.

I would try it again without the relay. When armed you should see 0.xxV and when it's disarmed better than 4.5v. The ignition should not change the ground while armed wire, just the arm/disarm function.

You need to do one more test for the positive coil lead. (-) probe to ground and (+) probe to the positive coil lead, you should have approx 12v in on and when the starter is engaged. It should show near ground when off. If it does not show 12v during cranking, then it is an accessory or ign2 wire and not the ign1 wire you need.

ground when armed to 85..... ign 12volts to 86. This way the relay is only active when ign is supplied.

nothing to 87 1/2 of the starter wire to 87a, (key side) the other to 30. (starter side)

done.

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kartune... the relay is pre-wired with the alarm. I have everything hooked up like you said.

reax - I already checked the ign wire that I have going to the positive coil lead and it does read 12V when cranking. Also I did all my testing with the relay unplugged.
As for the trigger wire, how can it be grounding while the alarm is disarmed? If it was then I would never be able to start my car.   

Call tech support

888-820-3690

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"dont ground out!"

argh I hate tech supports. they treat everyone like they are apes and are retarded. Almost every time I call tech support I know more than them and I spend 30 min on the phone having them blab stupid stuff into my ear that I already tried. I figured I'd get more help from you guys.

swargy wrote:

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at the ign wire: ign off = 0 V ign on = 12V (alarm doesn't change this)

at the trigger wire: alarm disarmed = .12 V alarm armed = 5 V. (ign doesn't change this)

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If your ground while armed is acting like this, 5v armed and .12v disarmed, I am not sure how it's working. Hopefully it's inverted and you have 5volts disarmed and .12v armed.

I was thinking about maybe just switching the trigger wire to the + side of the relay and then just gounding out the other side, but 5V isn't enough to trigger the relay. Also wouldn't I kill the battery pretty fast since it would always be activated when the car is armed?

Yes the relay would pull the battery down pretty quickly if it was always active. I can't remember the voltage, but it takes something on the order of 250mV to activate a relay which is very little. If ohms law holds and you cut the voltage in half, then the amperage would double to 0.5amp.

I called their tech support for my install. I think I talked to Dean, he wasn't really familiar with priority unlock, but he was very helpful and didn't try to make me feel stupid that I couldn't program my brain box. There is another ground while armed wire in the CN2 or 3 (the 16-20 pin connector with all of the 22ga wires.) You can try using that to activate the relay.