Printer Friendly Forum Posts - ’02 ford explorer, viper 160xvl rs

m3mark558 wrote:

I bought a Viper 160XVL remote start system and I'm trying to install it on my '02 Ford Explorer. This is my first attempt at something like this and any help would be greatly appreciated!

|       ITEM      |     WIRE COLOR   |POL| WIRE LOCATION        |
|        12V      |yellow            |+ | ignition harness       |
|     STARTER     |red|+ | ignition harness       |
|   IGNITION      | RED / lt. green    |+ | ignition harness       |
|      ACCESSORY | GREEN/ lt. green |+ | ignition harness       |
|    POWER LOCK   | pink / YELLOW     |- |driver kick panel or CSM *1|
|   POWER UNLOCK |pink/lt. green *4 |- |driver kick panel or CSM *1|
| PARKING LIGHTS+ | brown            | |headlight sw or driver kick|
| DOOR TRIGGER   | BLACK/ lt. blue   |+ | driver kick panel      |
| TRUNK/HATCH PIN |common with doors | |             |
|TRNK/HTCH RELEASE|org/lt grn or pur/ye|+ |Central Security Module *1|
|FCTRY ALRM DISARM|GREEN/ purple      |- |driver dr harness or CSM *1 |
|    TACHOMETER   |*3 |   |ignition coil/coil pack   |
|    BRAKE WIRE   |tan/red to lt. green|+ | brake pedal switch      |

1. I don't have a hood pin switch and the remote start manual says one is required. How do I deal with that?
2. For the tach, do I connect it all three wires that aren't WHITE/ LIGHT BlUE?
3. The Power Unlock says pink/lt. green *4. What is the *4?
4. What part of the alarm does the Door Trigger wire go to?
5. Do I have to hook up the Trunk/Hatch Pin and Trunk/Hatch Release wires?

Thank you!

bro im in the same position as you i bought the same kit from amazon.com but my kit came with every thing even the hoodpin switch not sure how you can work around it from what i understand the hood pin switch disables the remote start when hood is open. but yeah this is my first time also

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A shrimp vicious enough to kill a goat is still a shrimp.

1)You don't need it. It's recommended to help keep a mechanic from losing a digit or two, but the R/S will work without it.
2)No, just one
3)Not sure what the 4 is for, but it's most likely regarding GEM wake-up. I'll see if I can dig up the info for you.
4)I'm not seeing a door trigger input on the 160xvl, so you won't need to use that.
5)No.

That 160xv does have a door trigger wire it's green on the h1 harness. Also, imo, if you aren't installing a hood switch, install a switch inline with the BLACK/ white neutral safety wire, one side to ground the other side to the BLACK/ white wire, so yo can disable the remote start in the event you or you or anyone for that matter has to dig under your hood! It could save you alot of trouble. Safety first!

Thanks a lot for your help. I've got the door locks working correctly now, but have a couple of more questions. I'm trying to hook as little up as possible right now to get the remote start to work. After that, I will hook up the hood pin switch (found it), lights, horn, etc. Currently I have the following connected: 12 V constant, starter, ignition, accessory, power lock & unlock, factory alarm disarm, tach, brake, program switch, LED, and ground. Is there something else that I'm missing or am I doing the steps out of sequence?

1. I'm trying to complete the tach learning process. I have the Violet/White wire from H3 connected to one of the other 3 wires that isn't WHITE/ light blue at the ignition coil pack. I started the car and put a meter on this and it floated between 1 and 6 volts as the car ran, as the instructions said it should. It did, however, often go to 0 volts and then back to 1-6. Is this a loose connection or something else wrong?

I'm trying to hook as little up as possible right now to get the remote start to work. After that, I will hook up the hood pin switch (found it), lights, horn, etc. Currently I have the following connected: 12 V constant, starter, ignition, accessory, power lock & unlock, factory alarm disarm, tach, brake, program switch, LED, and ground. Is there something else that I'm missing or am I doing the steps out of sequence?

Sorry for the mess of a post. Thanks again for the help!

Have you connected the BLACK/ white wire to the switch as i suggested, also ensure that the switch is in the proper position for the wire to see ground, the tach wire should read from about 1 and increase with the rev of the motor, if it goes to six without any acceleration of the engine then you have the wrong wire. Also ensure to solder that tach connection, or else you might as well use voltage sense!

No, I haven't connected the BLACK/ white wire to a switch. I will do that tomorrow. Do I also need to have the hood pin switch connected (or at least grounded until I get the hood pin switch connected)?

Thanks!

No if you ground the hood wire, the unit will not remote start!

Ok, so now the stupid gear shift lever won't go out of park. Any ideas?

The shifter being stuck in park was due to the brown brake wire breaking near where I soldered the remote starter wire to. I fixed this and it works fine.

The remote starter, however, still doesn't do anything. I can't get it to learn the tach. I did put in the switch that puts the BLACK/ white wire to ground. I just re-read t&t tech's post about possibly having the wrong tach wire, so I will double check that.

To reiterate a few things:

1. BLACK/ white NEEDS to see a ground or the remote start won't turn on.

2. Gray hoodpin wire MUST NOT see a ground or the remote starter won't work.

3. To program tach, you need the following: Constant power, ignition, ground, valet switch, and correct tach wire.......test that all of those are working.

If you start to get frustrated, do this:

Run tach wire under hood and leave it there, connected to nothing.

Program remote starter for "voltage sensing" mode, and set "crank time" to 1.0 seconds.

Continue with the other parts of your install, including transponder bypass, until you get the car to remote start and run sucessfully.

Voltage sensing mode may or may not work reliably for you, depending on ambient temperature and whether or not your engine is in proper tune.

I've used voltage sensing on almost every Explorer with good results. Other installers might disagree, and will always hook it up.

However, voltage sensing is always a good tool to at least temporarily stop worrying about your tach frustrations, and you'll be able to get the rest of your install done and then you can hook up the tach last.

Thank you everyone for your help.

I finally got the tach to learn. Embarrassingly enough, when I read "ignition coil pack", I was trying to hook up to the wires near the ignition key. As soon as I hooked up to the actual coil pack, it worked like a charm.

But it wouldn't start. Or try to turnover. Or anything for that matter. Any ideas? Thanks.

You never mentioned any bypass module in your posts, if you hadn't got one installed yet, insert the key in the ignition and don't turn it. Now try to remote start & see what happens ?

I forgot to mention that. I have a bypass module that I'll install after I get it to start correctly. I have tried to start it with the key in the ignition but not turned forward at all. It didn't do anything at all.

After learning the tach, are there any other steps before it should start? Is there a wire to hook up that tells it that I'm pushing the start button? I'm probably missing something simple. Thanks.

Did you press the "*" twice within 3 seconds in order to remorte start. If it still won't start, try to perform the take over test. Start the vehicle with the key, while it is running, press the "*" twice within 3 seconds then wait till park lights flash, turn the key off ( don't pull it out) see whether the vehicle is still running ? Post the results & go from there.

I pushed the "*" twice within 3 seconds and still nothing. I tried the take over test and the car shut off when I turned the key.

The horn and door locks work, but the parking lights do not. The fuses all seem to be fine. Hood pin wire is not connected and is not seeing ground. Key is in the ignition when I try to start it.

What is the WHITE/ blue activation wire on the main H1 harness? Does it need to be grounded?

Thank you. Here is how I have everything right now.

Heavy GaugeRelay Satellite Wires
1. I have the orange output to accessory circuit wire going to the GREEN/ light green ACCESSORY /HEATER blower 1 wire in the ignition harness.
2. The (2) red 12V constant wires are going to the thick yellow wire in the steering column and have a constant 12V.
3. The pink ignition output is going to the RED / light green thicker wire in the steering column. It sees 0 volts when the key is off and then 12 when it is turned on.
4. The red starter wire in the column- I cut it and the car wouldn't start. I ran the key side to green and the starter side to purple.
5. I do not have the RED / white or pink/white wires hooked to anything.

Ribbon Harness is connected

I have not connected the 4 wires(blue, orange, violet, pink) to anything.

H1 Harness
1. I have the red 12V hooked to the same thick yellow wire in the steering column as the relay wires.
2. Black is grounded.
3. Brown is connected to horn and works.
4. BLACK/ white, green, blue, violet, and RED / white are not connected to anything.

H2 Harness
1. Light GREEN/ black dark GREEN/ purple in driver's door harness.
2. Gray/black, GREEN / WHITE, and violet/black are all disconnected.

H3 Harness
1. Brake shutdown(Brown) goes to tan/black wire at brake switch.
2. Tach input(violet/white) goes to ignition coil under hood and is learned.
3. Neutral safety(BLACK/ white), hoodpin shutdown(gray), and 2nd status/defogger(blue/white) are all disconnected.

Door Locks
1. both go to door lock wires in kick panel and the locks work correctly.

Relay Satellite ribbon harness goes to relay satellite

LED goes to the LED and works correctly.

Valet/Program button is connected and works well enough to at least learn the tach and turn valet mode on and off.

The antenna is connected

I have not touched the jumpers.

The fuses are fine.

you need to ground the BLACK/ white (h3) wire either direct to ground or put toggle switch in line to the ground.

also is there a bypass hooked up wither to blue on xcrs module or blue/white (h3)

Sorry, H3's BLACK/ white is connected to a toggle switch that sees ground.

And I do have a bypass module that I'll hook up later. When trying to start the car, the key is in the ignition.

You have to connect that RED / white wire from the xcrs to a constant twelve volt source!

Also all accesory wires along with ignition must be powered properly!

I put the RED / white XRCS wire to constant 12V and put the fuse in and put the pink/white wire to the same accessory(GREEN/ light green) as the orange wire.

Still nothing.

Are all the wires in your ignition harness attached to the remote start, list all and what they are attached to!

You shouldn't need the pink/white wire. AVOX tech docs don't show a second ignition or second accessory that needs to be hooked up. Are you trying to start with TACH learned or with voltage sense? Try programming it to voltage sense like Chris said.....

If the BLACK/ white (neutral safety wire) wire is seeing ground then you can disqualify that from the problem.

Make sure the Hoodpin (gray) wire is NOT seeing ground. Everything else you said you had hooked up looks like its right.

How are you testing your wires and how did you determine that the BLACK/ white is "seeing" ground?

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...half of the truth can be worse than a lie. <----Roger Russell said that..

I am trying to start with the TACH learned. I tested the voltage with the car running and it showed like the installation manual said it should. And when I start the car and hold the valet/program switch within five seconds of starting it, the LED comes on and stays on until I release the button.

The hoodpin is not hooked up to or touching anything.

I've tested the voltages with a multimeter. I have the BLACK/ white (neutral safety wire) running through a toggle switch to ground. I just assumed that it was fine. I will bypass the switch for now until it is working correctly. I'll hook it straight to ground.

Thank you all for your help.

I disconnected the pink/white wire and ran the BLACK/ white straight to ground.

Maybe there is something I'm missing when trying to start it? I've got the key in the ignition and the tach is learned. Then I press the * button on the remote twice within 3 seconds. And nothing. Any ideas?

I'm retarded. I had the BLACK/ white domelight output from H1 hooked to ground, rather than the correct BLACK/ white neutral safety input from H3.

It starts right up now. I'm working on the bypass module now.

Is there a way to start the heated seats automatically when the car starts? Or using other buttons? Thanks!

And of course I can't get the bypass module to work right. I've got the Directed 556S Interface Module. I connected the black wire to ground, the red to the same 12V constant as the rest of the stuff, yellow not connected. What do you hook the BLACK/ red up to? The directions say to hook it to the remote start status input wire. I tried the blue status output on the relay satellite and the blue/white H3 wire (2nd status/defogger), but neither of them worked. Any ideas?

And I connected the antenna ring and put it around the ignition key area.

If you can hear the 556S click on during remote start, and then click off at remote start shutdown, you probably have it connected properly. Put it close to your ear (or put your hand on it) to detect the internal relay clicking.

Ring placement is fussy on Fords. (On Toyotas and Hondas as well.)

You'll see that the ring that comes with the unit is quite large, and the ignition key cylinder on your truck is quite small.

When you pop off that rubber piece around the ignition switch, you'll see the silver part where you put the key, and then just a little behind the silver part is a black plastic ring...see it?

You have to "pinch" the beginning part of the ring (close to where it meets the wire that goes to the 556S) and make the ring become the same size as that black part.

Depending on what you have available, use either a small zip tie or electrical tape to tie the ring where you pinched it with your finger, so it stays that size forever.

P.S. I've never used a 556S, but I believe it's nothing more than a 556U with a blank Ford key inside it.

Feel free to unscrew it and take it apart if you're curious.

Maybe you're getting a little frustrated because A, you don't know if you have it installed right, and B, you don't know if you've programmed it right.

You could separate those two issues and tackle them one at a time....if you take that key out of the box.

You could:

A: temporarily put one of your existing good keys into the 556S, play around with ring placement until you get it to work, and then put the blank key back in and work on programming.

---OR---

B: Take that blank key out of the box, and do your programming without the box: First good key on and off.....second good key on and off.....blank key IN IGNITION, and remote start. Now your key is programmed...put the 556S all back together with that blank key, and play with ring placement.

Wow, thank you for the great info! That makes it seem much simpler. I will try that tomorrow. Thanks again!

Wow, that was easy! Thanks!

What do I do to get the heated seats to turn on?

The remote start has been working fine for quite a while now. Thank you all for your help.

It does, however, not remote start if the car is warm. If the car is cold, it remote starts fine. But if I've driven it and then shut it off and try to remote start it again in an hour or less, it tries but then shuts right off. Is it a tach issue? I'm using one of the wires at the ignition coil and it's learned.

Tonight it did the same thing and kept trying to start until the battery was dead. Any ideas?