problems with audiovox prestige aps 785

Couple facts – car alarm is Audiovox Prestige APS-785 (with remote starter), car is 2003 Honda Accord. The car alarm was installed at the dealership 6 years ago, when we bought the car. It used to be my wife’s car, but when I got it couple years ago, I’ve noticed that couple functions were not working or working a little bit differently. For example the starter didn’t work – it cranked the engine two or three times with no luck – someone later told us, that it’s because the battery in the transmitter was replaced. It didn’t bother me as long as the alarm worked, although it would be nice to have that remote starter working especially during winter in Chicago. So I had this alarm, with many features, but only lock/unlock worked. I was fine with that.

Then couple months ago one of the transmitters failed to work. When the battery is in the light blinks continuously, and the transmitter doesn’t work.

Then last month the other transmitter started acting – I couldn’t disarm the alarm, even though I tried many times. I changed the battery – it didn’t help. I drove my car to the dealer, with alarm sounding all the time, and when one of the service guys touched the transmitter… a miracle happened – it started working. I didn’t want to take chances, so I disarmed the alarm, and left the transmitter at home.

Last Wednesday I wanted to charge my car’s battery, so I had to disconnect it. After I reconnected it, the alarm sounded (of course), but didn't respond to the transmitter. I had to manually override it using the valet switch.

I tried reprogramming the good transmitter doing the following: ignition on, press valet switch 3 times, press lock (the alarm sounded once), press valet, press unlock (the alarm sounded twice), press valet, press the third button (the alarm sounded three times), press valet, press the fourth button (the alarm sounded four times)… and the transmitter still doesn’t work. What do I do wrong? How do I program the good transmitter? What should I do with the other one? Is it reparable?

Thanks for any help.

Thank you, Chris for your advice. I'll try to re-program the "good" transmitter one more time, then I'll get back to you with results.

Ok, I tried to reprogram the "good" transmitter today one more time. I did the following: ignition on, pressed the valet switch 3 times, the siren chirped once, pressed and hold the lock button for some time, but there was no loud chirp, and after about 6-7 seconds the alarm sounded once, and it was it. It looked like the unit exited the program mode. Oh, and from that single chirp until that one sound, the dash mounted LED was flashing, then it went off. I tried it two times. Does it mean that the unit doesn’t recognize the transmitter/the second transmitter is also bad? The battery is good, and when I press any button the LED on the transmitter blinks as it used to before I started having those problems. Any thoughts?

I've been very busy at work lately... but here is an update: the antenna cable was loose. I've plugged it in, I've reprogrammed the good transmitter (I changed some features), and the car alarm works. The other transmitter is dead though, so I'll have to think about a replacement. Chris, is your offer still valid?

Now - the remote starter. I've programmed the tach rate, I've made changes to some features, but it still doesn't work. The lights flash once, the starter inside the car tries to start the engine, but after three attempts nothing happens. I've tried to enter the diagnostic mode (feature #7), but the description in the manual is so vague, that I has not been able to figure out the reason. I think I've turned it on, but the lights were not flushing... Do you have any idea why the remote starter doesn't work? Is there anything I can do to check/fix it?

Chris - you are the man!

When I tried to start the engine remotely, the green key light on the dashboard was flashing. I put the key in the ignition (in the Off position), tried again and the engine started... So what's the next step? How do we fix that transponder bypass issue?

Thanks for all your help!

PS. No, I still have my original keys (no replacement). My wife (who's been using the car previously) said that the remote start hadn't been working for a long time.

Chris, thank you once again for your help. I did what you advised, but still the remote starter is not working. Here’s what I did. Since I’ve been driving without those underdash panels since January, yesterday I started looking for the black box first. And I found one. It was buried under all the cables, out of reach. I tried the “click” thing you wrote about in point 1. It was clicking. Ok, I thought, I’ve got a black box, a little bit bigger than a pack of cigarettes, with four screws, with bunch of cables… It must be it. Once I’ve unscrewed the third screw, and picked inside, I’ve found a bunch of circuits, and no key… I guessed it must be the wrong box (the main unit probably)…. I’ve decided to attack the shroud around the column. While working on it, I’ve noticed a little bit of electric tape sticking out from the ignition opening. Once I’ve manager to dismount the shroud (I’m glad my wife didn’t see it), I found three coils of red (or red-black) wire wrapped around the front of the key cylinder, under the electric tape. Is it that ring you’ve mention in point 4?

I’ve followed the wire, and found a thick object with a lot of electric tape on it, with something that resembled a tip of a car key. I carefully unwrapped it – there was my valet key with the same red (or red-black) wire around it (three or four coils) taped to a small black box (with the following description on it: BOSCH 12V 20/30A, 0332209150) with five connectors, and two red wires, one orange, and one blue connected to it. I believe it’s my bypass module… I took out the valet key, put it in the ignition in the off position, tried remote start, and it worked (so the key is good). I brought some electric tape from home and started putting everything together. I taped the three coils of red wire around the front of the key cylinder (the same way it was). I positioned three coils from the other end of that red wire exactly around the letter H on my valet key. I tried remote star, but it didn’t work (the green key light on the panel was flashing this time). Is it the red wire is at fault? What does it do? Are three coils on the key cylinder and three around the letter H on the valet key enough?

Cezaryt-

This is a link to the application https://documents.audiovox.com/700665.pdf.

The home made bypass uses a relay, the coil is powered by ignition (Blue) wire and triggered by the ground while running signal (Ignition 3 relay control output, light blue on the 18 pin connector of the 785).   This activates the relay when the RS is activated, and provides coupling from the key to the car key cylinder.

You may want to ensure that your relay is clicking on when you try to remote start.  If not, I would look at the power and ground connections to the relay (pins 85 & 86).   If the relay is clicking on, I would look carefully at the connection (continuity) of the rely when on (between pins 87 & 30), as well as the intergrity of the connection to the relay for the wire loop.

Howie is correct, a commercial bypass will be a better bet for long term reliability, but you may be able to get your currect set up working in the interim.

Cezaryt-

I'll try to help...

From what you are describing, it sounds like you are still having problems with the transponder.  To check this, you can insert a key in the ignition, leave it in the off position, fully inserted.   Now try to remote start the car.  It should start on first attempt.  

If the car starts with the key inserted:

I would look carefully at the relay/keywrap wire...Are all the wires making good connection to the relay?  Can you spot any break in the wire?   Does the relay close (click) every attempt to remote start?

If the wires/connections are good,  and the relay is enabled on every attempt, I would look at the key and cylinder wrapping again, making sure that they are tight, and on the correct positions of the key and close to the factory transponder wire loop on the key cylinder.

If this does not correct the issue, the commercially available (i.e., not home made) 555U mentioned by Howie II and the Audiovox  AS-TCBM mentioned by Chris would solve this problem.

If the vehicle does not start with the key in the ignition:

Try the remote start diagnostics mode.  This is feature 7 in the remote start menu of the APS785.

The diagnostic mode is a temporary mode. Once you have turned on the diagnostic mode, the unit will pause for two seconds then begin to flash the parking lights a number of times indicating the reason for the last remote start shutdown.  This would help you identify the issue if the car does not start with the key in the ignition as outlined above.

Cezaryt-

Did you also connect the black (Ground) of the 556U to vehicle ground? 

If so, the ring should be as close as practically possible to the vehicle's transponder ring. 

If you've done this already and the ground is connected, place a key in the ignition in the off position, and try to remote start the vehicle, as mentioned in previous replies.  With the key in the ignition, does the car consistantly remote start?   This will help determine if another issue exists, or if the problem is with the transponder.

Lectric Guy -

Thank you for your patience.

No, I haven't connected the black wire to vehicle ground. How do I do it? (now you know that I'm a total novice) Is it ok if the black wire touches any metal part of vehicle's body? Is that what you mean?

Regarding the ring - its diameter is bigger then the ignition diameter, so only half of the ring goes around the keyhole on the car's ignition switch. Is that good enough?

The 556U requires, as Howie points out, +12V, Ground, and Ground While Running.  The manual is available in the Download section of this site.

Cesart connected 12V and Ground while running (Status output), but not ground.

To address Cezart's question, the 556U black lead needs to be connected to a solid vehicle ground.   With your multimeter, place the red meter lead on a 12volt signal in the car (in the fuse panel, perhaps).  Place the black meter lead on your potential ground point (dash bracket, for example), and make sure the meter reads 12 volts.   It may be easiest to use an existing bolt in the area you choose, as long as your meter indicates it is a good ground. 

You should use a ring terminal on the end of your ground wire, either soldered or crimped (I prefer solder, just my opinion).  Remove the bolt and replace with the ring terminal on the bolt, and retighten.  That should do it.

Guys,
Some of you actually made me read the installation manual for the alarm (at least the part about wire connections). I didn’t go very far, because the manual was more Chinese than plain English, but more about it later… The bottom line is: IT WORKS!!!
I’m happy to announce that my remote starter finally works. There were couple mysterious moments while I was installing it, but it works.

So first of all, I would like to thank all of you for all your advices and patience. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Now – the details: certainly grounding the black wire helped (I could hear the by-pass box clicking). What also helped was identifying which cable was +12V (it was the orange one, not the light blue as I assumed based on connections to the relay – thank you, Lectric Guy for letting me know how to do it).
BTW, while I was trying to find the proper ground for my black cable, you know, placing the red lead of my multimeter in the fuse panel, where there were no fuses, and the black lead somewhere on the dash bracket, I’ve noticed that not all of the empty fuse sockets provided +12V. Sometimes there was no power. Is it normal? This was one of the mysterious moments I’ve mentioned.
Now, about the installation manual – I’ve read that channel 3 and 4 on my remote may be used for other purposes. What would that be? Opening a trunk? A garage door maybe?... Am I pushing my luck too far?

Cezaryt-

 Glad to hear your Remote Start is working.   As far as your question regarding the fuses--yes, absolutely normal.  Some fuses are in line with items only on when the key is inserted and in turned to the ACC or On position, such as your radio.  The supply to these fuese will only be active when the key is inserted and switched to that position.   Other fuses are in line with items always powered, such as headlights.  The supply to these fuses will always have power.

 It is common for Channel 3 of the remote start to be used for trunk release, and is activated by holding down the key/trunk button for 3 seconds.  Sometimes this delay can be annoying to customers and installers use another channel, such as channel 4 to provide instant response trunk release.

 These signals are pulsed low when activated, and are intended to drive a low current circuit or a relay, and may be used for a number of things such as trunk release, defrost control, window rollup/roll down, etc.  Please be aware that additional components or modules would be required for some of these tasks.

 As far as Garage Door Openers, I believe Audiovox made a unit that interfaced to garage door openers and was compatible with remotes, but I don't believe these units are available any longer. 

Lectric Guy,

Yes, the remote start works, and I use it from time to time just for fun. ;-)

Thank you very much, one more time, for all your help.