viper 5901 r/s problems

Hello everyone, this is my first post so bare with me and thanks in advance.

Car-
2003 Mitsubishi Lancer OZ Rally, Manual Transmission.

System Installing-
Viper 5901

So this is a brand new install, and this is my first install however i have worked on plenty of electrical projects so i am not a complete rookie.

My Problem-
First off, all of the security system is working correct.

So the problem is that I have not been able to get the remote start to give me anything more then a message on the remote that says "remote start error".
After a lot of reading and a few diagnostic tests from the manual, the only thing i have been able to get is under the the shutdown diagnostics. I performed the test and the LED flashed 7 times indicating "timer mode/turbo mode/ manual mode error". So this seems to me that it would be because the car has not been entered into the MTS mode(the manual transmission shutdown sequence - brake,parking brake, release brake, push r/s button, key off, get out, arm and car should shut off). When i push the r/s button in that sequence i get the "remote start error" on the remote. So something does not seem right, i went through (checked voltages too) all my wiring on the r/s input connector and didnt find any problems (i dont have the blue/white wire hooked up)

I have also tried putting the car into automatic transmission mode with no luck. It almost seems like the routine didnt work... after i changed a setting the siren would be quiet for 20 seconds or so and then sound a loud partial alarm. does that mean it failed??

I have tried grounding the emergency brake directly to a ground with no luck.

Does anyone know what wires could contribute to this error? Or i guess any ideas at all? Assuming all the wiring is hooked up correctly, can a setting somewhere mess this up?

I am just driving myself nuts at this point trying to figure it out.

thanks for any help!

Are you sure you have the correct tach source hooked up?
Did you do the tack learn sequence and was it successful (constant light)?
Do have the brake switch hooked up to the brown wire of the viper "remote start input 5-pin" harness? Did you test the signal to be sure the brown wire was getting a (+) signal when the brake is depressed?
Do you have the e-brake hooked to the BLACK/ white wire of the viper "remote start input 5-pin" harness? Did you test this connection to ensure it gives a (-) signal when the e-brake is engaged?
Do you have the toggle switch plugged in and in the "on" position?

Hey thanks for the quick response.

Not entirely sure about the tack source, i went off of what a wiring diagram i found said. But when i tested it it didnt give me any sort of voltage... what should i expect to see for a voltage? i hooked into 1 of the 3 wires going to one (of 2) of the ignition coils. Would i be better off hooking into the crank position sensor, or is their someway that i can hook up to the actual tack on the gauge cluster?

I did try the tack learn sequence at one point, but i dont think it was successful.

brake wire hooked up, 12v when the brake is depressed, 0 when not.

e-brake hooked up, 0v engaged, 12v disengaged.

toggle switch is plugged in, and on.

Should be the odd color on either coil 3-wire bundle. (i.e. if one bundle has BLACK/ WHITE/ blue, the other has BLACK/ WHITE/ brown. use either the brown or blue wire). Can't remember for sure, but I think you set the tester to AC and just check for a voltage change when you rev the car. Read the tach wire sticky thread near the top if the thread list. If you didn't successfully tach learn, then that's at least one of your problems.

E-brake wire might be another problem: needs to rest at ground when the e-brake is engaged, i.e. when the e-brake is up (engaged) the switch closes sending a negative signal (i.e. one end of switch is connected to a ground source, the other end to the e-brake light and possibly electronic control module/s). When the e-brake is disengaged, should be no signal (not sure how you're getting +12V).

Not familiar with your car's e-brake system, but it should be a negative system from the 2005 lancer wiring info listed on this site.

So i checked the coil wiring and i found common black and white wires on both. A BLACK / YELLOW on the drivers side, and a BLACK/ green on the passenger side. I am connected to the BLACK/ green. I tested it and i am getting about .3ish volts at idle and it increases when you increase the rpms.

I tried doing the tach learn again (pg. 30 of the manual) and i dont think it worked. I never got the LED to light up after holding the valet/program switch. So i am not sure what is causing that.

I checked the e-brake again (i was going off the top of my head last night) and i get 0v engaged, 1.6v disengaged with car off and key in the on position, and 13.6v when car is running and key is in the on position. Something seems a little funny with that, but i guess the only thing that matters is that its grounded when its engaged. Right?

thanks again

After checking and rechecking all the wiring, i think the problem still lies in the tach learn. I cannot get the LED to give me anything while going through the tack learn. I tried adjusting settings and tried changing the tach jumper with no luck.

I am going to have to put my car back together without it working.. kinda bummed.

If anyone has a idea what is causing my problems please post, i will keep checking this for a while. thanks

Put the brain in voltage or virtul tach mode and try it!

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COMMIT YOUR WAY TO JEHOVAH AND HE WILL ACT IN YOUR BEHALF. PSALMS 37:5

petersonm wrote:

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After checking and rechecking all the wiring, i think the problem still lies in the tach learn. I cannot get the LED to give me anything while going through the tack learn. I tried adjusting settings and tried changing the tach jumper with no luck.

I am going to have to put my car back together without it working.. kinda bummed.

If anyone has a idea what is causing my problems please post, i will keep checking this for a while. thanks

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Just to be sure: You have menu item 3-2 (pg 43)set to option 4 (tachometer)?

If you didn't set the menu item above, then that should be your problem. If it was set to option 4, then you could try moving the tach wire to the BLACK / YELLOW wire. It really shouldn't make a difference, but I did notice that the wiring info for a 2005 lancer listed on this website says BLACK / YELLOW for tach wire.

Ok so i tried the suggested ideas, and none of them worked. I changed the setting to all 3 different setting and could not get it to learn. No LED activity what so ever. I also moved the tach wire to the other coil, it tested at about the save voltages. Changing that also did not work.

so here is where it gets a little crazy.

When i was starting to put things back together i decided to give something i read a try. First off i put the system in automatic transmission mode. I took the WHITE/ blue wire(remote start/turbo timer activation input) on the H1 harness and grounded it twice (no key in the ignition, and pressing down the clutch). The car started and shut off right away, so i went into the learn routine and changed the engine checking mode to off. Again i grounded the WHITE/ blue wire, car started and kept running. bingo.

Yes i know this is the wrong way to have it setup, but it was helpful to know that something works. Its not going to stay like this, i promise.

I am happy to get it running yet even more confused whats going on. So the tach defiantly did not learn because the engine was shutting off after it started because it didnt think it was running. Applying brake when running shuts it off, so thats good.

On to another problem i dont understand. So when i ground the wire and force it to start, my remote says "remote start on" and shows 12min runtime...good. If i apply the brake, car shuts off and remote says "remote start off"...good. But what i dont get is that if i press the remote start button on the remote it does not work, i just get the "remote start error". So it makes me think that the remote is not working correctly... or something is messed up with the remote receiver, or receiver wiring..

any ideas?

thanks

You have it in voltage so don't worry the tach signal becomes null in this instance! Something is definitely wrong with either the remote, the antenna or the brain, not the wiring! Have you tried re-learning the remotes?

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COMMIT YOUR WAY TO JEHOVAH AND HE WILL ACT IN YOUR BEHALF. PSALMS 37:5

You have it in voltage so don't worry the tach signal becomes null in this instance!

what do you mean by that? Do you mean that since i changed the tach signal to off it doesn't matter? My car is manual so i will have to get the tach to learn to be be able to have it in manual transmission mode. so i still need to figure out whats wrong with that.

In the beginning of all of this the remote did "work" for the remote start. Work as in if you pressed the remote start button the parking lights would blink at me (because i had all these other things i have been trying to figure out that stopped it from starting). So that means the remote was communicating properly at that time. Thats what makes me wonder if i accidentally cut part of a wire. I might try to test the wire harness for the receiver just to make sure.

When i try using the companion remote (1 way) it doesn't start either, so i think something else is causing it. maybe the reason my remote wont work is the reason i cant get the tach to learn...the button is on the receiver.

I might try a system reset too.

I wont get to any of this until the weekend though.

thanks

Double check your antenna connection. If it will start when you ground the turbo wire, then you probably have it wired properly. However; the remote start fob will not work if the antenna is not connected. That might also explain the LED not working. It's worth a look anyway.

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monty862 thanks for the idea, however it is more complicated then what you are describing. My remote works for everything but the remote start and my LED does blink when it is armed. So literally everything works but my remote start button (on both remotes).

I did notice this week when locking and unlocking with the remote it seems like there is a slight delay sometimes. kinda seems weird. Ill check things out in the next few days.

i have the same problem bro! let me know what your going to do to fix it....my unit might be defective but i don't know yet....im going to try your auto transmission way later on the weekend...il let you know how that goes...

i swear i put i post here but anyways...did you try getting your brain to learn the tach..?

Just a thought, if you check the handbrake (e brake) with the ignition on and test it down, of course you will get 12 volts, you're grounding the bloody warning light! Same with door contacts which is why I prefer a test light to a meter for these tests.
P.S. 3 years ago when I did my Gallant, I also went to the BLACK / YELLOW with no problems since.

daygobaker - I have not really worked on solving my problem since my last posts(march). I have just been using it for the lock/unlock and security system. I wont really get a chance to work on it until summer when i am done with college.

I have never been able to get the tach to learn. The first thing i am going to do when i work on it again is going to be unplugging both ends of the receiver harness and check it with a DMM for 0 resistance to make sure i didnt cut or mess up the harness somehow. If everything checks it makes me think that the brain might be messed up. I have checked and rechecked everything so many times that it seems like i am running out of options.

howie ll - Im not sure what you are getting at with the ebrake and door contacts... if you open a door with the security system armed it goes off, so the doors are connected properly. The ebrake only has 1 wire to the switch, so i dont really know how else i would wire it...

I am slightly tempted to take it into a security shop, but i am nervous that it will end up costing me a bunch of money for them to track down the problem.

Ill post on here if i have any luck when i work on it again (or take it in).

Have you looked up the diagnostic code as to why the RS error; It sounds to me like you've got a missing ground circuit that is not being completed when using the remote. I do not have a working knowledge of alarms /rs but I am involved with electrical /electronic circuits hence my humble opinion.

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Learning is unending and as such the knowledge acquired. Vic