avistart 6501 on accord 2000

My brother bought a car which has the Avistart 6501 installed by Good Guy and now they no longer in business so we will try to troubleshoot the problem. Basically, when he tried to do a remote start it does not start and the D4 light is flashing. After that the check engine light come on and he has to clear it by disconnecting the negative battery cable? Does anyone have any idea on where you should start checking?

Do you know if the R/S ever worked?
When the D4 light comes on can the car be started with the key?
A flashing D4 indicator light means that there is a fault in the transaxle electronic control system.
If it worked in the past, I would check that all of the power connections are solid.

You can check what code is being set by putting the ECU in diagnostic mode. Depending who you talk to it is either pin #1 (SAE standard) or pin #9 (Honda standard). In either case it is in the same location. The attached image is the Honda standard, so you are interested in pin #9. This is viewed from the terminal side NOT wire side. The procedure is as follows:

1. Make sure your ignition switch is off.
2. Ground pin #9 (brown wire) with a jumper.
3. Turn key on (engine off).
4. The D4 light will start to flash. The flashes correspond to the codes listed below. The first digit are long flashes and the second digit are short flashes. Single digit codes are all short flashes. Example - code 23 will be 2 long flashes and 3 short flashes.
5. Once complete, turn off ignition and remove jumper.

DTC Code     Problem
1     Lock-Up Control Solenoid "A"
5     A/T Gear Position Switch
6     A/T Gear Position Switch
7     Shift Control Solenoid "A"
8     Shift Control Solenoid "B"
9     Countershaft Speed Sensor
15     Mainshaft Speed Sensor
16     A/T Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid "A"
22     Shift Control Solenoid "C"
23     A/T Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid "B"
25     2nd Clutch Pressure Switch
26     3rd Clutch Pressure Switch
40     Lock-Up Control System
41     Shift Control System
45     Hydraulic System
46     Hydraulic System
47     Hydraulic System



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This information is provided only as a reference.
All circuits should be verified with a digital multi-meter prior to making any connections.

check tach and ignition connections.

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GreenGables

Thanks for the advices. I'll look at his car when I have a chance.

The remote start worked when it was first installed but after about a year, it stopped working.

did you get a chance to pull fault codes?

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This information is provided only as a reference.
All circuits should be verified with a digital multi-meter prior to making any connections.

Thanks for checking back. My brother is busy with school now so I'll check that out whenever he's available.

Finally I had a chance to do a quick check. It looks like someone has reconnected the starter wire back together (no longer connected to the Yellow - starter interrupt switch side and Violet - starter interrupt starter side). The rest of the wiring remains intact. I think that's the reason why the remote start did not work. I'll try to reconnect it this weekend and report back.

I've reconnected the starter wires according to the chart in the installation guide and I was able to remote start the car however, whenever the car is remotely started, the D4 light kept flashing constantly.  Starting with the key does not cause this problem. 

I've read the code with the scanner and the code was P0758 which is "Shift Control Solenoid "B""

Examining the wiring diagrams for this car, all I can say is make sure the BLACK / YELLOW wire makes a good solid connection with the avistart ignition (pink from satellite relay module) wire. Even this is not necessarily going to fix your issue because this wire power a few components that are needed while the engine is running but it is a start.
Do you know if the scanner you used is capable of reading manufacturer's specific dtc's?

Here is the list again, with the D4 flash codes and corresponding DTC code.

Flash     DTC Code     Problem
Code
1     P1753     Lock-Up Control Solenoid "A"
5     P1705     A/T Gear Position Switch
6     P1706     A/T Gear Position Switch
7     P0753     Shift Control Solenoid "A"
8     P0758     Shift Control Solenoid "B"
9     P0720     Countershaft Speed Sensor
15     P0715     Mainshaft Speed Sensor
16     P1768     A/T Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid "A"
22     P0763     Shift Control Solenoid "C"
23     P1773     A/T Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid "B"
25     P1738     2nd Clutch Pressure Switch
26     P1739     3rd Clutch Pressure Switch
40     P0740     Lock-Up Control System
41     P0730     Shift Control System
45     P0780     Hydraulic System
46     P1750     Hydraulic System
47     P1751     Hydraulic System

All of the P1*** codes are Honda specific codes. Please reconfirm the codes by checking for the D4 flash codes.

The only other thing I can think of is that the car's BLACK / YELLOW wire is not being powered by the ignition output of the r/s. Check that the BLACK / YELLOW wire gets 12v when the r/s cranks the starter. If it drops out, that would most likely be your problem.

-------------
This information is provided only as a reference.
All circuits should be verified with a digital multi-meter prior to making any connections.

I will check the D4 flash codes. I was doing some online researches and it seemed like some other people had experienced the same problem due to the starter wire is also being monitored by the PCM to see whether the car is in P or N (neutral safety). Therefore the remote start causes confusion in the PCM and the PCM thinks that the car is in 2 different gears at the same time. However, I could not find any solution to the problem.

From the wiring diagrams, it does not seem likely that the gear position switch can signal more than 1 position to the PCM during remote start and not when started with key. In any case, the P and N position is the same pin on the PCM, so I don't think that is causing your problem.
I know that on some Accords of this vintage, a check engine light can come on if the starter disable relay is installed at the ignition switch. It is recommended that the relay should be install after the fuse/junction box under the driver side dash. I have not been able to confirm it, but I believe this is because with the starter disable engaged and the key is turned to the start position, the ECU and PCM do not receive start signals when they expect it. I don't think that your issue has anything to do with this but I'm throwing it out there, anyway.
Make sure that when you pull the flash codes that the D4 light is on to ensure that a hard code is set.

-------------
This information is provided only as a reference.
All circuits should be verified with a digital multi-meter prior to making any connections.

The installer did not install any relay at the ignition switch. He used a spare key and attached the key right next to the switch.

91stt] wrote:

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Examining the wiring diagrams for this car, all I can say is make sure the BLACK / YELLOW wire makes a good solid connection with the avistart ignition (pink from satellite relay module) wire. Even this is not necessarily going to fix your issue because this wire power a few components that are needed while the engine is running but it is a start.
Do you know if the scanner you used is capable of reading manufacturer's specific dtc's?

Here is the list again, with the D4 flash codes and corresponding DTC code.

Flash     DTC Code     Problem
Code
1     P1753     Lock-Up Control Solenoid "A"
5     P1705     A/T Gear Position Switch
6     P1706     A/T Gear Position Switch
7     P0753     Shift Control Solenoid "A"
8     P0758     Shift Control Solenoid "B"
9     P0720     Countershaft Speed Sensor
15     P0715     Mainshaft Speed Sensor
16     P1768     A/T Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid "A"
22     P0763     Shift Control Solenoid "C"
23     P1773     A/T Clutch Pressure Control Solenoid "B"
25     P1738     2nd Clutch Pressure Switch
26     P1739     3rd Clutch Pressure Switch
40     P0740     Lock-Up Control System
41     P0730     Shift Control System
45     P0780     Hydraulic System
46     P1750     Hydraulic System
47     P1751     Hydraulic System

All of the P1*** codes are Honda specific codes. Please reconfirm the codes by checking for the D4 flash codes.

The only other thing I can think of is that the car's BLACK / YELLOW wire is not being powered by the ignition output of the r/s. Check that the BLACK / YELLOW wire gets 12v when the r/s cranks the starter. If it drops out, that would most likely be your problem.

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I have the Equus 3130 Innova Diagnostic Code Scanner so it should be able to read manufacturer specific code.

The other thing that I remembered was that when we did not have the Yellow (starter interrupt switch side) wire and the Violet (Starter interrupt Starter side) connected to the Starter wire from the vehicle, just the Accessories/Heater and Ignition wires are connected, it also caused D4 to flash if we tried to remotely start the car. So maybe it's not the starter wire that's causing the problem.

Check that all of the connections are correct.

Constant 12V = White
Ignition = BLACK / YELLOW (12V does not drop out when in start position)
Starter = BLACK/ White
Ignition 2 = Yellow (12V in ON position only)
Accessory = WHITE/ Black (12V in ACC and ON positions)

Given that the R/S unit does start the engine, I included the constant and starter wires only for completeness. Check that the operation of the wires while remote starting that they operate according to the above descriptions.

-------------
This information is provided only as a reference.
All circuits should be verified with a digital multi-meter prior to making any connections.

I've read the D4 flash code. It is 8 flashes so it's the same as what the scanner reported. Double checked all the wires and they were correctly connected. There's no Ignition 2 so that is connected to Accessory 2. I am running out of ideas, so frustrated.

What do you mean no ignition 2?
No car yellow wire or no pink/black on 6501?

Connections should follow this:
Wire ..... OEM Color ...... 6501 Color
Ignition = BLACK / YELLOW --> Pink
Ignition 2 = Yellow --> Pink/Black
Accessory = WHITE/ Black --> Gray

-------------
This information is provided only as a reference.
All circuits should be verified with a digital multi-meter prior to making any connections.

Car does not have Ignition 2 according to this https://www.commandocaralarms.com/wiring/1998-2002/Honda/Accord/666.html.

So the wires are connected as follows:

Wire ------------------------- OEM ------------------ 6501
Ignition 1 ---------------- BLACK / YELLOW -------------Pink
Starter (starter side) -----BLACK/ White -------------Violet
Starter (key side) ---------BLACK/ White -------------Yellow
Accessory 1 ---------------- Yellow ----------------- Gray
Accessory 2 ---------------- WHITE/ Black ------------ Pink/Black

I also noticed that the voltage on the violet is around 1V without load or connecting to the starter wire (starter side) but when it's connected then the voltage is 0V and 12V+ when starting.

The car also seemed to remotely started as it should. First the accessories are on, then the starter was cranked, but then the D4 light flashes constantly.

There was another code that I read out of the scanner when I switched the scanner settings to Honda specific code. The code was P0700 which basically is something wrong with the transmission control system so that was not useful.

meter the wires to make sure the r/s unit is powering the wires as if you were using the key. it does not matter if it start as it should. the problem is the way the r/s is starting the car. if the r/s is not powering the electronics properly, you may get service lights.

-------------
This information is provided only as a reference.
All circuits should be verified with a digital multi-meter prior to making any connections.

I will check the voltage on those wires during key start and compare with the voltage during remote start.