Rs1-g3 only Starts w/Key in Ingnition

I have an RS1-G3 Crimestopper remote starter installed in a 2012 Subaru Impreza.

Recently, when attempting to remote start the car, the car will turn to ON, but attempts to start the engine are not made. There is no blinking parking light sequence to indicate a problem.

If I put a key in the ignition, leaving the key in the OFF position, and attempt to remote start the car, it starts up without trouble.

From reading on this forum it seems that this means there is an issue with the bypass ring that is looped over the ignition on the steering column to fake the car into thinking a key is in the ignition.

Can someone provide me a bump in the right direction toward resolving this?

So it was working before at some point? Did you have the keys reprogrammed or any work done to the vehicle?
Have a look underneath the dash where the remote starter is... Look for the bypass module and post the brand/model.

I finally got the car back in the garage to take the dash apart.

The bypass module was wrapped in electrical tape; the only label on the module tore off with the tape. I opened the module up and took pictures of everything. I see no indication of brand or model though.

I'm unsure of what my next step should be. Both wires going into this module were well seated.








Keys were never reprogrammed. I do all the work on the vehicle myself. About 2 months ago I had to reprogram the remote starter remotes after their batteries died. Everything was working great for a while since then, before this latest issue.

well based off a basic key in the box, one plug is for the loop to the ignition, the other will contain (constant 12v, ground, keysense)

you need to meter the wire and figure it out. You most likely have no ground when running, or the key in the box is bad. You can easily test by hearing if the relay clicks.

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Ted
2nd Year Tier 1 Medical School
Still installing as a hobby...pays for groceries
Compustar Expert

take the key out of the box and put it in the ignition to see if it starts the car just like the other key. if it doesnt start then the problem is with the key. you can confirm this by taking the key you orginally started the car with and put it in the box, if it starts you have a bad key. if it doeasnt, there is 3 possiblitys of the bypass being the issue.

1. The antenna ring that comes from the bypass and wraps around the key cylinder is either bad or more likely has moved out of position. confirm this by playing with the ring and attempting to start the car. the ring should be as close to the front of the barrel as possible without touching metal.

2.the wiring has failed. check to make sure that the black wire sees ground and the red wire sees 12volt during remote start

3. the worst case scenario, bypass has failed and you need a new one, although this is extremly rare.

Thank you both for the quick replies!

I checked the antenna ring. Looked good.

I went to try the key from the bypass module in the ignition (I don't know why I didn't think to do that on my own!). The guy who did the hack job install of the remote starter at the dealer decided it was a good idea to cut 3/4" off the end of the key so it would fit in the module box. Is this common practice? wth

I took our spare key (it's not a valet like the one that was in the box - it has the unlock/lock/alarm built into the head of the key) and put that into the ribbon cable on the bypass module.

The car started with the remote!

Now to find the cheapest way to get a new valet key programmed.

Thank you for the help!!!

it is not uncommon to cut the metal of the key. it has no effect on the performance of the bypass. the chip in the head is all that matters.

unfortunately the specific box you are using was designed poorly. there are many keys that will not fit in this box without modifications.

I have cut keys to fit before, however, only when it is a spare or uncut key.

I would never cut the head off the customers valet key unless it was absolutely needed.

let me clarify. what I meant by I never cut an uncut key is, I never cut in half a key that is cut to the lock.

as in aftermarket keys..that are purchased without being cut to the vehicle (or blank) used solely for the chip in the head.

only other time you would cut in half a lock cut key, is when the customer doesn't ever need it back and has given permission to cut it.

you can get that key reprogrammed by a locksmith or dealer. They will clone the code over.

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Ted
2nd Year Tier 1 Medical School
Still installing as a hobby...pays for groceries
Compustar Expert

Thanks banthonyb71. That further confirms my thoughts that the install was done about as poorly as possible.

I patched everything back up with the spare key in the module and attempted to remote start the car once more. No luck.

I undid the massive amounts of electrical tape on the wiring going to the connector with the black and red wires for the bypass module. The 20(?) gauge yellow/black wire coming off the 12pin harness on the RS1-G3 was joined with a butt crimp connector to the black wire leading into the bypass module.

I stuck a test wire in the back of the red pin on the bypass module connector to test for 12V during remote start. This test passed.

I then stuck a test wire in the back of the black pin on the bypass module connector to test for ground. This test FAILED.

I cut the butt connector out of the mix and soldered a proper connection. Still no ground.

I also stuck a test wire directly into the yellow/black pin on the 12 pin harness where it goes into the RS1-G3. No ground here either during remote start.

Looking at the documentation, as you said, the yellow/black should show ground during remote start. It does not.

What's my next step?

Also, I don't do the meter testing often. I want to clarify what my test was on the BLACK / YELLOW wire in case I'm doing it wrong.

I have been setting the multi meter to 200 Ohm , putting one lead on a known ground, and then probing the yellow/black wire.

I see no reading on the meter when attempting a remote start.

turn your meter to v.(20) you want to test voltage, not resistance.

Also you need to put the probe opposite of what you are testing.

So if you are checking positive voltage. you hold the black lead to ground. when you are checking ground, you need to put the red probe to power. If you still have no ground going into module...

perform this test, temporarily tap the black wire (or ground wire) going into the bypass to ground while you remote start. (hold directly to unpainted metal)

If the car starts, then you need to find another ground while remote start, ie status out or - neg ignition out. if it doesnt start, the issue is with the ring

You did say the key started in the bypass until you put it back together?

alot of times those rings move ever so slightly and may be causing car to intermittently remote start.

If your still having issues, let me know the module number of the start and I'll help you find a way to wire the bypass to work.

Finally got the car back in the garage.

I put the bypass module back in the car with the sawn off valet key that was originally installed. I tapped the black wire going into the bypass from the starter over to a known ground on the body of the car.

The car started

I undid the wire tap and tried again (now back to the original setup before I started trying to fix things).

Again, the car started

I jostled the BLACK/ red connector, and moved the bypass module up out of the way of the foot well. I was wondering if when i patched the car back up last time it made a wire loose, preventing the remote starter from working.

Still, the car started.

I'm at a loss now. I'm going to patch the car back up this afternoon and see if all is still well, but I have no explanation for the intermittent behavior.

Would you suggest I still wire the ground to the bypass a differently on the chance that wire is the problem?

Also, I noticed the batteries in the remote seemed to be going bad. I replaced them before trying any of these tests. I don't see how this would be a cause though, since the starter was still receiving the signal to start the car during the failing tests from last week.

      You did say the key started in the bypass until you put it back together?

I'm now back in this same situation. Things seem to be working, but I have not yet patched the car back up.

What do you think?