Printer Friendly Forum Posts - 1998 Ford F-150, Viper 160XV vs Factory Alarm

I had this Viper 160XV installed by Best Buy in Mays Landing NJ over 16 years ago, and it has worked perfectly until now. Vehicle has no PATS. My last remaining remote fob stopped working so I ordered two replacements. Got them, but wasn't sure how to program them so i slid under the dash to see what model# Viper autostart was in there. Couldn't quite see it so i pushed the brain box 1/4" over to see it and thats when the problems started. it wouldn't start. While checking the remote fob batteries I realized I had the battery in the non-working one backwards- so i fixed that and the remote worked- but only to lock/unlock. No autostart. I called a local shop and they told me to unhook the main harness H1 and it should start with the key. it did not. I disconnected the Relay Satellite ribbon harness and it started with the key! Once. I was able to move the truck to unblock the driveway, but when i turned it off I walked around the passenger side and opened the door, which set off the factory alarm. It wouldn't quit so i disconnected the battery and eventually the horns because it wouldn't stop. Unlock on the fob didn't stop it, and neither did putting the key in the ignition and turning all the way to Start position. Now they key won't even start it! The Theft light in the dash constantly flashes every two seconds, no matter what. Thinking the battery capacity may have been an issue, I replaced the year-old JCI AGM battery (now fully charged again via smart charger) with my backup YellowTop Optima. As soon as i connect it the alarm sounds, nothing stops it until it times out. Autostart brain box clicks when I try the remote, then the two relays in its harness both click, but no start. it tries 3 times then stops without a starter attempt. ran down the Optima from 12.6 to 11.85 trying to start it several times. the Theft light never misses a flash, so I'm thinking its not disabling the factory alarm. Found H2 Green/Black wire and traced it up the the white plastic box (the CSM maybe?) way up under dash where it splices into a wire coming out of the harness from that box. Not sure what to do next. the three other wires from the H2 connector were not attached, just taped inside the spliced wire to the CSM. So i can lock/unlock doors, most of the time no alarm, but no start after three autostart tries and no key start either. Cant drive it to the shop, as following their advice to unplug H1 only let it start once. Tried to reinitialize the alarm by disconnecting battery, waiting 10 minutes, turning key to Run, reconnecting battery, turning key Off, hitting driver's door lock button- but all that did was set off the alarm again. it timed out, shut off and Im back to square one. there is a toggle switch to disable autostart and it works- in the Off position it won't even try. there is no valet button, so i tried a blade to act as a switch but since there is no LED I can't really tell if it worked.
All fuses are good, even in the underhood power Distribution box and all the inline blade fuses in the Viper harness. When trying to autostart, I feel the brain click, then the fuel pump primes, then the two relays in the harness click, then nothing. tries three times unless i push the brake pedal and that quits the autostart sequence as it should.
I never even got to program the remotes... thats all I wanted to do. Turned out that I didn't even need to do that since i mistakenly put the battery in the old one backward. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, huh?

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~Rob
1998 F150 Super Cab 2wd
No PATS/Viper160xv