Viper VSM550 Not Working

Hello all. Little background, I work for GM as a master tech and am pretty handy, just not familiar with these systems. Now onto my issue. I’ll give as much info and I can, some may be relevant and some may not.

Installed viper 5706 along with VSM550. Took me awhile but picked away at it and it all worked the way I wanted. Had to use a 3amp diode for the 5706 Brain to cut down on parisitic draw though. Activated bathe VSM550 for the grace period, everything worked fine. Let grace period lapse for just over two weeks and purchased service plan yesterday. Now vsm550 is not working. Error code 701 on vipers end since the beginning. And error code 12 on my end. It does this, blinks orange slowly, no other lights, then blinks orange fast with free light, then steady orange for a few moments no other lights, then repeats. I’ve power cycled and road tested several times to make it ping off other satellites, no change. It did stay steady orange during road tests but never got picked up by viper or by my app. Unplugged and let sit overnight, no change. Plugged directly to power and ground from cig lighter (bypassing diode) and no change. Checked for voltage drop at unit And nothing, still within GM spec. Viper is saying take it back to installer. So I’m wondering if there is any thing I can do since I don’t let anyone touch my truck but me(being a master tech who specializes in electrical issues) lol. Anyway, any advice is appreciated, any questions feel free to ask and I’ll do what I can to answer them. Some rep did mention that it seems like every time these modules loose power there is this similar issue. Hoping to not to have to return/exchange it. Thanks guys. Prior to powering from cig lighter it was powered by the two main feed red wires in my vehicle. Which is a 99 Tahoe btw. 40 and 50 amp fuses plus of course the unit had its own 10amp fuse.

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Nick t

if think the error code 12 is a timed out command, unit got command but on vipers end didn't transmit it to the smart start, error code 701 means no communication with RS from the smart start (if I remember correct). I've had to replace the newer vsm550 smarts starts that have done what you are describing and no amount of resetting fixed them. I know you said you reset the smart start but did you reset the 5706? other that making sure you have the right d2d port and the grey wire has a good ground and the white wire not hooked up its really hard to say. All 3 lights below should be on

orange wire is cellular connection (cell tower)
green is d2d connection
white is gps connection

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33 years as a installer now just a retired old guy. Favorite thing to install/topic are remote starts/car alarms. Stop using test lights!!!

Hey there, thank you for replying. I did pull the fuse for the 5706 for a few minutes. It has two inline fuses and 3amp rated diode directly from battery. Smart start powered from the ignition wires. The smart start had a diode and inline fuse but I bypassed the diode for test purposes. I currently have the smart start powered on with just power and ground which I believe(correct if I’m wrong) should at least give me gps location. Also. I believe from what I read in the documentation and the viper support tech, aren’t those gray and white wires supposed to stay disconnected for esp2 mode, which I believe the 5706 is. I definitely have it plugged in to the correct port for smart start. It’s designated as bitwriter/directed smart start port.

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Nick t

i'd pull all the harnesses from the 5706 and let it set for a few minutes. Looks like the 5706 has a esp port and a d2d port. if your using the esp port and not using the d2d port for a bypass module id try it in there and ground the grey wire. the thing that really worries me is it should connect to gps and cell signal with just power hooked up to it

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33 years as a installer now just a retired old guy. Favorite thing to install/topic are remote starts/car alarms. Stop using test lights!!!

That is what worries me as well. Currently it’s hooked up just power and ground which should pick up gps and cell signal. White light doesn’t even blink at all. I am using the d2d port for a bypass module currently which my truck does need. Also In my work truck where it’s Hooked currently to just power and ground it’s out in the open so it should get signal. I’m thinking the module is defective but not sure how that happened(if it was me or if it’s just plain defective). A viper guy did tell me he’s seen this before and tech support always tells them to bring it back to the installer. So I’m wondering if it’s just getting replaced or somehow reset in a different way.

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Nick t

viper has one of the worst tech support, one reason I don't really care for viper anymore. I have had 3 do the same thing in customers car and plugged in a new one and the new one worked just fine with no changes to the wiring.

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33 years as a installer now just a retired old guy. Favorite thing to install/topic are remote starts/car alarms. Stop using test lights!!!

That’s my next step. Best Buy return and plug in new one. Can you see anyway that a diode, or my wiring into the main Ignition wire, which is literally 12v constant from Battery, could have caused this? Or are you thinking the module itself I got a bad one?

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Nick t

should exchange the module as long as your in your return window. Since we didn't do the install we mostly likely won't plug anything in. Id talk with the autotech there and explain everything you have tried and the situation. No the diode should effect anything. may have to call viper again to swap the airid # on the the account

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33 years as a installer now just a retired old guy. Favorite thing to install/topic are remote starts/car alarms. Stop using test lights!!!

Viber had told me that as long as I have a GPS contract on the device is a lifetime warranty. Since Best Buy is an authorized retailer and I purchase it from them wouldn’t I be able to do any returns through them regardless of their normal return window?

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Nick t

Also, my local store does not have a install tech

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Nick t

Just swapped it out at Best Buy. When I plug in the power and ground now the white led shows up. I had previously had this mounted in front of my IPC on my 99 Tahoe so it was not directly below any electronics, more like on the edge of it. Think somehow that could of cause a a short internally? I tried to keep it as near the top as possible but hidden.

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Nick t

I personally have never had that problem. The ones I've had to replace all set high in the dash with nothing by it. I keep it away from any factory control modules like bcms. I personally never heard of anyone with that problem

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33 years as a installer now just a retired old guy. Favorite thing to install/topic are remote starts/car alarms. Stop using test lights!!!

I’m going to re-it in the same location since it sits forward of the IPC by a few inches, I purchased the extra $30 at Best Buy for protection plan so I believe if I have any issues now since it’s out of the exchange. I should now be able to exchange it anytime if it’s defective. If I had the same issue with this module our place and mount elsewhere elsewhere and continue the diagnosis from there, perhaps it’s just a bad module

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Nick t

So far it’s been a few days and works great. I’ll just have to Chalk it up to a bad module

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Nick t

Hey everyone, it's been awhile since i updated this. I fixed the viper VSM issue, turned out to be a bad module, got bestbuy to exchange it and have not had an issue since. I have Viper 5706, viper smart start VSM550, and thinkware dashcam F200 pro with front and rear camera hooked up. I purchased a solar charger to offset the parasitic draw so the battery doesn't die as often. This last few weeks I've been bored so I started messing around with my picoscope and amp clamp to see exactly how much draw I have from each item. Set up the scope and set it to about 13 hours, I think I used about 8-9 hours of time. Here is the draws I get from each specific item.

Viper 5706 & Idatalink(since it's plugged into the 5706 module = 67 milliamps
Smart Start Module = 31.5 milliamps
Dash cam, parking mode, motion detection = 213 milliamps
Dash cam, after it goes to sleep, I set it for 3 hours = About 0 milliamps
Smart start Module, Viper 5706 and dash cam while in parking mode motion detection = 313 millamps
Smart start module, viper 5706 and dash cam after 3 hour shut off = 100 milliamps
My truck by itself is about 1.5 milliamps(.0015 amps)
Some of those specs are higher then what Viper had told me when I called support, but all are still manageable with the sunlight trickle charger. Def love having the scope hooked up and able to record everything. I could even see the spikes in mA when I used my phone to access smart start vehicle status. IF anyone has any questions let me know! I'm going to let my truck sit for a couple days and then recheck the draw and see if it's lower. My total record time for my scope was 7 hours and 51 minutes of data.

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Nick t