Printer Friendly Forum Posts - Alarm Problems in 93 Civic

I just installed a Motorjoy GTO Patrol alarm/remote start system in a 93 civic lx. Everything appears to be working correctly except the door trigger. The dome.door trigger wire for the civic shows 1v with the door open and 13v with it closed. Could this 1v be causing the system to think that a door is still open? As a result the alarm will not engage with it thinking that a door is still open so the alarm function is sort of useless. The remote start works ok. Is there a way to go about fixing this or do I have a problem with the control unit itself. I would appreciate any information anyone has. Thanks

Where exactly is the switch, is it the door button or at the dome light? It shows a constant 1V all the time so I hope that is the problem. Thanks for the reply

The door trigger switch is on the inside of the door by the latch. It's covered by a peice of rubber. If the connection is corroded and not allowing for a ground then the alarm will think that the door is open.

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

bobk]J wrote:

ff, if corroded then the alarm will never see that the door is opened, will not ground.

True, but if the corrosion is not all the way through, there' still some connection to ground even through the rust.

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

All the switches seems to be grounding properly but there still is that 1V showing on the door trigger line. Is there another possible solution. The alarm Arms for approximately 10 seconds, then beeps three times and indicates a door opening on the LCD remote. I think my alarm grounds are good but could that possibly cause a problem if it is poor. All the other functions work on the alarm system though. This is a brand new system, could my module be bad already. I'm very confused and very disscouraged. Any more ideas? Thanks again

From dissarm state I can arm/lock. Opening the door does not trigger an alarm within those 10 seconds. I can also dissarm/unlock the car but the open door indicator still stays on, on the remote. I can remote start within those 10 seconds before the three chirps indicate an open door.

I've armed with myself sitting in the car. The alarm does not sound when I open the door at all. Initially when I tested the system, everything worked and when I first plugged in the harnesses, the system seemed to go through an initialization sequence. Once I knew it was working I wrapped up all the wires in electrical tape and found a good ground. This is where my problem started. Now if I unplug and replug the module, there is no initialization sequence and I have the aformentioned problem. Like I said I tested my wiring from the harness that is plugging in to the module and all of that checks out except this 1V on the door trigger. Other than that I am iffy about my ground and I'm worried about my module being defective. Any thoughts?

ok just went out and did as you said. I didn't have any results though. Took each switch out and "armed". The doors locked and for 10 seconds I crossed my fingers and...chirp, chirp, chirp.... dammit... Tried to ground each switch, each one set the dome light off but no alarm. I moved the alarm ground to a known good ground and nothing different... What else could it be? Am I just looking at a defective unit? I have a 1 year warranty but I bought it on ebay so I don't know how much thats worth. Hopefully if something is wrong than I can get a new unit. Any further comments or thoughts would be appreciated.

The (-) door trigger wire you should be testing is light GREEN/ red stripe in the driver's kick panel, and if memory serves me correctly, it is an 18 gauge wire in 14 gauge-thickness insulation. This wire should meter 12-14 volts with both doors closed, and drop to ground when a door is opened. You can also disconnect both/all of the door pins and test them independently, metering them while off of the car and supplying them with ground from another source---i.e.- a jumper wire from a ground under the dash to the metal mounting plate of the pin. Good luck!

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jondaphenom114 wrote:

The dome.door trigger wire for the civic shows 1v with the door open and 13v with it closed.

What are you using for a meter? Is it analog? Sounds like it's just out of calibration. Your 1v is probably really 0v which would be ground when the door is open. Your 13v is probably 12v when the door is closed which is actually fine.

Does your domelight remain on for a period of time (like 15-30 seconds) when you close the doors? This feature found on many cars will usually cause the open door indicator to come on with many alarm systems. The alarm thinks the door is open because that interior light is giving it the impression that the door never shut. If you do have the domelight delay, try waiting until it goes out and then arm the alarm. post back your results.

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Steve G

The meter is a Digital multi meter. The dome light shuts off immediately with all doors closed. There is no delay. With all the door switches removed I still can't get to 0V when trying to ground each one individually. The problem seemed to start after I wrapped up all the wires in electrical tape, secured the control unit, mounted the antenna and moved to a more secure ground in the kickpannel. I have two questions, I removed the wires that don't apply to my vehicle from the actual harness rather than just letting them dangle. Is that a problem? and does pulling the power from the module reset the settings to factory defaults? Any more suggestions? With all doors closed, the dome light is off and I can use the alarm as a keyless entry and unlock/lockk the doors, but without fail, about 10 seconds after arming, the alarm chirps 3 times indicating an open door. I guess I will probably pull the tape back off and recheck all connections. Does this sounds like a wiring problem or a glitch with the module itself? I'm eager to find out because of my warranty. Thanks guys.

I have it hooked up to that lt. GREEN/ red wire and thats the one that gives me 1V with a door open but what about the GREEN/ blue wire coming directly from the drivers door switch. It measures 12v with all doors closed and 0v when any of the doors are open. Should I use this wire? Anybody know what typically a warranty covers? I've been trying to contact the people I bought the unit from with no avail. I don't want to be out the money I spent on the thing. And I don't want to be chasing around a problem in wiring when it's something wrong with the main module.

Well using that wire as a test didn't work so I know I have a different problem. That wire showed a perfect 0v when open and 12v with door closed. What else would make an alarm do what this one is doing? It seems like I've ruled out everything in terms of wiring. The brain must be defective or somehow out of whack. Any other thoughts or opinions or ideas I can try before I scrap the whole project? I know nothing about what services installation shops offer but is there a way to know definitively if my main module is bad. Like a test of some sort that they can do. Thanks again.

One quick other note that I don't know if it makes sense or not. The main module has 3 harnesses, one for the remote start, one for power, ground, power lock/unlock, and the other for other inputs like brake input, door trigger input, tach input and so on... I pluged in the first two, then took my meter and checked for voltage coming from the pins that the third harness plugs into. Everything read 0V except... the door pin trigger spot. It shows a constant 11V no matter what. Is this normal? Could this be my problem? Is my module somehow stuck and therefore will always show a door open regardless of my wiring? Well, if anyone else has anything to add I would appreciate it. Thanks again

Have you tried Unhooking the Alarm Door Trigger wire and Arm the Alarm? Or GROUNDING the Alarm Trigger wire by itself after Arming?

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MO

Don't Learn from Others Mistakes
You Might Be the One That Knows.

It's not the alarm, it's your wiring. First of all, disconnect your door trigger connection and verify that the alarm works otherwise.

The door trigger input from the alarm that you are using is a negative, not a positive, correct? Your car needs the negative wire.

You want the thick light green wire with the red stripe that is under the plastic, inside the rectangular plastic case next to the driver's seat. NOT the dark green with the red stripe. You could also use the wire from the passenger's side switch. If you pull back your rear interior plastic at the door sill, you can see the switch and the wire.

The GREEN/ blue wire is for your dome light output on your alarm. You can find this wire at the blue harness on the fuse block.

Yes it is fine, in fact preferable, to depin the unused wires from the alarm harness.

I happen to be an expert on the 92-95 Civics and other Hondas. Take a look at my site for more information than you will ever need. https://members.cox.net/shaundrake/alarm/carAlarmMods.html

Nice web site, alot of helpful info. I disconnected the door trigger connection completely and it still does the same thing. Chirps 3 times and tells me on the remote that a door is ajar. Define, works otherwise because I can do pretty much everything else. The remote start even works. The doors lock and unlock and the alarm siren works well. The only issue I seem to have is the door trigger. I am using the wire you mentioned and I've tested all of my wires with my DMM at the harness to make sure the unit is receiving the proper voltage signals. What leads me to beleive that it is an internal brain problem is that is worked the first day I tested it out, then the next day it did not when I wrapped all the wires up and secured my ground. I'm not sure what else to try. How would I know if my brain is dead and I need to try and go after my warranty? The only other thing I can think of is that I see another harnes in there under the dash for a previous alarm. There is not a module hooked up to it and I can't measure any voltage from it either but is there a possibility something is changing voltage when I shut the door and attempt to arm my new system? I have also been working with the door/dome open for a long period of time. Obviously this drains the battery somewhat but what effect can this have on my alarm? I would hope it is my wiring but more and more I'm thinking that it must be something completely different. Thanks again for all your posts and I hope to hear more feedback soon.

No good guys. I tried the above recomended remedy and it still does the same ol' thing. When I arm the alarm it simply locks the doors, the LED (which is part of a shock sensor/antenna combo mounted on the windsheild) blinks like it is armed, then it chirps three times and the LED goes out. I can't get the alarm to sound when armed at all. Not by pressing the brake, thumping near the sensor or even starting the car. Another thing is, even though the remote starter works, it acts stragely as well. Pressing the brake does not disable the remote start. And turning the key to the "ON" position does not either. After remote starting, the only way to turn off the engine is to use the remote. I'm stumped. I never invisioned this whole thing working out this way. It is very frustrating, time consuming and not too mention expensive because I am out $$$ in the process. Not a good experience overall. Hopfully my warranty works out but if it doesn't, thats the last time I waste my time with a product from an unproven manufacturer. Any thoughts or comments? If anybody is interested the alarm I am working with is pretty much only available on ebay. It is a motorjoy GTO patrol with 2way paging and remote start. Looks good on a computer screen but working with it has been a horror as you can see.

most alarm companies do not give u any warranty unless bought and installed by an authorized dealer.

And..... you always get what you pay for!

Did you hook up Hood or Trunk Trigger?? If so to what wire?

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MO

Don't Learn from Others Mistakes
You Might Be the One That Knows.

The alarm has no input for a trunk trigger which I was a little confused about. It does have a positive output for a trunk release though. It has an out to a hood switch, which apparantly you have to buy because it didn't come with it. It doesn't have a triger wire though just an out to the switch. I didn't hook up the switch yet but I tested to see if it would cut out my remote started engine if I grounded it and it did. I figured this is probably optional for the alarm to work since it did work that way at first.

The hood pin may double as a triggerable alarm zone input. Try arming the alarm, wait about a minute then ground the hood pin to see if it triggers the alarm. If it does then I would suggest using it and perhaps you can use a few diodes and run it to the trunk as well. If someone tries to force open the hood or trunk it will activate the alarm.

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Steve G