check engine light problem

i have a 97 gmc jimmy 4x4 4 door 4.3l motor vortex my problem is when i use my remote start my check engine light comes on and stays on. also just in the morning when i use it my tranmission wont swicth gears out of 2nd till after like 5 mins of running then i pull over, turn jimmy off then on and good to go but check engine light still on. i put remote start/alarm system in myself been doing alarms for 5 years but first remote start got wiring diagram for jimmy on website. double checked everything when i put system in will check it again but wanting some advice on my problem before i did. also if i do not use remote start at all every thing is ok no light on and no tranny problems. no problems with alarm just remote start. thanks any suggestions will help thanks again

Stop using your remote start until you fix the problem. You may have already done permanent damage.

You need to hook up the 2nd ignition wire.   It will be either white or pink/white.

I agree 100%. The second ignition boots up the computer that controls the transmission. It is not being properly initialized during remote start. The vehicle will start up without the extra ignition wired up but it will destroy your transmission. Unfortunately just putting the key in and turning it on will not help either. It has to be initialized during startup. I had one of my first GM's blow a tranny from this. Luckily the dealers weren't fully aware of this common installer error and they covered it under warranty. This is no longer the case as they have seen this sort of thing happen alot in recent years. It was my cousins truck and when he told me about the issue, I researched it on this forum and found out why it blew. Hopefully you didn't permanantly damage anything yet. As JWorm says you shouldn't bother remote starting it again until you have this resolved.

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Steve G

Yeah you forgot the 2nd ignition, one of my co-workers that works at me. Installing audio equiptment and alarms at fry's electronics did the same thing to another car. Engine light came on and the customers car auctally went into limp mode where he could barely pass 20mph. Im not sure of what damage was done to that truck but it was repaired by the dealer.