’05 expedition viper remote start

Everything works flawlessly,with one exception;

A factory setting on the Expedition turns the dome light supervision on once the ignition is turned off (not too uncommon). So if I remote start with the alarm on, then turn it off, the factory dome light supervision turns on, thus triggering the door sensor on the alarm. I haven't let it run (on remote start) for the entire 12 mintues to see if the same problem exists, but I am assuming it will. It also doesn't appear that the factory setting (Ford) can be changed.

Any thoughts anyone? I feel like I am missing something really simple, but I have been out of this game for a long time.

Thanks in advance.

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The username says it all

What model Viper? Any unit made the last few years is designed to ignore the door trigger immediately after the ignition is shut off. If you are reusing an older unit you have had for a while you will have problems. There is a way around it with a timed relay.

It is a Viper 550 ESP; hardly state of the art.

I could have sworn that in previous vehicles (using the same unit), that the dome light came on once the ignition was shut off. Yet I never had this problem before. Perhaps there is a different door trigger wire that I can use. Or, if I could figure out which wire is telling the VSM that the ignition has just been turn off, I could use a relay to interrupt it during the entire remote start sequence.

Those are my only thoughts. Again, thanks for any and all input.

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The username says it all

I figured it was an older unit. A 528T pulse timer relay was the solution DEI recommended. It is a timed relay with a dial on the side that you turn to adjust the time. It would get activated whenever the ignition was shut off, and in the process it would interrupt the door trigger input. Since Directed made the changes a couple of weeks ago to prevent unauthorized access to their website I no longer have access to their website so I can't get the tech document that shows you how to wire the 528T.

Thanks!

I feel as though I am missing something, however. I am reasonably certain that my last Expedition ('98) turned on the domelight when the ignition is turned off. Yet, when I remote started it, and consequently shut it down, the domelight never came on at all, so it wasn't an issue.

Could it be something else? The key sense? Anything?

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The username says it all

Most older Fords (like your 98) only turned on the domelight when you unlocked with the factory remote. Also, if you opened and closed a door the domelight would stay on for about 20 seconds. The domelight turning on when the ignition turns off is a more recent thing.

Its definately the domelight wire. A 528T will fix it. I have done it in the past.

An easy solution would be to get individual door triggers and diode isolate them from each other, then use that as a negative trigger. This way it won't matter if the light comes on....

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Mike M2
Tech Manager
CS Dealer Services

Thanks for help, all.

I think I might have licked it, for anyone who is interested. I decided to take a little bit different approach; instead of living with the domelight coming on and remedying that, I thought I would try and prevent it from coming on in the first place. So with a little testing with the alarm out of the equation, I discovered that the domelight didn't come on with just the ignition being turned off. The light came on once the key was physically removed. Here was my solution, please shoot holes in it at will:

I found the key sense wire and determined that that loss of 12V at that wire is what triggered the VSM to turn the domelight on (as well as the seat memory apparatus). So I wired up a relay triggered by an armed output, and that appears to work.

I am guessing that another problem will creep up with having the key sense wire hot at all times that the alarm in armed. So I think I might just incorporate the timed relay that everyone suggested, but use it to stop the domelight from coming on, as opposed to what was suggested.

Thanks again.

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The username says it all

wuttevr wrote:

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I found the key sense wire and determined that that loss of 12V at that wire is what triggered the VSM to turn the domelight on (as well as the seat memory apparatus). So I wired up a relay triggered by an armed output, and that appears to work.

I am guessing that another problem will creep up with having the key sense wire hot at all times that the alarm in armed. So I think I might just incorporate the timed relay that everyone suggested, but use it to stop the domelight from coming on, as opposed to what was suggested.

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Coming out to a dead battery will be one of the results of this method.

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Installer, IT support, and FFL. I need less hobbies.