cm3000 remote start function not working

1995 Dodge Ram 1500
Manual Transmission

The CM3000 was installed professionally and has been working flawlessly for about 2 years.

Last week, the lights in the vehicle were left on and the battery was completely drained. The vehicle was boosted to get it started, and since then, the remote start feature has not functioned. I haven't noticed problems with any other functions.

The behavior is as follows:
I set the vehicle in reservation mode (this procedure appears to work as normal and the alarm sets). When I press button 2 to remote start the vehicle(2W8000FMR remote) the system responds with a beep (which is correct). The vehicle seems to go into the pre-start procedure (accessories come on, etc), but the starter does not engage (it doesn't even try to engage). I have waited at this point for about 30 seconds and nothing changes (accessories remain on, and the vehicle doesn't start).

I have done some research, and I have done the following:
-ensured that the vehicle is not in valet mode
-reset the remote
-started the vehicle and pressed the button on the 'brain' module to 'learn' the tachometer

Any help would be appreciated. BTW, I am not an installer, just a 'user'.

Thanks in advance.

the fuse couldve popped when you had your car boosted. There should be two 30 amp fuses on the harness under the dash. The colors are Red+ RED / White

Thanks for the extremely quick reply!

I have located the fuses and they appeared to be intact. I replaced them with new ones just in case, but the problem persists.

Any more suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks for your ideas, they are appreciated.


After trying it a few times, this is what happens after I push the remote start button:

The unit gives a single beep in confirmation (normal).
The accessories come on (normal).
There is no sound from the starter (not normal :-) )
The alarm indicator light on the dashboard stays on (steady) (not normal).

At this point, I cannot disarm it with the normal procedure (button 1 for arm/disarm on the remote). I have to press button 2 (the normal procedure to turn the vehicle off after it has been remote started) and only then can I use button 1 to disarm the system.

Strange problem. Seems as if the unit is not disarming on remote start. This could be a problem if your unit has the pre-wired starter kill relays installed, because it breaks the starter wire when armed. However, a simple test would be to disarm the alarm prior to attempting to remote start.

Press button 1 to unlock/disarm and confirm that the LED goes out/stops blinking. Then atttempt to remote start the vehicle. If it DOES start, you'll know the vehicle is not disarming on startup sequence. If it DOES not start, it would be safe to assume that damage may have occured to the brain itself.

All other options exhausted, I would take-up KarTune's suggestion and call their Technical Support Line.

I would check the car battery (properly charge), connections at battery. Check the ground and +12v feed connections for the brain. Rule out all those simple and silly stuffs. 

Again, thanks for the suggestions.

I placed the vehicle in reservation mode.
I disarmed the alarm using button 1 on the remote.
The alarm disarmed.
I pressed button 2 to remote start the vehicle.
The vehicle did NOT start.

I checked the car battery, it seems fine (charged, clean connections, etc).

As far as checking connections to the brain, I'm not sure what to check. I have checked the fuses, etc, and as I said, all other functions seem to be working.

I started the vehicle and learned the tach (the system replied with a single beep, which according to the documentation is correct).

I will pursue this with the installer and Compu-Star, and I will let you all know what I find. All of your help has been greatly appreciated.

Just wanted to offer an update, but still no solution yet.

The installation shop tried the 'quick fix' which was attempting everything that I had already tried :-) No luck, so I have an appointment in a few weeks to get it looked at more thoroughly.

Also, I contacted CompuStar (Firsttech). They don't answer their email, in case anyone is curious. :-) I called them and the rep there had me try a few more things but the end result was that it still doesn't start. He suggested I take it in to the shop :-)

One thing that he had me try was to sit in the vehicle, put it in reservation mode and stay inside. Then, before trying to remote start it, to depress the clutch and then try to remote start it. This is to ensure that the clutch bypass is not the issue. I had always been under the impression that depressing the clutch would take it out of reservation mode, but obviously this is not the case. Regardless, it is a good test that I hadn't thought of to test 'one more thing'.

More updates to come, for those that care! :-)

SOLVED!

I still haven't quite figured out WHAT we did, but with the help of an email from Compu-Star tech support and another follow up call, here is what we did:

1) On the remote, pressed buttons 1 + 3 together for 3 seconds (system chirps).
2) Press button 3 (system chirps) - do this a total of 3 times.
3) Press buttons 1 + 4 together for 3 seconds (system chirps).
4) Press button 3 (system chirps) - do this a total of 3 times.

I didn't quite follow the description that he gave me, and I couldn't find these sequences anywhere in the manual, but I believe he said that it defaulted back to a 99 second start delay timer, which is used for diesels.... at least I think that is what he said :-)

Again, thanks to all who took the time to read my posts and offer their opinions, and maybe this information will come in handy to someone down the road.