I was wondering if you guys have had any experiences with aftermarket remote starters. I am planning on installing one soon because the walk to my jeep at 4am to get to work is painful, I would like to get into a warm jeep. Any advice for particular brands, ease of installation etc. I have a 2001 jeep cherokee.
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remote starter advice - its getting cold out there
- Thread starter wrxstifan
- Start date
langer1
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Mineral City,Ohio
Hope your not going to do it yourself.wrxstifan said:
esrasmu2001
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clarksville, Tennessee
Which transmission?
- Location
- La Habra, CA
wrxstifan said:
You just have to make sure you leave a manual tranny in neutral.
I have an Audiovox alarm with a remote starter. I can start it from 200 feet away. You know, for those cold California mornings.
I had a friend install it. Doing itself can be...difficult, to say the least.
esrasmu2001
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clarksville, Tennessee
Actually if it was the manual transmission it would matter. There aren't provisions on the cherokee manuals transmissions to wire for a neutral safety switch that the AW4 autos have. The circuit could be bypassed on manuals(I have done it to mine). This is a major safety issue and I highly recommend not wiring a remote start in a manual vehicle unless there was that neutral circuit. I have since removed my remote start system and will be installing it into my AW4 equipped XJ.
I have attempted to start the jeep with it in gear and it quickly becomes a self propelled rocket. Luckily no one was injured and only damaged a brand new, temp tag still on, Kia. Damn foreign plastic cars!!! anyway. My wife did the same thing as well with it and hit an explorer. Again no one was injured. I quickly yanked the system.
As far as brands, the one I removed and the one in my wifes Suburban are both Crimestopper. I have been extremely pleased with both units, and with those you can program one key fob to control both vehicle starters independently.
HTH
I have attempted to start the jeep with it in gear and it quickly becomes a self propelled rocket. Luckily no one was injured and only damaged a brand new, temp tag still on, Kia. Damn foreign plastic cars!!! anyway. My wife did the same thing as well with it and hit an explorer. Again no one was injured. I quickly yanked the system.
As far as brands, the one I removed and the one in my wifes Suburban are both Crimestopper. I have been extremely pleased with both units, and with those you can program one key fob to control both vehicle starters independently.
HTH
Kuasimodem
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Holmen, WI USA
I'm running a Bulldog remote starter on my XJ and love it, it has an 800' range and also controls the power door locks.
As for installing it yourself, there are a few requirements:
1. Digital Multimeter.
2. Good working knowledge of electronic circuits.
3. Good skill with a soldering iron.
4. Wiring diagram of your Jeep.
5. LOTS of patience!
That said, it took me 5 hours under the dash with my multimeter and soldering iron to install the control relays and "little black box" that runs it. I installed the antenna in the visor above my windshield for maximum range.
I also had to tap into the wiring harness for the PCM under the hood for the tach input to the control box (it's the only gray wire in the harness). I tapped into the parking lights, brake lights, and door locks behind the kick panel on the driver's side.
As for installing it yourself, there are a few requirements:
1. Digital Multimeter.
2. Good working knowledge of electronic circuits.
3. Good skill with a soldering iron.
4. Wiring diagram of your Jeep.
5. LOTS of patience!
That said, it took me 5 hours under the dash with my multimeter and soldering iron to install the control relays and "little black box" that runs it. I installed the antenna in the visor above my windshield for maximum range.
I also had to tap into the wiring harness for the PCM under the hood for the tach input to the control box (it's the only gray wire in the harness). I tapped into the parking lights, brake lights, and door locks behind the kick panel on the driver's side.
Ditto all that safety info for the manual tranny. I've never owned a manual car, but I leave my motorcycle in neutral religiously. I'm also the same about using the emergency brake since I learned to drive in hilly San Francisco.
In any case, I did a remote starter on my GF's car last weekend. I went the cheapest route possible since she doesn't care too much about her car. I found a new Rattler brand remote starter with door lock control on Ebay for $29 shipped (cheapest I could find). It's made by DEI who makes Viper and Clifford, so it's not a piece of trash. They give you all the wiring colors via their online library. The complete install took me about 6 hours and it was the first I've ever done.
http://www.directed.com/security/rattler/rat_rs.asp
In any case, I did a remote starter on my GF's car last weekend. I went the cheapest route possible since she doesn't care too much about her car. I found a new Rattler brand remote starter with door lock control on Ebay for $29 shipped (cheapest I could find). It's made by DEI who makes Viper and Clifford, so it's not a piece of trash. They give you all the wiring colors via their online library. The complete install took me about 6 hours and it was the first I've ever done.
http://www.directed.com/security/rattler/rat_rs.asp
Last edited:
xj trenton
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- canada alberta
first question does you jeep have the security key? or alarm if so you can rule out most cheap systems because you will need an extra modual and a spare coded key. not cheap. I would recomend you wait for a sale that includes install and go with thier lower end unit unless you need the range.
AJPulley
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- South-eastern MA
That's the beauty of owning an AMC! There is no nuetral safety switch. I'm not sure what year they started putting it in, but the 87s don't have one. If you turn the key without pushing the clutch in, you start moving!esrasmu2001 said:
AJPulley
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- South-eastern MA
Hmmm... I spoke too soon. The trade off was the Peugeot. What a great trade.
xj trenton said:
Oh yeah, forgot about that. It's weird to think the newer XJ's have such fancy features. I've only ever owned an 86 and 97, so I keep thinking all of them are stripped features that most normal cars have these days.
This is the cheapest bypass module I could find, $22 on ebay, but if you're worried about not having an antitheft system, you'll probably want to get a car alarm with remote start instead of a cheapie remote start only system.
http://peripheralelectronics.com/periph_products/cd_changer_autos/instructions/TBCH1_ver7.pdf
esrasmu2001
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clarksville, Tennessee
I was always in the habit of leaving the transmission in gear, so having the starter and trying to change habits made things extremely difficult. I knew that I had to keep it in neutral, but that one time that you have 10,000 things on your mind is the time that you forget to pull it out of gear. Lesson learned! Only in AUTOS! I am saving the one from the manual for the other XJ that will be road worthy in a few months if all goes to plan. I cannot stress enough to only put starters in vehicles in AUTOS.
Installs on these things are fairly simple and straight forward if you have a decent system, although I did have to buy the alarm interface/bypass box.
Installs on these things are fairly simple and straight forward if you have a decent system, although I did have to buy the alarm interface/bypass box.
I admit I forgot about the bypass module as well.xj trenton said:
billlav
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- richmond,me
I installed my own alarm/remote start. Very easy only took three hours start to finish. If you want great range get one with an fm pager. Wire codes are easily available on bulldogs website. My system was about $150 from Accel.
bajacalal
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- San Diego (North County), California
ajpulley said:
My 96 with manual trans has no clutch saftey switch either so dont' feel too bad
. It bugs the heck out of me, to drive someones car and it won't start because I haven't pushed the clutch in- and usually it has to be pushed WAY down smashed on the floor on new cars.As far as neutral safety switch on automatics thats something I can't stand either. Whats the difference, with a manual you run the risk of forgetting to place tranny in neutral...Which happened to me a couple times lol, but the jeep never gets more than a couple inches.
Another thing, if you have the remote start on a manual trans, you lose the extra protection of leaving it in gear on hills in case of e-brake failure.
Do what I do on "frigid" San Diego mornings, go start your Jeep then go do something that takes a few minutes while she warms up, take out the trash then go or get a bottle of water from the fridge, brush teeth, etc.
esrasmu2001
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Clarksville, Tennessee
and just how frigid is it in SoCal? Probably could use it more during those mild summers
Probably could use it more during those mild summers
