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[khatton]

hi
does anyone have any comments on these alarms that start your car from a remote control are they reliable do you start your car then when in it put your key in and turn on ignition does this damage any electrical relays ect thinking of getting one but unsure any comments would be appreciated to help me make my mind up i have seen them on ebay quite cheap
 cheers
         khatton :-/

[Dave DND]

Apart from the legal aspect (its illegal to have a car running if you are not inside it) you must always remember to be in neutral for very obvious and expensive reasons.

You may have heard the story about a guy who played with his car keys in his local pub and didn`t realise that his car shot across the pub car park into another car, forcing that one through the fence and into the path of oncoming traffic.  I can confirm that it was not an urban myth, it happened just outside our old workshop in Stevenage !!

[khatton]

appreciate the caution warning

[Kevin Wood]

The problem I have with these is that you have to bypass the immobiliser, and whatever the alarm's marketing hype claims, the immobiliser it provides won't be a patch on the original fit one.

Kevin

[jules]

OK, heres my tuppence halfpenny.

I have a remote start on the Hundy, professionally fitted.

In order to remote start the car, a manual gearbox for reference.

you must follow this procedure.

Stop car moving, engage handbrake, gearstick to neutral.

Remove key.

Exit vehicle with turbo timer and engine running.

Lock vehicle using fob within one minute.

Then and only then will the car remote start from the fob.

I was lucky, Mello Yello is 17 years old and in true Jap fashion has all the cutesey things like a neutral sensor available at the ECU.

I won't disclose the make of the alarm but it is a CAT 1 thatcham approved job.

Whilst I accept it is illegal to start the car on a road, it is not illegal to start the car on private property.

As for the immobiliser part, if your car like the omega has a built in immobiliser what they do is take a working key, hide it very carefully within the vehicle somewhere inaccessible, then wind an antenna around said key which the alarm then 'amplifies' at the ignition barrel.

Just my observations/thoughts.

 8-)

PS I love getting in my toasty warm car with de-iced windows whilst the neighbours are freezing there behinds off
 

[zirk]

If its a warm car your after, have you thought about the Kenlowe Pre Water Heat system?

[jules]

If its a warm car your after, have you thought about the Kenlowe Pre Water Heat system?

TBH I had remote start fitted for a reason.

I use fully synthetic race spec oil, for those not familiar it's like treacle when cold and totally out of spec for the engine. When it fires from cold, the pressure is up in the 90 psi range so it needs about 15 minutes at idle to warm through. Otherwise I'll blow turbo seals and things.  

The reason for this oil is that I have a Jap spec engine fitted which has no external oil cooler as it would on a j-spec car, therefore the engine runs hotter than normal, around 130 degrees and this oil is capable of running safely at  around 170 degrees.

Another benefit of this alarm is that it monitors the battery level and if it is dropping lower than required to start the car, the alarm will start the car between 12 noon and 6pm to keep it topped up. Useful as it sometimes sits for two months without being driven. Really freaked the neighbours out to begin with!
 

[zirk]

If its a warm car your after, have you thought about the Kenlowe Pre Water Heat system?

TBH I had remote start fitted for a reason.

I use fully synthetic race spec oil, for those not familiar it's like treacle when cold and totally out of spec for the engine. When it fires from cold, the pressure is up in the 90 psi range so it needs about 15 minutes at idle to warm through. Otherwise I'll blow turbo seals and things.  

The reason for this oil is that I have a Jap spec engine fitted which has no external oil cooler as it would on a j-spec car, therefore the engine runs hotter than normal, around 130 degrees and this oil is capable of running safely at  around 170 degrees.

Another benefit of this alarm is that it monitors the battery level and if it is dropping lower than required to start the car, the alarm will start the car between 12 noon and 6pm to keep it topped up. Useful as it sometimes sits for two months without being driven. Really freaked the neighbours out to begin with!
 

I think it would freak me out actually, if I heard my Car starting up at 3 am in the morning.

[Kevin Wood]

As for the immobiliser part, if your car like the omega has a built in immobiliser what they do is take a working key, hide it very carefully within the vehicle somewhere inaccessible, then wind an antenna around said key which the alarm then 'amplifies' at the ignition barrel.

This is my point. The immobiliser relies on the transponder being taken away from the car. A remote start requires it to be left in the car!

To be honest, it's not unusual for oil pressure to reach 90 psi on any engine when cold. I think, had it been me, I would have just fitted an oil cooler.

Kevin

[Dave DND]

Just checked our Thatcham and MIRRC regs, and a remote start would invalidate both Catagory 1 and Catagory 2 criteria.

Even if fitted as part of a recognised Cat 1 alarm, this accessory could render your insurance policy null and void - as if you wern`t going to have a fight when it was found that the keys were left inside the car somewhere  

[jules]

As I do not require a cat 1 alarm for insurance purposes and mine is fully declared including the remote start, I don't have a problem insurance wise.

Also I don't have a key hidden in the vehicle as the car has no immobiliser as standard

So for me, it's all good.

Kev, as for the oil, it was a temporary work around until I fitted a cooler which as yet I have still to do. (It's very good for track days though)

[Dave DND]

 the car has no immobiliser as standard

All cars manufactured after 1996 will have an immobilser fitted as standard, and from 1997 onwards it had to comply with Thatcham Cat 1

The specs for new cars are getting somewhat tougher - from 2010, all new cars will have to be fitted with a GPS location device, the ability to notify emergency services and a "black box recorder" that will save and monitor the last few minutes of a vehicles movements so that it can be recalled in crash investigations etc. I`m aware that Volvo (and a few others) are doing this now, just not yet compulsory.

No doubt it will be another way of tracking and taxing - but thats another subject of discussion altogether !!  

[Kevin Wood]

the car has no immobiliser as standard

All cars manufactured after 1996 will have an immobilser fitted as standard, and from 1997 onwards it had to comply with Thatcham Cat 1

The specs for new cars are getting somewhat tougher - from 2010, all new cars will have to be fitted with a GPS location device, the ability to notify emergency services and a "black box recorder" that will save and monitor the last few minutes of a vehicles movements so that it can be recalled in crash investigations etc. I`m aware that Volvo (and a few others) are doing this now, just not yet compulsory.

No doubt it will be another way of tracking and taxing - but thats another subject of discussion altogether !!  

Blimey! They've kept quiet about that lot. Looks like I'll be keeping the Omega running for a few years yet, then, cos I'm bu663r3d if I'm having that!

Kevin

[Dave DND]

I agree - Keeping the Classics going is the way forward.

On a really satisfying note, One of my other cars is a 1966 Beach Buggy - Tax exempt and great fun. I had an "informal warning" the other day in it as I was running up and down the road outside the workshop revving the engine and belching out great globs of thick black smoke.

The reason for that was a Carbon monoxide roadside monitoring van was set up outside partially blocking my entrance and as my vehicle is exempt from emmisions, I can completely screw up a set of environmental readings for quite a while after I have passed through it. Since the warning, we have now taken to continuously doing it in turns an attempt to stop this pathetic attempt to find another way of taxing us even further.

Grrr  Grrr   Rant   Rant      

[Kevin Wood]

I agree - Keeping the Classics going is the way forward.

On a really satisfying note, One of my other cars is a 1966 Beach Buggy - Tax exempt and great fun. I had an "informal warning" the other day in it as I was running up and down the road outside the workshop revving the engine and belching out great globs of thick black smoke.

The reason for that was a Carbon monoxide roadside monitoring van was set up outside partially blocking my entrance and as my vehicle is exempt from emmisions, I can completely screw up a set of environmental readings for quite a while after I have passed through it. Since the warning, we have now taken to continuously doing it in turns an attempt to stop this pathetic attempt to find another way of taxing us even further.

Grrr  Grrr   Rant   Rant      

Nice! Failing an emissions test from a distance! That's a first.

I will be keeping my "Q" plated Westfield for the same reason. Is a '66 car even liable for a visible smoke test? Possibly not!

I'd like to see them try to fit a black box to that. Even if they did, I'm sure it's not hard to make the electrical system sufficiently hostile...

Kevin