Thread: 1997 Ford Taurus LX Install, follow along kiddies...

well I went searching through my drawers for a key to my bike lock (summer weather coming soon...) and found the dusty spare key today. I thought this thing was long gone. So I'll be able to use this for my remote start with my existing DEI 555P.

edit: I realize why I have this bypass module, the guy I bought the car from left it in it, Directed.com shows the 555FW or 556U as the correct bypass module. Can anyone confirm this? Can I use the 555P?

I would rather not pay that much just to turn on the carputer.

I'm going to school soon, and budget is tight right now...
next suggestions?

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

next suggestions?

on how to get your computer to boot before you get to it?

There is no law saying that you cant have an el cheapo remote start from ebay and then later add an alarm/unlock/lock control module later from DEI or whatever. And honestly I dont think anyone is going to steal your Ford. And also, car alarms dont help at all. When was the last time you heard a car alarm and the thought in your head was "I have to call the police, someone is breaking into a car!". No. Doesnt happen. It's more like "shut that god damn thing off." And there was an interesting thread around here recently about the thefts of carpc's that got turned into a generic car theft/breakin thread. Someone actually posted a summary of a conversation with inmates that actually were professional car theives. Alarms dont bug them, simple as that.

And again, the car is 10 years old. Park next to a bimmer or a lexus, and youll be fine. Or for real cheap convert the stock HU faceplate into a screen cover so it looks like the radio is still there, but the screen is behind it. If they cant see anything, they wont take anything. Ironically though tint says "hey look at me. I have something worth tinting to protect." So that theory doesnt always work.

I do see your point, an alarm is just an annoying noise maker. The only real reason I got one on my last car was to prevent hot-wiring. The engine would absolutely not start with out disarming the alarm. (also it had a neat anti-carjacking feature that delayed about 30 seconds or 2 minutes, and shut the car completely off...) So my factory PATS setup only allows the car to be started with the encoded key. I guess I only need a remote starter then. I found a DEI remote starter for under $30 shipped, which has a lifetime warranty, and has a pretty good tech support site with wiring diagrams and a 800 number.

However, look at the top ten most stolen cars:

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB®) has compiled a list of the 10 vehicles most frequently reported stolen in the U.S. in 2005.

1991 Honda Accord
1995 Honda Civic
1989 Toyota Camry
1994 Dodge Caravan
1994 Nissan Sentra
1997 Ford F150 Series
1990 Acura Integra
1986 Toyota Pickup
1993 Saturn SL
2004 Dodge Ram Pickup


Source: National Insurance Crime Bureau. Hot Wheels: Do You Know Where Your Car Is? (November 1, 2006)

They are almost all common cars, not a single BMW or Lexus. This means that thieves already know cars like that have systems to prevent them from driving away. I'm not worried about it driving away though, I just don't want my car messed with at all. (being a white taurus, that's not really a big deal) One of my older cars was broken into and a pretty expensive stereo was taken. It was such a damn hassle to get anything done from the insurance, and I had to drive with a broken window for a month until I could afford a replacement (since the insurance covered anything past the deductible, I still had to front a couple hundred to get everything fixed, and I barely made a couple bucks over minimum wage.) I know there's not really anything to do to prevent someone from stealing what's inside, but my install will be designed to make it pretty damn difficult. (My sub box is an example of this... Details later)

The next suggestions were for power supply, I don't want to spend more than the whole system just to power it...

oh, and by the way, where in colorado? I have some other questions about GPS and iGUidance 3.0 (which you use right) and maybe want to see it in action...

Im in the springs, and we have meets some times. I have been to 1 meet, and 1 time met up with forum member GoHybrid. They were both fun times.


And the power supply is one of the more important areas. Since this project is in the early stages, watch ebay for the power supplies since they are rare to be on there, and see if you can get it. And $200 for the PSU and $200 for the screen since everything else you already have, is much much less than any HU that will be able to do the same thing.

And yeah insurance is a mess... But if you have a good immobilizer, (no spare key, and not hotwireable) then you are fine. Like my civic isnt going anywhere without the master key within a couple feet of the steering column. Before I installed the immobilizer bypass, that only works with the remote start, and if the tach wire goes, it shuts off, and if the RPMs go above 2000, it shuts off, so if you move, the car locks and shuts off, anyways, I could get the remote start to work but I had to have the key somewhere in the car or the farthest being outside pressed on the windshield. Any farther, and it would just crank and crank but never turn over. Move the key into the bubble, and it started right up. I love RF keys.

formerly in the springs myself (SCHS grad actually (D49))
I'm going to be there tomorrow to help my brothers move up to denver (they just graduated PHS) and occasionally I am in that area. Let me know when the next meet is scheduled for around here.

So I think the 556U (different module, I guess the 555P won't work with my MYTaurus) the Remote Start, and the BU-353 will be the next things to get.

Just ordered the cheapo DEI remote start off ebay. Will get it probably monday or tuesday. Hopefully the bypass that I have will work, otherwise I have to go and order the right one, rather than the one I already have (probably put it up on ebay for cheap.)
I was looking into remote start a long time ago, but I also wanted the security and two way paging, $600 installed was a little over budget at the time. (and I realize unnecessary, the two way is nice to see when someone is messing with the car, you can go and check it out, but too many false alarms present a "boy-who-cried-wolf" situation where a real break-in becomes ignored.) I'm going to build everything as stealth as possible, obviously except for the touch screen, but the unsuspecting thief will think it's OEM with the way I mold it, and even still, have a damn hard time getting it out, and even if he gets it out will have a hard time finding a replacement bezel, etc...

Still have the question though:
if I remote start it, then get in the car and touch the brake to start the car, the car shuts off, then I put my key in and start it myself, will I just need to set the SSC to delay a bit so that by the time it's started back up, the SSC will not shut it down?

I found it very useful to not attach the brake wire. Here is why:

The remote start should have a tachometer input too. If it risese above a certain RPM threshold, it shuts off. Meaning if the car is moving or something, or you hit the gas.

The parking sensor makes sure the car is parked. If it is not parked, it wont turn on. If it is moved from park, it shuts off.

When it is -30C outside and you need to grab something really quick from the inside and the engine is already running, you can push the button on your keychain, activate the remote start (which wont try to turn the engine because it is already on) the engine will stay on. Now you can take the keys out of the ignition, and the car is still running, and get out, lock the car, and get what you need.

I am a delivery driver and this is priceless. Get to a house in a bad area and snowing or rediculously hot and I want the heater or AC to keep going. So, push the button, get out, lock the car, and it stays toasty or cold, and I have my car locked.

I think I'd still like the brake switch active, just in case. I can start the car with the remote, and when I get in, put the key in and turn it to the on position, and as soon as I press the brake to shift out of park, the car will stay on since the key is in the ignition and I can drive away without worrying about the puter turning on or off, etc. If I want to get out, but keep the car on, I can activate the remote start (after it's already parked) and get out, lock the door with the factory remote, (btw my car has the keypad, so if for some wierd reason I want to lock the doors with the key in the ignition, i can still get in and out and lock it without the key.) and leave the engine running, and when I get back in; key in turned to on position, drive away.


Side note: Summer is coming and the A/C on my car doesn't work, how much should I expect for repairs? If it's just a recharge, it shouldn't be that much, but if the compressor is bad, what can I expect for this? (Maybe it would be easy to troubleshoot what part is bad, any help with this?)