Installing an alarm

Ok all you automotive geniuses. I plan to install a car alarm/remote starter in my 99 Grand am Se V6 when it warms up (my first ever install). What I want to know is any accessories\tips that you all can tell me about to make this easier?

So far I have
Digital Multimeter
Tape
Solder Iron
Wire chart (http://www.commandocaralarms.com/wiring/1999-2002/Pontiac /Grand_Am/1363.html)
Haynes manual

take your time and read over all the directions a couple times doesnt hurt. it wouldnt hurt to have heat shrink tubing.
Its not to hard to install on grand ams, just follow the directions and you should be alright.

Ok thanks, one other question, well, two. Will I need any additional wire, or are all the wires located next to each other. Second, I have a stock keyless entry system on the car, should it be fine to leave it where it is?

Forget about the tape and use heat shrink tubing, last much longer and will not come unraveled like tape can. Especially when it get hot. You have to make sure that if you have to use tape don't go cheap. Just my 2 cents worth.

I extended some wires on the harness just because of where I installed the brain. Anything more than just a relay trigger wire I cut off as close to the plug as possible and bumped up the wire gauge just to be safe.

i'll look into heat shrink tubing, the tape was mainly for covering my solder connections, but i don't plan to solder until i know i hooked it up right.

Yeah tape sucks for even covering your solder. As soon as it gets warm it'll start to unravel and short stuff out. :eek7:

You should be fine with the stock keyless entry. Unless the direction for your alarm states otherwise.

if your remote starter has a keyless entry function as well, you'll probably want to wire that up too so you're not carrying around 2 key fobs. the door locks were the easiest part of the remote starter i just put in, and if you already have the factory system then you won't need to install any extra relays for the drivers door 2-step unlock.

:iagree:

Yeah the alarm and remote starter are part of a complete set, so I got lucky having a keyless entry system already. What duration of time am i looking at for this installation?

One little thing. I'm puzzled about something. I have two wires coming out of it, a black and a white. I know one is supposed to be the antenna, but what is the other one supposed to be? the little manual in there doesn't tell me. It just shows that one wire is the antenna and doesn't label which one it is. Also, I have a gray wire on one of my connectors that has me confused. I forgot what is, but when I get back to the instruction manual. I'll let you know what it says.

Are you talking about the GA wires or the alarm wires ?

ANy grey in your GA should be part of the lighting system, comes off the dimmer switch.

Not sure about the black or white, are these coming from the ignition switch ?

I think he is talking about the alarm box.

We're going to need to know what kind of alarm unit it is to be of any help there. All the wires out of the unit should be identified in the installation manual though.

Honestly, I have no idea the brand name. I received it as a gift from a friend. Its some chinese brand from what I could pull up. Here's the link to it.

http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/zhshbcs/product-detailcqxQgSTOHDkH/China-Car-Alarm-with-Key-Remote-Controller-BCS010-.html

And yes, I was talking about the wires from the alarm box. I'll try to scan a copy of the manual that came with the system. It's a bit confusing to understand because many of the wires are a different color from the ones they say in the manual.

Don't forget, you'll need to bypass your Passlock II system- either with a homemade relay and resistor, or with a more expensive module-- otherwise your car will start, set the security light, then stall when remote started.

My first install took me all of 6 hours- plus research time- I've done 98 installs now and can usually do a car like yours in 2 1/2 hours...I solder every connection- and use good electrical tape.

I noticed the passlock II wires, how do you go about bypassing them with the relay and resistor?

Here is how I do it- for a car, your black wire is the same as the orange/black in the diagram - trucks use orange/black instead of just black like the cars use. oh- and the cars use just a white wire instead of the red/white- but this wire is not touched- just helps you recognize the three Passlock II wires as they come down from the ignition switch.

http://idle-hourranch.com/PasslockII_wire_around.pdf

Here is a picture of the schematic. Sorry that it is blurry I'll try and draw one up soon. One question though, on the relay, there are two wires going to the distributor; since GAs don't have a distributor, where should I run the wires?

http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/8/3/153929/001.jpg

I sounds like it is the engine cutoff so it should be connected to what would kill the engine if the alarm would go off.

Sorry about that. This one should work.
http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/8/3/153929/001.jpg
http://www.box.net/shared/uaiq22ijr7





http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/8/3/153929/001.jpg
(http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/8/3/153929/001.jpg)