RemoteStart Tutorial? An attempt atleast...

So I tried to take as many pictures as I could during a starter I did today on a pretty common vehicle. Everyone has their own way of doing things and this is simply how I like to do it. Here go's lol....

The car was a an automatic 2003 honda civic and the remote start being put in was a viper 5101 with a pkall for the bypass. Car was very simple and had no factory alarm.
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/6...1004031213.jpg

The first thing I normally do is print out my wiring diagram for the vehicle and start to dismantle and locate wires in order to get a sense of where everything's at. However, because of time constraints, I was prepping this remote start in between doing other installs so it's not the prettiest, but it'll do lol. I start by plugging in all components and wiring harness'. Here is the brain and pkall -
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7...1004031213.jpg

Next figure out what wires you are going to need and which you don't based on the vehicle diagram. Some people de-pin the wires and others leave them intact. I normally leave atleast 6 inches of wire incase I ever might need it in the future, then cut it and stagger all the wires to different lengths.
http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/3...1004031219.jpg

Here is the floor beneath me after this step lol
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/3...1004031219.jpg

On these viper units, don't forget to put in the parking light fuse. Based on the fuse position will determine if the parking light output is + or -
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/875...1004031247.jpg

Next I tape up my wires based on their location in the vehicle. For instance my doorlocks, parking lights, and ground were all in the driver kick so I taped them up together.
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/2...1004031340.jpg

Now that the prep work is done it's time to actually install it. I can't count the number of times I've completed and install and get no response at all from the unit because of a stupid piece I forgot to connect, so as a result the first thing I ALWAYS do is run the antenna lol
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/2...1004031401.jpg

Next pull the underdash on the car.
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/4...1004031343.jpg

The pkall needs to connect to wires straight from the key cylinder so I also took off the column shroud. Be VERY careful while removing this and never use too much force, if you break clips on these you're fucked - trust me.
http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/9...1004031348.jpg

I then found a spot to mount the brain and had a sense of what wire length's I'd need. Now it's time to start the connections! I do my primary harness first, which connects to the vehicles ignition harness here
http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/4...1004031352.jpg

Because this is just a remote start/keyless I decided to tag the wires a little lower down. Find your wires and TEST!
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/3...1004031406.jpg

After verifying that I got the correct wires, I strip and cut about an inch if insulation off
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/5...1004031408.jpg

Make a good, solid wrap around the wire
http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/880...1004031409.jpg

Now it's time to bust this bitch out. I love my soldering gun
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/5...1004031409.jpg

Solder and tape all connections needed
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/564...1004031427.jpg

Then I like to tape it all back up
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/346...1004031428.jpg

Next find all your remaining connections and test, tap, and tape. Here is the harness in the driver kick which had my doorlock wires. The green plug that is taped up @ the top left of the picture is where my parking lights wire was located in.
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/611...1004031431.jpg

Other wires I connected that I forgot to take pics of were my brake wire and hoodpin.

Next I connected the bypass module. The pkall uses data and requires you to cut some factory wires, so again be sure to test. Here is the bypass all wired up an taped up.
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/3...1004031534.jpg

My last connection I make is always the ground
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/4...1004031516.jpg

And that's it! Time to program the units and make sure it works. I tested all functions and it all worked flawlessly. Again, because this was simply a remote start, I didn't try and hide my units and connections too much, but I try to keep it looking somewhat factory. Here's the underdash all tape up just before I put the vehicle back together
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/3...1004031550.jpg


Done! :omg:

Nice job. Don't let anyone from DEI see this as they all recommend grounding the unit first. One thing I'd like to add: When running the antenna cable up the a pillar run the cable BEHIND the air bag. I've fixed countless installs where they were actually ran in front of the airbags. some shops just don't get it...

Looks good other than two important things.....The antenae should be going up and down not side to side. It's small but it will affect range. DEI has the antenae set up differently on different models for reasons. Second the ground should be your first connection. If it's not the brain will try to find a ground wherever it can....parking lights, data wires, etc.

Like I said though, very good job other wise.

Why ground last?

I've seen instances when a person was going to ground last, while someone was playing with the remote, pressed a button and it pulled a ground through another wire, and fried something. Since then I've always ground first.

Also, I would think that the airbag has plenty of force to break the antenna line.... (not that I put them in front, just saying)

Nice write up, I've always thought about making a write up, I'm just too lazy however.