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Installing Remote Start - Fuse keeps blowing


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Hello,

 

I have a '92 Loyale FWD 3spd that I love to death. Since it's about to start getting cold (-11 degrees on the worst day) I decided I'd try installing a remote starter as I have direct line-of-site to my car from my living room window.

 

Obligatory pic:

loyale_losttrail.jpg

 

The super simple starter box:

http://www.compustar.com/product/cs800-s/

 

I've dealt with wiring quite a bit before, so I consider all of my connections to be solid and well insulated.

 

The problem: The cs800 has 2 separate 12v+ constant wires, both connected directly to the battery. Each wire has a 30a inline fuse. One of these fuses always blows as soon as I attempt a remote start.

 

I am assuming one 12v supplies power to the starter/ign and the other 12v supplies power to the accessories.

 

Troubleshooting:

-Cut the remote-start 12v to starter wire, still blows.

-Took out EVERY fuse from the fuse panel (even spfi, fuel, etc). At this point all that is drawing power from the device on start is acc, and ignition.

-Went back through all my connections and made sure they were good/correct.

 

I'm starting to wonder if my cluster has a short in it because it was the only thing on when I had all the fuses out. My next test was going to be taking out the cluster and unplugging it to see if that helps.

 

Now, not to muddy up the waters even more, but it does seem like my car has had an existing electrical issue since I bought it. It has 12.9v when off and a little over 14v when running which seems ok. HOWEVER if at a stoplight with my blinker on, I can audibly hear and see my dash lights dimming slightly when the blinker clicks on. Also, the heater blower will run faster if I turn off the headlights, etc. I don't think this should be happening with a healthy 14v cruising down the road.

 

Let me know if you have any ideas or further troubleshooting that I can perform. Thanks in advance.

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Did it come with a wiring diagram? I don't see why it would need to power accessories. Don't need the radio going while you're inside having breakfast. If it is blowing immediately, you probably have a short to grohnd happening somewhere. I doubt there's much more than 30 amps running through that system at any given time. Stupid question, but you didn't hook a wire to the battery terminal of the starter, right? Also, your alt issue isn't uncommon. You could try a new alt, but most alternators don't put out well at idle. Some companies make alternators that have high idle output (like DC Power), but they wouldn't have one for an ea82.

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You might have a weak alternator, but I don't think that's a factor with this. I would definitely check all your grounds though. If you cut the remote start wire to the starter as you say, then that's out. If none of your factory fuses have blown, then nothing is wrong with anything in the car. The power wire from the remote start unit to power the 'accessories' is what's giving you grief. That leaves two possibilities. 1) The unit is faulty. 2) You hooked it to a circuit that shows 12v when the key is off, but goes to ground when the key is turned on. Yeah, it's possible. You can show full voltage but have almost no current (like 1 amp or lower) due to stray voltage on that circuit but it's actually a ground circuit when switched on. Check the circuit you wired it to with a meter and see what it reads key off and on. I don't have access to schematics right now and I'm off to the ocean for the weekend! Good luck.

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DJ -

 

To answer your question about the ACC wire, it is meant to power the fan. The whole point of this is to start up 20min before leaving and having the sheet of ice and snow nicely melted by the time I get into the car. Those zero degree mornings suck when I'm tired and angry while my hands are numb from scraping off ice that seems to chip even the nicest ice scrapers...

 

On another note I did notice in my testing that the fan still worked when only the ignition wire was connected so.....

 

Skishop-

 

I took your advice and decided to cut more wires to where I only had 12v to batt, 12v to ignition, 12v to starter. It worked perfectly.

 

I hooked the running-lights 12v back up. Blown fuse. Cut that again. Hooked up 12v ACC - it worked fine.

 

After much cutting, I finally determined that the wire I'd tapped into for the running lights was the culprit.

 

I decided I don't need the "flash" indication that my car is starting when the lights turn on as soon as the car starts anyways. The flashes can be used to indicate problems, but if I'm troubleshooting I can just listen to the relay clicking on and off if needed.

 

I went back through all my connections, buttoned a few things up, managed the wires to where it's invisible to the onlooker and semi-clean to my brain that knows what's behind the kick-panel. This thing is awesome! Best accessory I've crammed into a car for sure.

 

This issue is resolved enough for me. If anyone has any questions about these remote starter units I recommend you talk to your local shop instead of me - the guy dumb enough to hack into his vital car components.  :P

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So, this is going to be super helpful, but the wire to the park lights is also red/black. That is the wire coming from the park light switch on top of the column. If you have a meter or test light though, shouldn't be hard to figure out which one. Just turn that switch on with the key off, and see which one has power.

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If they are ground switched, you just need to use a relay from the remote start to trigger it to turn them on. Hook one side of the relay coil (trigger) to ground and the other to the 12v coming from the remote start. Hook one side of the relay switching contacts to ground and the other side to the switched wire for the parking lights. Problem solved.

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