Remote car starter

[parch]

Wow... very glad this thread was bumped when it was. I've been thinking about getting myself one for Christmas, and now, not so much. Thanks guys!

[pylon]

Originally Posted by parch

Wow... very glad this thread was bumped when it was. I've been thinking about getting myself one for Christmas, and now, not so much. Thanks guys!

It is all personal preference on these things. Some people are going to get one no matter what. I can see the value of one on a diesel vehicle for the start timer, or thermostat based starting. Nobody wants to try and crank a Diesel over at 30 below that has been sitting cold for 2 days.

IF you are going to get one, call Mobile Solutions Calgary. They are top notch for in car entertainment, and car starters. Most dealers only use these guys simply because they are the only guy in town anyone trusts, their work is top notch, and he sells a ton of OEM stuff out of europe and Asia, that he imports in, that is not available here. And some of these OEM devices, include car starters I believe.

[3 Justin 3]

I got mine last year for Christmas and I've loved the thing. I've never had one problem with mine.

There is nothing greater than starting the car at 8:15, let it warm up for 15 minutes and then just take off at 8:30 in a nice and toasty warm car.

I'm definitely getting one for my future cars.

[Northendzone]

15 minutes to warm up a vehicle - seems excessive to me........I find my truck is blowing warm air after about five minutes and by then the seat is nice and warm.....

I'd like to get one, but I know a few guys that had them installed in newer vehicles and it cause problems

[zamler]

Originally Posted by pylon

As a car business guy, and someone that used to install these hack devices, let me give you some advice.

DO NOT PUT THESE IN YOUR CARS.

Back when I did them, I would always use this analogy. It is like using a road flare, to ignite the engines on the Space shuttle.

Electronics in cars are highly sophisticated, top quality, and usually German engineered.

German electronics are some of the worst ever made, hands down.

BTW, almost ALL electronic components are made in Taiwan, along with a myriad of electronics. As with any industry, there are good suppliers and bad, but it is ridiculous and flat out wrong to point at Taiwanese made and make sweeping statements that anything made there is no good. In fact you have made in Taiwan electronics in every corner of your house, your pocket, and your car (make does not matter), working reliably.

I personally don't like remote starters I think they are dumb, but if installed properly (no crimp connectors and other dubious integration methods) they work reliably. 99% of the problems people have with aftermarket installs are because of the installer not the units themselves.

[Cluelessboy]

Originally Posted by zamler

think they are dumb, .

why do younthink remote starters are dumb? Im glad i have one. Alarm + remote start combo for $250 installed.

[zamler]

I have nothing against them, just not for me. I don't have the need to pre-warm my car, I'm happy to start it up and sit in a couple of minutes before I drive away during cold weather. The people I know that have them really like them, heck I installed one for a friend a few months ago. Actually the one I installed the person got because they wanted keyless entry, it just happened to have a remote starter feature as well.

Remote start is just not for me, same with cruise control I never use it.

[wooohooo]

How hard is it to install one of these guys?

I have a 2006 Corolla and am wondering if I should try this job myself. I got a cheap Prostart remote starter from Canadian Tire that is $100 that was "$250" or so. It is a 2 way and has the option of using your smart phone.

Is this something that would be way over my head or something I can figure out after a few hours? I know I need a transponder override module which I can also get for $40-80. The one I'm looking at is the PKUALL by expresskit.

Or should I just pay someone the $2-300 bucks to install it?

[zamler]

How much work have you done with a vehicles wiring, such as repairs, soldering, troubleshooting, that kind of thing? If you're not comfortable doing that stuff, then I recommend you get it installed for you, it is quite involved.

[Bill Bumface]

Idling is one of the worst things for your car. A car is supposed to be driven immediately to warm up, not sit and idle. I'd never buy a used car that had a starter installed because of all the hours of sitting there idling with cold oil.

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by zamler

How much work have you done with a vehicles wiring, such as repairs, soldering, troubleshooting, that kind of thing? If you're not comfortable doing that stuff, then I recommend you get it installed for you, it is quite involved.

I've done only the basics... replace brake pads, flush coolant, change oil.

In term of electrical, just replaced a radio.

I'm doing this more for the experience and something I can do on a weekend. But if I have any chance to mess my car up bad I don't want to attempt it.

[Cluelessboy]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

I've done only the basics... replace brake pads, flush coolant, change oil.

In term of electrical, just replaced a radio.

I'm doing this more for the experience and something I can do on a weekend. But if I have any chance to mess my car up bad I don't want to attempt it.

It is quite involved. I had 2 buddies who install these for a living in mine for $100. Took them an hour tops. But mine is an alarm amd starter combo so they installed both.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Cluelessboy

It is quite involved. I had 2 buddies who install these for a living in mine for $100. Took them an hour tops. But mine is an alarm amd starter combo so they installed both.

A couple weeks ago you were acting like you're in junior high. Now you're suddenly old enough to drive?

[NSFL]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Idling is one of the worst things for your car. A car is supposed to be driven immediately to warm up, not sit and idle. I'd never buy a used car that had a starter installed because of all the hours of sitting there idling with cold oil.

I really hope you're right. I almost never idle my car. The only time it idles is if I'm brushing off my car. I find it warms up so much faster after being driven, so I never bother to idle.

[zamler]

It's a bit of a myth that idling a car is bad for it, it's not. The fact that you are causing normal wear without the car actually moving is obviously counter productive, but idling is no big deal. Starting a car and immediately driving away without giving the oil a chance to properly circulate is what to avoid (especially with a cold engine), I see people doing this all the time.

Fleet vehicles such as police cruisers spend a lot of time idling, and these engines regularly last 300,000+ miles, but keep in mind these cars are properly maintained. BTW, Lucas oil treatment works well to prevent "dry starts", it doesn't drain away from engine parts like regular engine oil does, it leaves a thin film. It's not as useful if you drive your car everyday, but if you have a car you don't drive frequently, Lucas is a good product to use.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by zamler

It's a bit of a myth that idling a car is bad for it, it's not. The fact that you are causing normal wear without the car actually moving is obviously counter productive, but idling is no big deal. Starting a car and immediately driving away without giving the oil a chance to properly circulate is what to avoid (especially with a cold engine), I see people doing this all the time.

Fleet vehicles such as police cruisers spend a lot of time idling, and these engines regularly last 300,000+ miles, but keep in mind these cars are properly maintained. BTW, Lucas oil treatment works well to prevent "dry starts", it doesn't drain away from engine parts like regular engine oil does, it leaves a thin film. It's not as useful if you drive your car everyday, but if you have a car you don't drive frequently, Lucas is a good product to use.

Oh man, where to start.

Idling a warm engine is fine, but that isn't what is being discussed here. Idling a cold engine is brutal. Your oil takes a lot longer to reach operating temperature than your coolant, and you'll notice your temperature gauge won't have reached operating temperature usually until about 5 minutes into a drive on a cold day. Your temperature gauge is based off of your coolant, your oil is still following behind. Really you shouldn't be accelerating your car hard until your oil is warm as you will cause premature wear to your engine.

When you idle a cold engine you are going through thousands of revolutions more with cold oil, causing excess wear. The guideline to warm up a modern gasoline engine is to give it about 30 seconds so the oil can circulate to the valve-train, and then start driving gently.

As for oil additives, if you use proper oil they aren't required. Oils with high ester content maintain bonding with engine components to minimize the amount of unlubricated operation on startup. Most synthetics are more than enough, but some are better than others if you're anal. Good oil and frequent changes is the best way to prolong engine life.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Your oil takes a lot longer to reach operating temperature than your coolant...

I have a car with an oil temperature gauge, and the engine oil heats up faster than the coolant. I'd like to hear your theory as to why the coolant will reach operating temperature faster than the engine oil. Engine coolant is dissipating heat from the combustion process and friction, and is never in direct contact with the engines moving parts.

As for oil additives, if you use proper oil they aren't required. Oils with high ester content maintain bonding with engine components to minimize the amount of unlubricated operation on startup. Most synthetics are more than enough, but some are better than others if you're anal. Good oil and frequent changes is the best way to prolong engine life.

Engine oil does drain away over time, eventually the internals are nearly bone dry, I know this from direct experience. I have a friend with a car that has worn main and rod bearings, if the car sits for 2 or more weeks, he gets bad bearing knock on startup (he is running synthetic oil). Putting half a bottle of Lucas stopped this from happening.

edit- did some reading and you might be right, coolant heats up faster. Hmmm, that contradicts my cars gauges. Interesting. Actually what happens is the engine oil gauge starts to move quicker, but the coolant will reach full operating temperature faster. So I believe that the oil easily reaches a temperature where it flows more than enough before the coolant has reached 82 degrees C. or whatever your stat is rated at. There are charts out there that show engine oil viscosity based on temperature.

[Cluelessboy]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

.

When you idle a cold engine you are going through thousands of revolutions more with cold oil, causing excess wear. The guideline to warm up a modern gasoline engine is to give it about 30 seconds so the oil can circulate to the valve-train, and then start driving gently.

30secs on a normal day. Keep your rpms below 3000 until your car has warmed up. Everyone on my block are
Pedal to the metal every winter morming, idiots. They dont realize that it will only do more damage than good in the long run.

In cold winters, here, you definitely cant take off in 30secs on -25 days. It takes my car that long just to drop the idles below 1500. Never take off until the car has idled down, for me its below 1500. When you first start a car it idles fairly fast then slows a bit and you should never take off until it reaches that point, warming up the car for 5mins doesnt harm anything but 15mins is way too long. Plug in your car in winters and itll get a headstart in getting up to temp a lot quicker, cutting your warm up idle time in half. Also, it the days of carbs, letting it sit and idle while running a little rich would allow unburned fuel to wash down the cylinder walls removing oil and causing undo wear.

People ask why i bother plugging in my car in -5 weather, thats so its less stress on the components itself, and cuts the time it takes to warm up in half.