Diagnosing alarm/keyless entry problems...a photo journey

[Qyota]

Hey all, I decided to start a fresh thread, to keep things in order. As many of you (begrudgingly) know, I've been having trouble figuring out what's up with the factory-installed alarm/keyless entry on my '99 T4R limited. Basically, I can't get any programming instructions to respond, so I'm digging deeper to see what the previous owner might have done to the stock system. Here's what I've found so far:

I have the factory-installed security system, as shown by the LED in the center console, and the fact that I can trip the alarm:

But, then there's this other red LED to the left of the steering wheel:

Taking it out, it's obvious that the wires to this LED have been cut:

So, I take the lower dash apart, and started looking around. Here's some evidence that some wire stripping was going on:

This is the wire harness in the kick panel, with some pretty obvious hacking going on:

And again:

And a green wire (doesn't appear to be stock) snipped up next to the ignition cylinder:

And finally, the "Autopage" remote start antenna that was stuck to the upper left of the windshield, and it's cut wires:

My next step is to look into this Autopage system, and try to figure out how to undo what had been done. I haven't find any other Autopage "brains" yet...I'm assuming that part was ripped out by the dealer who sold me the car, or the previous owner before they sold it/traded it in.

If you have any advice for me at this point, please pass it along. I appreciate any help. I will add to this thread as the story unfolds.

 

[Clemsonfan15]

Interesting. You definitely had both a factory and aftermarket alarm installed. I suppose you still have the factory one and like you said the previous owner ripped the aftermarket one out. I don't see why he would do that though. It just makes for a bigger headache for you.

Good luck finding the solution to this problem.

 

[Stick Figure]

a lot of dealers will do a hack removal like that because they don't understand aftermarket alarms. I would start by making sure all of your stock wiring gets reconnected by removing the aftermarket alarm parts and wiring left. This may help out a lot of your trouble shooting, and even if not you know it won't be a problem later on.

 

[Qyota]

That's the plan, Stick. I just need a few warmer days (warmer than 8 above) to do it! I took out those diodes and will investigate another wire that appears to be cut. It's white, and it's running on top of the main horizontal harness above the gas & brake pedals.

It turns out that the green wire that was cut near the ignition wasn't connected to anything up there, it was just looped around the ignition cylinder a few times, probably just to hold it in place. On the other end, it appears it was connected to the red/white power wire in the kick panel....

It would really kick ass to have a detailed wiring diagram for my truck!

:biggrin2:

 

[3rdgengrog]

the haynes or chiltons manuals are helpful and have tons of schematics in the back. or check online, there might be some pdf files you can download. good luck, looks like spaghetti. lol

 

[Qyota]

OK, I have some of this stuff cleaned up...there's still more to do, but it will have to wait until it's warmer.

One new question. How many volts are supposed to be reaching the door lock actuators? I took a reading at the power wire (red/white) going into the driver door, and it was only 9.6V. I expected this to be over 12V.

I've also noticed that when I try the programming instructions (where you have to lock/unlock 5 times), by about the 4th lock/unlock, the driver door lock stops moving. It still sounds like the actuator moved, but the lock itself is still sticking up. So, either something is sticky in there, or the voltage is running too low to move the actuator.

Hmmm....

Still no response from the programming instructions.

 

[Qyota]

OK, for those of you following along, I have some good news! As part of my mass TIS download yesterday, I got the re-programming instructions from the repair manual. They are similar to the instructions floating around here, but with a few "key" differences. The first is the duration between lock and unlock when doing the 5 lock/unlock sequence. The manual states one second between actions...so 2 seconds per lock/unlock cycle. And the other difference comes at the end. The real instructions give 4 options for turning the key in the ignition (from lock to on). Lock-on once gives you "add" mode. Lock-on twice gives you "rewrite" mode. Lock-on three times gives you "confirmation" mode. And Lock-on five times gives you "prohibition" mode.

Well, I followed the directions and did the Lock-on cycle 3 times. Wouldn't ya know it, my locks cycled twice! Hallelujah! All hope is not lost. Now I'm off to eBay to find me some remotes, and I'm gonna lick this thing!

Not as worried about the cut wire or the voltage anymore. If the fobs work, I'm going to just clean up what I can under the dash and call it a day.

:biggrin2: