Got a Viper 1002 installed by an "authorized" dealer. Got it home and was testing it out, and noticed that with it armed, I can open the trunk fine as you please and the thing does not go off. Shouldn't they have hooked the alarm into the switch that activates the trunk light so this works? Is that even possible? I also had to set it as at its highest sensitivity for it to catch my hand slapping the B pillar before it would warn. Should I go back and complain about the trunk issue? Advice.
Did you ask them to put in a trunk pin when they installed your alarm? If you did, and they didn't install one then you have something to complain about.
The way most alarms are installed, they go off the interior light which has nothing to do with the trunk light. I've always had to ask to have pins installed, as they are normally extra and not included in the basic alarm/installation.
I'd go back and get them to install a trunk pin - they're pretty cheap. A hood pin is also a very good thing to have so that they don't open the hood to cut power to your alarm before breaking in.
GAM (The Kilted One) wrote: if you think you're that much better than them because you're "correct" I hope your progeny don't turn out as screwed up as yourself.
get a mercury switch instead of pins. you won't have to drill any holes. It clips onto the truck lid or the hood.
trunks are usually extra to have done
and there is a factory wire to tap off of already , no need for any extra switch , just wire to run to the alarm , and hit the + door trigger on the alarm
when you say you open the trunk, do u mean with the remote or manualy? if u mean by remote then no it shouldnt go off, since its bypassed. but if u mean u open the trunk manually and the alarm doesnt go off then yes all you do is tap in to the (+) positve wire from the trunk light and wire it to a relay to convert to a negative (-) signal, then wire this to ur alarm brain. look on the12volt.com for relay wiring diagram
Yeah... you don't need a trunk pin. There is actually 3 wires on the trunk light. One of them, is the negative which is switched.
The positive wire is a constant, which is why the negative is used.
Also, hit different parts of ur car... and see how they installed the shock sensor. I find mine worked best when I wire tied it to an existing loom. The shock sensor is more sensitive to shocks from the front and rear of the car compared to the side....
I wanted to have a switch for the trunk, but they just said that it would leak if they did ,so they would not do it.
the wire tap thing kinda sucks because it can still be open a bit without the alarm going off.
i dont know what your talking about ^ i have my alarm hooked up to my trunk light and it works perfectly....no issues what so ever. They should be able to tap in to the trunk light wire if you have a light. go back get it checked...
They have the "brain" of the unit stuck to the BCM with some sort of double sided foam tape, I'm guessing similar to the stuff used to attach body-side molding to a car. I did some testing with it this evening, set the thing to its highest sensitvity, and start going around tapping/slapping areas of the car to see if it warns or not.
The A pillar warns with a slightly moderate slap, the B pillar a touch harder, on to the C pillar, gotta slap the hell out of it to warn, and when I got to the trunk, I slapped it on the curve above the lock so hard that my hand hurt, and not a peep.I unlocked the trunk with my key, opened it up, of course no warning. so I slapped the trunk hinges. Nada.
So I shut the trunk and the alarm went full tilt, not even a warn. So as it is now, a thief would be able to pop my trunk, take my sub and amp, and anything else in the trunk, and the alarm won't even notice. The car is going back to the alarm shop, and I am gonna do some complaining. For 300 bucks installed, I think this thing when set at its most sensitve should warn with at the very LEAST on a moderate slap on the trunk.
I'm beginning to wonder if the "brain" being mounted on the side of the BCM might not be the best place for it to detect vibrations.
Anyways, this is my first "real" car alarm, and the main reason I got it was a friend of mine got the same one at a different branch of the place I got it, and his is set 3 notches above most sensitive, and if you slap the trunk with light-moderate force, it will warn, and he still has 3 notches of sensitivity left. Also, I think it should not cost 20 bucks for them to tap the trunk light switch, but thats just my personal opinion.
But like I said, its going back tomorrow and they are gonna make it right or give me my money back so I can go to another shop.
depending on the alarm the brain isnt what sets the alarm off the should have a little sensor else where and i would just tap a wire into youre trunk light to set the alrm off cause it doesnt take anything but a screw driver and there in youre car with no warning to you just my 2 cents
The shock sensor on this alarm is part of the "brain" according to the manual. I'm taking it back today to get it fixed.
Have them move it on a wire loom.. that way it'll pick up vibrations more. My manual says that hard spots, such as directly on metal, pick up vibrations badly. Wire loom is probably the best.
Yeah because wire loom can roll around a bit...mounting it to the body of a unibody car wont get you much in the way of reverberations...
Sounds like a plan, I'll have them ziptie it or something to that ginormous loom thats right next to it. I would never have thought it would work better attached to the loom. And I decided to just wait till my appt. with them next week, since I am having them hook up the trunk light switch into it, and I'm gonna have them connect it to the power trunk setup I am putting in this weekend.
Thanks folks.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Thursday, July 12, 2007 10:46 PM
