Remote Engine Start?

Zascar

The last few days have been so cold in the morning and evenings, I really have when you get into the car like having to shiver for 5-10 mins before the car heats up completely, not to mention trying to drive when the windows are all misted up!

I remember when I got my old car I fitted a Clifford alarm and it had an optional extra for Remote Engine Start. So 10-15 minutes before you are about to set off on your journey, you click a few buttons, and when you get into your car it is all warm and toasty and the windows are mist free!

I don’t really want to spend another €700 on a Clifford alarm, does anyone know if this feature be added separately to my current alarm?

Car is a 2002 Civic Type R.
Cheers

10-10-20

Guidance from vehicle manufacturers is that engines should be started and driven almost immediately. This is for the reason that an engine will warm quicker when under load (more throughput of petrol) and this in effect will be a more environmentally friendly use of fuel and less damage will also occur to the CAT due to excess hydrocarbons while cold.

In the past when I pre-warmed my car, found that it would only get to 40 degrees C after 10 mins on a freezing day, but driving for the same time would get the engine to 60 or above.

If you do want to pursue this, maybe look at a specific electrical engine pre-warmer which sits on the coolant feed to the engine block and can be plugged in from the house (on a timer if required).
It's possibly going to cost less in environmental & €€ terms as the CAT will then heat up quicker once the engine is loaded.

crosstownk

10-10-20 wrote: »

Guidance from vehicle manufacturers is that engines should be started and driven almost immediately. This is for the reason that an engine will warm quicker when under load (more throughput of petrol) and this in effect will be a more environmentally friendly use of fuel and less damage will also occur to the CAT due to excess hydrocarbons while cold.

I'd have to agree with all that.

But if you do have to fit a remote starter, be sure to add a switch that detects whether or not the car is neutral, unless you have an automatic transmission.

Zascar

Well would it warm enough for the aircon to heat up the car, de-mist the windows and not be freezing when I get in?

cormac_byrne

get a 12v electric heater

e.g.

http://www.m-99.co.uk/Electrical/Car_Heater_and_Fan/car_heater_and_fan.html

+

remote control

http://www.xoxide.com/remote-12vdc-relay-kit.html

I expect Maplins have both these items or similar

or build your own (designed by a Civic driver)

http://silenceisdefeat.org/~lgtngstk/Sites/Circuits/12V_Heater/Heater.html

My Series Land Rover is a bit arctic in the mornings, I'm still using the hat, coat & scarf solution, but maybe one day will get the soldering iron out....

colm_mcm

I have remote start on my weekend car, and like the convenience of getting into a warmed up interior and warmed up engine (MIVEC doesn't work when engine is cold) so much so that I've left my sensible car at work all week!

Clifford ones are a bit pricey (you get what you pay for IMO), but there are cheaper alarms with remote start from around €150.

E92

Remote starting is hardly very enviornmentally friendly, but far more important is the fact that most engine wear occurs when the engine is cold(you also use up to 2-3 times as much fuel too), so therefore the engine should be let warm up as fast as possible. Engines warm up when they're being worked(of course they need to be treated gently until they warm up) and being made move the car, so the best thing for the car is to grin and bear the cold and just drive off straight away, but be gentle till the temp guage goes out the cold section, and gradually build up power until it's fully warmed up. Anyway if you have aircon, the car will be defogged fairly quickly(1 min max), so no excuse for letting the car hang around and do nothing after that!

5500

It cant be directly added to the factory honda alarm,only way is to use an aftermarket alarm and unit

colm_mcm

remote start is very good for frosty and icy mornings, set the heater running full blast before turning the car off at night, and when you sit into the car 10 minutes after starting it all your windows are clear and the car is nice and toasty warm! Clifford remote fobs have very long range, so you can start the car from the other end of the house!

The emissions don't bother me to be honest!

zuutroy

I installed it in my car. The Boa 165b is an excellent cheap kit and quite easy to fit. Plus its cool as hell just pressing the button and seeing the car start up! Had great fun scaring passers by for the first day or two!

colm_mcm

zuutroy wrote: »

Had great fun scaring passers by for the first day or two!

You only got 2 days fun out of that?

Pete67

What about cars with anti theft systems - chips in the keys etc? How do these remote start devices get around that?

JHMEG

If an aftermarket alarm can start your engine without the key, then a scoby can start your engine without the key. The CTR has a factory immobilzer that prevents either of the above from starting the engine without the key.

You could just nip out and start the engine 10 mins before you drive away.

colm_mcm

JHMEG wrote: »

You could just nip out and start the engine 10 mins before you drive away.

I'd prefer the car to be still there 10 minutes later!

crosstownk

Pete67 wrote: »

What about cars with anti theft systems - chips in the keys etc? How do these remote start devices get around that?

Excellent point.

1. Get an extra key cut and coded
2. Break open the key.
3. Remove the 'chip'.
4. Permanently fix the chip as close as possible to the read coil.
5. Job done.

Doing the above results in your immobiliser being permanently by-passed.

TychoCaine

Rather than remote start, why not look into retrofitting the petrol fuelled heaters that you get fitted as standard in places like Canada and Scandinavia? They heat the the air coming out of the air vents when the engine is off. It would minimise the engine wear caused by an idling engine, use less fuel, and still heat up the car.

colm_mcm

apparently there is another way to get the remote start to work without using a transponder. I'm sure I suggested what crosstownk just did a few months ago and was corrected by someone more in-the-know

crosstownk

colm_mcm wrote: »

apparently there is another way to get the remote start to work without using a transponder. I'm sure I suggested what crosstownk just did a few months ago and was corrected by someone more in-the-know

I'd be interested to know what the 'other way' is.

I have done exactly what I suggested to a car a few years back and it worked perfectly.

JHMEG

colm_mcm wrote: »

I'd prefer the car to be still there 10 minutes later!

I did it myself for several weeks the winter before last. Thermostat in the Integra was stuck open and the car would never heat up if I just got in a drove away.

colm_mcm

I did a search and couldn't find any more threads on remote start, but I'm sure it's been discissed.
I have BlackJax on mine which means the car can't be driven over 5mph without having to input a code, so even if the keys get nicked the car's going nowhere, makes up for the lack of factory immobiliser.

JohnCleary

I had one in my last car. Very handy

BUT

You need to disable the factory immoboliser. I was able to disable mine by entering a certain sequence of keys etc. However the most common way to bypass is to 'stash' the key somewhere near the ignition barrel.

They're a novelty, but IMHO take away from the security of the car. Not sure about Hondas, but my last car came with pretty good factory security and I took it away for the sake of a remote starter. If you do get one, make sure theres a decent immoboliser in the aftermarket alarm

crosstownk

colm_mcm wrote: »

I did a search and couldn't find any more threads on remote start, but I'm sure it's been discissed.
I have BlackJax on mine which means the car can't be driven over 5mph without having to input a code, so even if the keys get nicked the car's going nowhere, makes up for the lack of factory immobiliser.

Sounds plausible. And an excellent safety feature given the engine is running in your absence. But that's an additional security feature. The only way to bypass a factory fitted immobiliser is to either disable it, or provide the correct code. Maybe some remote start products can integrate and provide the code. I'd say it's possible.

colm_mcm

If you get a Clifford remote start system, it will have the functions like BlackJax, and engine shut off if the car is broken into, or if the car is unlocked and the brake pedal is pressed

crosstownk

Yes - I understand that it simply starts the car while still arming the alarm functions. But it's starting the car in the first place without the correct immobiliser information that interests me.

5500

crosstownk wrote: »

Yes - I understand that it simply starts the car while still arming the alarm functions. But it's starting the car in the first place without the correct immobiliser information that interests me.

Personally i wouldnt fit R/S to a car that came with a factory immobilisor,but you can still fit it to a safe extent by wiring the alarms immobilisor via the power wire for the transponder so it kind of still works the same way as in it cant be started without a key once the alarm has triggered.

On a clifford anyways,you cant remote start unless the alarm is already armed,so any trigger will immediatly shut the car down and immobilise.It's no more easier for a thief to hotwire a car that has remote start added to it and than to a car without it providing the installation is done correctly.

colm_mcm

eireal wrote: »

On a clifford anyways,you cant remote start unless the alarm is already armed,so any trigger will immediatly shut the car down and immobilise.It's no more easier for a thief to hotwire a car that has remote start added to it and than to a car without it providing the installation is done correctly.

On my G5 Avant Guard I can remote start with the car amred or disarmed. I can also use items like the radio and interior lights without shutting the car off providing the car is unarmed.

5500

colm_mcm wrote: »

On my G5 Avant Guard I can remote start with the car amred or disarmed. I can also use items like the radio and interior lights without shutting the car off providing the car is unarmed.

Can you start the car without pressing the button combo while the key is in ignition and still running?