Reaper19

The Previous owner cut alarm wires in the driver door alarm switches and the alarm does not work. I started tracing down all the wires, but decided to stop and install a Viper Alarm model 3105v. It is on the way being shipped but wonder if anyone has experience installing these type alarms in an 81. After reviewing online and on the forum I read conflicting information that the newer alarms possibly have relays built in for door locks?

Some questions I have:
- Does the alarm require an additional relay for the power locks?
- Or is anyone familiar with the 3105v and if the relays are built into the control module?
- If needed I was looking at a Directed Electronics 451M or picking up two 5 pin relays?

Thanks

Easy Mike

Why not contact Viper and have them answer your questions regarding their product? Keep in mind, the factory alarm system for 81 has a starter interrupt feature.

Reaper19

Thanks. From researching on the forum and elsewhere online I found the 81 door locks have a reverse polarity system with no factory relays. Installation requires a DEI 451M or 2 SPDT relays. It was easier and cleaner to install the DEI, so I picked one up today locally.

The factory starter interrupt can be bypassed by or removed along with the factory control module and install the Viper parts in their place. No one will know the system is upgraded from looking at it, but I will now have remote keyless along with other additional security features and options.

Kacyc3

Did you run into any issues with the factory alarm wiring and the Viper?

Reaper19

.

I had the alarm kit delivered a few days ago and will be working on it this weekend. But after doing more research it looks like the factory control module and starter interrupt could be removed and the Viper main module and starter interrupt replaced in their place.

80vette21

Any updates on how the install went??

I currently have my 1980's doors torn down completely replacing all the original window, latch, and lock components. I'm going to be adding keyless entry, and I'm trying to decide if I want to go all out and install an alarm while I'm at it.

Reaper19

The installation went well, took a little longer and a couple weekends to wrap everything up. Finding the wiring diagrams and installation instructions took a few times surfing the internet and going through my shop manual and assembly manual. Study, study , study!

I took a little more time to make sure no wiring was showing and made the installation very stealthy. This involved removing both kick panels, glove box, air ducts, speedo and tach cluster and center console. I was able to use some of the factory alarm wiring after removing old components for the various triggers, but utilized the new alarm wiring for everything else. I did need to buy a door trigger solenoid for the door locking feature since our cars are wired 12 volt directly, reverse polarity, but picked that up for 10 bucks at Best Buy. It is called a 451 Micro Doorlock Relay module, which comes with all the wiring required and plugs directly into the alarm system after running 4 wires into the locking system and 1 wire for power.

I also took my time to pick specific locations to cut into wiring and soldered every joint. I also removed the factory ignition starter interrupt, no reason to have two and took it out of the loop to be a possible failure down the road. The new alarm came with it's own starter interrupt relay. While I had all the various panels removed from the car I also took off the drivers door panel and replaced the door look harness, the PO had used female-male connectors and I wanted to make it more permanent by installing a new connector and soldering all wires. Looks much neater and factory now.

All-in-all it was an interesting project, a little more time consuming than I thought but worth it in the long run to have key-less entry and an updated alarm system. Also, now I have a working alarm with all entry points triggered and a shock sensor for possible impacts.

80vette21

Awesome, thanks! I already have the Lectric Limited full chassis wiring diagram, individual wiring diagrams I printed at my shop, and the AIM. My only thing is my car was stolen back before I bought it, so the factory alarm system does not work. I'm not sure what's left for factory alarm components, I'm going to have to take a look. I've had my entire interior out before, including the whole dash, I wish I did this then!!! At least I know how everything comes apart

What did you use from the factory alarm for the new triggers? Also, what exactly did you have to do for the locks to work? I thought the system would work with our factory actuators. Looking at my wiring diagram it looks like both door switches are connected. Where does that relay get wired into the system?

Thanks

Reaper19

If you follow the wiring diagrams from the shop manual you will see the lt blue wire is connected to all factory alarm triggers, door pins, t-top pins, hood pin, tamper switches on door locks. These all run back to a single point under the dash someplace. Never mind trying to hunt that point down if you are using the viper system since you will use a different wire connection for the door pins versus the t-tops, door switches and hood switch. What I did is eliminate the lt blue wire from the door pins and then tapped in the instant trigger to the lt blue factory alarm wire that runs from the back compartment through the center console. Check out the factory diagram I uploaded.

As far as the door locks, the master switch is in the passenger door. You can tap into the two wires behind the glove box in the electrical taped wiring harness and tie wrap the relay or use double sided tape to mount. The power locks on these cars is a 5 wire design. The wires required are lt blue=lock and the black=unlock. You can use a multi-meter to locate these after stripping away a little shielding. The directions with the relay mentioned from Best Buy has good instructions on which four wires to use from the relay.

80vette21

Cool, that's a helpful diagram of just the stock system. I'm going to take a look and see what I have left. I know my t-top switches are gone, and I think my hood switch is too. I don't plan on putting either back, I never have my T-tops on anyways, but if I do I have locks for them. Plus, I plan on doing the field disturbance sensor so it's going to trigger either way.

I don't have the kit yet, so it's a little tough to follow until I have my hands on it and can see exactly what needs to be done. I was just trying to determine whether or not I should pull the trigger and order it. I think I'm going to, I definitely want keyless entry, and an alarm would be nice... I'm sick of being paranoid when I'm out somewhere, constantly trying to keep an eye on it! The field disturbance will be nice too, hopefully keep admirers from getting too close and leaning on the paint!!

One other thing, which kit did you get? I was looking at the 3105v, Amazon has it new for only $59

Reaper19

Same model but from a vendor on ebay for same price.

80vette21

Perfect, I'm going to order mine now so I can get the install done while I still have the doors all apart doing the locks. You'll be my go to with any questions

80vette21

I ended up ordering by alarm the other day. I went with the newer 3606v as it has an on board relay for the door locks, plus 5 aux outputs for further expansion of the system. Plus I believe the software is newer and easier to program. It arrived today, but I'm at work until tomorrow morning, so I'll get to start on it tomorrow. I also ordered the field disturbance sensor. I can't wait to have keyless entry!

Reaper19

Sounds good. Good luck on the installation.

80vette21

So the install went good, very easy once I figured out what needed to go where. Everything worked good, but I hadn't tried to start the car. Went to start it today and it won't crank. I know I had the starter kill wired right, but I confirmed it just to be 100% I talked to Crutchfield, where I had ended up buying it from, and he wanted me to put the ignition wiring back to stock and see if it started that way to confirm if the starter kill was the issue. I didn't really want to do that seeing I had already soldered everything up (my mistake... overconfident). I came up with a better idea. I got my multimeter and tested for 12v cranking on the key side. I have 12v's from the ignition, through the green/white wire in the viper starter kill harness, into the alarm brain. I then checked for 12v cranking coming from the alarm brain in the solid green starter kill wire.... nothing. So, clearly I have a problem with the starter kill relay itself. I called Crutchfield back and he agreed. I asked if it could be a programming issue, but he said no that it's just got to be an internal issue with the viper unit. So, they're sending me a new brain tomorrow with a prepaid return label for the defective unit. Hopefully this will fix the problem.

Other than that everything works good, locks, field disturbance sensor, etc. I got the install done in just over 6hrs.

Reaper19

Nice work, that was fast. You should be able to just unplug the brain and try starting. That would eliminate the alarm itself and start right up if everything is wired correctly. If it still does not start, leave the brain unplugged, remove the starter kill solenoid from the socket and jumper the green and black wire that should bypass anything the unit would be causing problems on startup and essentially reconnect and create the factory connection through the Yellow factory wired. The other issue, if your is an 81 or newer the factory starter interrupt may have tripped and will not energize. Found that out during finding the wires needed and testing with meter. You may need to also unplug the factory solenoid and also jumper the purple and purple/white wires. I removed my factory starter interrupt solenoid just for that same reason, it is another point of failure and if it gets tripped you will not be able to start the car.

If you want to talk PM me with your phone number.

Randy

80vette21

Thanks Randy.

I tried your idea and disconnected the starter kill harness and jumpered the green/white wire and the green wire, the car cranks right over. As far as disconnecting the brain Crutchfield told me these units have capacitor that will hold power for quite a while. I think the test has definitely proven an issue with the unit itself though. Also, my car is an 80, so I don't believe there is a factory starter kill. I guess now I just have to wait until the new brain comes in, should be mid week hopefully.

Reaper19

Glad you got it started. I see this model uses different color wires on the starter kill than mine. When I mentioned disconnecting the brain, I meant the main harness and the second harness for starter relay, this will essentially remove the alarm system from the loop, try to start and if no starting/cranking to me that would point to a possible bad starter kill relay or wiring is backwards. Make sure you have the correct wires connected in the starter circuit on the correct side, whichever one calls for the key side and the other side headed towards the starter.

The starter relay default mode is to allow current to pass through the starter wires in a closed circuit, but if the alarm is connected and turned on it energizes the relay and disconnects the circuit until the alarm is disarmed. So if you disconnect the alarm brain harness and second connector for relay it should start right up or possible bad relay.

Hope this helps you trouble shoot.

Good luck.