Hi, I don't know if this qualifies as review or what but here goes:

DesignTech International inc. Smart Entry Keyless entry system for 84-92 Vettes
Sold to me by MAD but seen it elsewhere too.

In 1991 the keyless entry was not optional equipment for Vettes. Well, for me this was the number one missing feature in my car as we have cold winters and the door locks often freeze making them unusable. Remote system in very handy in this environment.

Some time ago I spotted an after market keyless entry option in the Mid America catalogue. The was 2 basic models that were interesting to me. The cheapest one for $99 was #100595 (convertible model) with just remote control to standard central locking while the more advanced model #100594 (coupe model) also could handle the hatch opening for about $129. I choose the cheaper one as I didn’t find the remote hatch control so interesting and I feared that it would be more complicated to install.

I ordered the kit. Received it. Opened the box. The kit comes with 2 remote key fobs, control unit, on/off switch, relay and its harness and a really depressing looking main wire harness with some 20 or so wires. There is also a installation manual, 2 pages of notes concerning different types of central locking systems, 2 pages of wire colour tables for numerous makes of cars and a single page describing the main harness (Generic Wire Harness Model 27004). Looking pretty good this far.

Well, after studying the manuals and numerous papers I realised that there is no way I could install this kit alone. I need somebody who knows what he is doing. The whole thing is so confusing. Even when there is a table of Corvette wiring included I really could not figure out how to connect the relay and even why it is included. The manual displays how to use the relay to open the hatch (I should not have this feature but the manual is generic so..) or sound the horn but only one of them so which should I use it for?

Well, a salvation (so I think) is found. Mid America has a Corvette installation manual on line. Well, it is for the better model with the hatch opening feature but it is recommended by MAD tech persons. The kits are basically the same with minimum difference in the installation. Only the trunk hatch part must be skipped. The papers say that the relay is used to turn off the factory alarm.

OK, time passes (some months) and then I persuade a friend of mine to help me with the installations. He agrees. For a month he examines the kit. He finds some mistakes in the MAD installation instruction. There is some wires mentioned that do not exist in the kit (brown and yellow in the main harness), the relay harness has totally different colours in reality when compared to the instructions and so on. He fixes the relay harness by installing new wires with correct colours (this will make the install easier later on). He also labels the wires beforehand to help remember what hey do. He takes also a look at my car and tries to find all wires mentioned in the instructions. He does not find them all but enough to agree that we can give it a try.

Right, today morning we started the actual installation. First we took apart the drivers side hush panel. There is 3 bolts and 2 torx screws and an additional fastener in the very front part of the panel. This fastener is pried off. Then we disconnect the hush panel light and remove the ASDL connector from the panel (1 screw). Our next step is to remove the drivers seat for more installation room. Now we are ready to start with the wires.

The DesignTech kit is very generic despite what MAD says about it being Corvette specific. The wiring harnesses are not ready to be used with Corvette when you receive the kit. In the main harness, there is 3 wires that needs to be spliced to an another wire in the same harness. Ok no problem, some soldering involved, basic stuff. Then there is also some splicing to do with the relay harness (note that you first have to sort out which of the wrongly coloured wires is which). With that also done we start the install in the car.

Here is a brief explanation of what we did and what were the problems and our findings:

The beginning is fairly fast and easy job. We solder all our connections to avoid future problems. Also good insulating is needed over the connections.

1. we try again to locate the correct wires in the car wiring harness, not all found again

2. connect ground and power leads in the car harness. You must find a constant 12V (red) and ignition power lead (pink) and of course the black (ground). In my car there was a grounding spot under the kick panel, very close to the car wiring harness that runs from under the dash into the drivers door. Easy...

3. instructions say connect yellow parking light wire into cars brown parking light wire. No time used to search the cars wire as the is no yellow wire in the DesignTech harness...there is no obvious other wire to do this connectioin either ...sigh...

4. connect blue horn wire, we didn’t do this as I don't want to hear my horn when I open and close my doors...it sounds so 80’s to my taste..

5. connect green/white hatch release wire into cars brown/white wire...I should not have this feature but as I did have this wire in the kits main harness, why not give it a try? Hmmm... more complicated than that. There is no brown/white wire in my car. Another mistake in the instructions! In the very end of the installation when everything was working we gave another look at this. There is several tan and brown leads but no brown/white. We tested one of the brown leads (very thin one) and it worked!!! Soldered this connection too and now I have this feature that was not supposed to be there...(?)

6. the difficult part: locate thick light blue wire that is supposed to lock the doors. Do the test as instructed and connect the wires. There was something fishy about this. The test worked opposite of what it is supposed to do. Okay, check the DesignTech tables. Yes, they also say that light blue is the lock cable. Okay maybe there is just a typo or something. Cut the light blue wire and connect 2 wires from the main harness to them. OK, lets connect like they instruct. We just make temporary connections to test this (luckily). Great!!! the fuse blows immediately when I press a button on the remote.

Now we must think about this. There is many options. The wires could be connected wrong way around or the light blue is not the correct wire at all or combo of the other numerous possibilities. Lets do some more testing...light blue works opposite, ok what about the unlock wire: thick black?? ARGH!!! there is a thick black wire but it does not show any voltage no matter how we test it...what now? We examine the car wire bundle some more, there is one more thick cable with black on it. It is not totally black but black/white. This wire shows 12V when I operate the central lock button. But again the opposite of what it is supposed to do. Solution: MAD and DesignTech have lock and unlock wires wrong way round in they instructions.

7. We switch the wrong connections around and voila! it works. So, the light blue is the unlock wire and the black/white the lock wire. I can now open and close the door with the remote!

8 Now we must make this system work with the stock alarm system. Connect blue to light green...ok no problem.

9. In the end we tackle with the hatch wire like I describe in 5.

10. final phase: we collect the wires to neat bundles and hide them under the dash making sure they do not rub against anything. Also hide the control box, fuse and on/off switch. Put the hush panel back and connect light wire and ASDL connector.


Evaluation of the product:

I think it was very misleading to say that this is Corvette specific product. The kit was not ready for installation when I received it. I needed to splice wires together in the supplied wire harnesses. The relay harness wire colours were not correct at all. There was serious errors in the instructions included (lock/unlock wire colours) and various errors in those supplied by reseller (MAD). :mad

We also examine the DesignTech central lock type instruction sheet. The 86-92 Vette lock system is reverse polarity system. But the connections are nothing like the diaghram in the sheet. So do not use it as instruction when installing the kit. Nothing is connected to door lock motors, only the lock/unlock switch wires. We verified this by using GM Corvette shop manuals wiring pictures.

This kit involves lots of planning and some brainwork to be successful. I helps a lot if there is 2 brains to do the job. You can discuss your views about the instructions and the wires and eventually it becomes clear where the errors are. :crazy:

In the end the kit works almost as promised. The light wire (yellow) that is needed to blink your lights when operating the thing is missing but maybe the horn relay cable (blue) could be used for this. Didn’t try it though. The hatch opening feature is not supposed to be there but it is so there is no need to buy the more expensive “coupe” model. The manual says that you could use the violet wire for dome light but it is not needed because at least in ‘91 Vettes all inside lights are turned on when the locks are unlocked.

The kit totally transforms Vette power lock use as I can now open and close both doors without touching my car using a remote (like in modern cars ;-) ). It however does not change how the alarm works. The alarm is not turned on if I just press the button after exiting the car and shutting the door. To activate the alarm the door must be wide open when I press the “lock” button on the remote. After that I can close the door. So it works like it has always done. When pressing unlock -button, the alarm is disarmed however.

I recommend this kit only to those who are patient and somewhat proficient in electric installations. It can be done but it could be difficult for a first timer. Print this review and use it to spot the errors when you study the instructions. Don’t try to do it without the MAD instructions sheets, even if they are full of errors, as the DesignTech instructions are totally insufficient for Corvette installation. This job took us about 6 hours to complete with the debugging we needed to do. I am sure that the second time would be much easier and estimate it would take 2 hours max.

I would rate this product like this: installation: pain in the lower part of ones body, would buy again: yes (don't know if there is any options available, other have even less Vette specific instructions)

I recommend soldering the connections, using cheap press on connectors will produce oxidation problems later on and could even cause a fire.


Greets

ToniH

 

:eek:

 

I will add my experience here fwiw. I shopped around and bought a Crimestopper unit. Selling points were excellent unit, decent price and pretty good website. Unit has alarm, remote door lock/unlock, hatch pop and xtra module for auto window up on arming. I let this thing sit around for a year before I decided I did not want to tackle it. I HATE to pay anybody to do something I can do myself. But I knew I was not going to be able to do this in a reasonable length of time even with the factory manual. I paid the local electro guru $200 to install it. If I remember right the thing only cost maybe $125 with the window module.
Anyways I am extremely happy with the unit. I use the added features all the time, hatch open, remote start, window up.
If I had it to do over, I would look into the units at Circuit City and Best Buy and check out their free install, although free is never really free...
Harold

 

i bought a keyless entry kit straight from GM (VKE 1000). just a universal kit. i had never installed a keyless entry before, took me about 3 and a half hours and about 6 beers. i didnt think it was that bad of a job, i just read and followed the instructions, this wire goes here, that wire goes there. also, i dont know why you were on the drivers side. 99% of the wires are on the theft deterent module, which is on the passenger side. and you dont need a relay to disable the factory alarm, you just have to hit lock before you hit unlock.

 

Thanks for posting your review. Glad to hear it works like you expected after all that frustration! ~Juliet :cheers:

 

My 92 came with a neat Viper alarm and remote. It would beep and the doors would unlock or lock and the hatch would open. It would also lock the doors when the car was started.

Then a wire wore thru it's insulation and because the alarm did not have the right fuses on it there was a small smoky FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

$703 later the beep (the whole damm thing) is gone. Got a neat 70 mile ride in a tow truck too.

 

> I use the added features all the time, hatch open, remote start, window up.

Oh yes, i forgot to say that this unit also has these features: automatic door locking after ignition, passive arming (automatic locking after you forget to lock it), starter kill connection, panic alarm, car finder, siren connection, 16 million different codes etc. etc.

I plan to use only remote locks and hatch, that is why I bought it.

Oh yes, why I did not pay anybody to install it? Because my experience in letting somebody else tackle my dash boards and interior panels is lots of broken or scracthed panels. They don't bother to find out how to remove the panels properly and connectors often brake. Result is more annoying noises and squeaks. By involving myself in the installation I can avoid all that and be sure that the connections are made properly too.

ToniH

 

> i dont know why you were on the drivers side. 99% of the wires are on the theft deterent module

Well, 100% of the wires needed in my car are on the drivers side, including the parking light and constant and ignition 12V wires. The powerlock harness main connector is on the pass. side but the wires all come to drivers side. And secondly because the installation instructions said so.

> you dont need a relay to disable the factory alarm, you just have to hit lock before you hit unlock.

Sorry, didn't get that. Hit lock before unlock? Do you mean connections or actual pressing of the remote button? Well, I don't know why the relay is there but it works.

ToniH