Remote starter for fx's

2010fx35 said:
Thanks! are you able to just use only the viper key only or do you need the factory key on you too.
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If I'm not mistaken, you always need the factory key fob on you, I don't think there is a way to safely bypass (if a bypass exists) the fact that the key fob needs to be within a certain proximity of the car for everything to work. If you've ever seen an older remote start set up, the installer would bypass (if you want to call it a bypass) the car keys chip, by placing a spare car key in a unit under the dash. Therefore always having a key close to the ignition or recognized by the alarm system.

Oh and I forgot to mention the other difference in the Viper remotes are the advertised range of functionality. Again, range would not be a factor if you install the Smart Start Module (unlimited range). That's the main reason I went with the 5104, because I knew I would never use the Viper remote unless I had no choice. In two/three years I haven't even taken the viper remotes out of the box, except when it was first installed to make sure they work. If I didn't install the Smart Start Module I certainly would have went with the model with the color lcd or at least the equivalent two-way remote without color. I would have probably went with the color lcd just for the added cool factor lol.
 
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sco8 said:
Just as a follow up to my SmartStart install, everything went smooth. I was concerned that after I remote started and opened the driver door the engine would shut down. This is not the case, but I did find out that the FX has to be locked before you remote start and then unlock, get in, shut the door, and hit the brake within 45 seconds. They couldn't use my stock Inifiniti remote to start the car as I am using an older model of the remote starter. All is well, and differently from my previous MDX I can still use the stock remote to enter the vehicle by using the buttons or the keyless entry. This is nice as before if I would start the MDX from my iphone I would have to unlock it from the phone, which is kind of a pain and sometimes unreliable. Especially when leaving work and my phone is trying to switch between wifi and LTE. So, yeah I'm happy with the results. The Valentine One hard wire went smooth as well and is in a great spot up by the visor. The new 34% tints on the driver and passenger windows look great. So.... what's next?
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Sounds like they hooked it up wrong. All you do is open the door, press the brake (gotta do that anyway to shift into drive) and go. If anything it saves you time because you don't have to press the start button to start the car.

https://www.infinitiscene.com/searc...FX50S-2009-Infiniti-FX50S?p=332056#post332056
 
jdTrader said:
Sounds like they hooked it up wrong. All you do is open the door, press the brake (gotta do that anyway to shift into drive) and go. If anything it saves you time because you don't have to press the start button to start the car.

https://www.infinitiscene.com/searc...FX50S-2009-Infiniti-FX50S?p=332056#post332056
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Really? I had mine installed two/three years ago and when I remote start the car, I unlock the car, then once I get inside I have to press the start button twice cycling the car to ACC mode, then ON mode, then I step on the brake to engage the normal run mode.

But I just had the the same system installed on my wife's 09 Murano this past weekend and the system as been upgraded a little in hardware and a lot in firmware. She only has to unlock, then get in and step on the brake. Her system then recognizes the factory key fob is close then engages normal run mode. Her system also has the valet switch integrated into the alarms antenna/led light. My valet switch is the traditional small metal switch which was drilled inconspicuously into the bottom corner of the dash.
 
jdTrader said:
Sounds like they hooked it up wrong. All you do is open the door, press the brake (gotta do that anyway to shift into drive) and go. If anything it saves you time because you don't have to press the start button to start the
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That is exactly how mine works. I walk up open the door get in hit the brake and go. I do not need to push the start button inside the FX. I was talking about the start button on the iPhone app. I think it's hooked up properly.
 
UglyOrangeThing said:
I also need to press the ignition button before I engage and start driving. Viper 5904

Sent from my SPH-L710 2
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I would call viper and ask them...they will tell you right away if it's hooked up wrong or you have a firmeware that is set up that way and you can ask if there is a way to update the firmware if that is the case. I've called viper before and they are really good at helping customers out and knowing exactly what the issue may be.
 
jdTrader said:
I would call viper and ask them...they will tell you right away if it's hooked up wrong or you have a firmeware that is set up that way and you can ask if there is a way to update the firmware if that is the case. I've called viper before and they are really good at helping customers out and knowing exactly what the issue may be.
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That's exactly how it was explained to me. The newer Viper systems have firmware that is designed for the installer to have an easier time with installation and allows them to be less invasive when having to access certain wires. The down side of this is that the firmware controls everything so if the firmware is not on point you could experience issues. The older firmware was not as complex so the installer has to hard wire a lot more of the system into the vehicle.

Question JD: Do you have issues with you auto headlights functioning properly with your viper system. I don't have issues with mine and I have an older Viper setup as far as the firmware goes. Like I said, I do have to hit my start button twice, but my wife just had the Viper installed on her 09 Murano by the same installer who did mine (they are very good and do a lot of install work for high end car dealers including Infiniti in their area) and she only has to unlock, get in, step on the brake and go. Her Auto headlight feature is acting up. If you remote start the car with the auto headlights set to the on position the headlights come on briefly then go off (not normal) then the parking lights remain on like normal during the the remote start operation. Also if you remote start the car with the auto headlight feature set to on then deactivate the remote start with the remote, when the car shuts off the headlights come on and stay on. All this happens at night only of course when the cars sensor detects that the auto light should come on but my car does not have this issue and it's frustrating. So far the installer said he is searching for a fix but his reasoning for this happening is that the firmware may have issues working with the auto headlight feature since the newer systems are less invasive and therefore rely on the firmware to work with many of the cars features.
 
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neva4self said:
That's exactly how it was explained to me. The newer Viper systems have firmware that is designed for the installer to have an easier time with installation and allows them to be less invasive when having to access certain wires. The down side of this is that the firmware controls everything so if the firmware is not on point you could experience issues. The older firmware was not as complex so the installer has to hard wire a lot more of the system into the vehicle.

Question JD: Do you have issues with you auto headlights functioning properly with your viper system. I don't have issues with mine and I have an older Viper setup as far as the firmware goes. Like I said, I do have to hit my start button twice, but my wife just had the Viper installed on her 09 Murano by the same installer who did mine (they are very good and do a lot of install work for high end car dealers including Infiniti in their area) and she only has to unlock, get in, step on the brake and go. Her Auto headlight feature is acting up. If you remote start the car with the auto headlights set to the on position the headlights come on briefly then go off (not normal) then the parking lights remain on like normal during the the remote start operation. Also if you remote start the car with the auto headlight feature set to on then deactivate the remote start with the remote, when the car shuts off the headlights come on and stay on. All this happens at night only of course when the cars sensor detects that the auto light should come on but my car does not have this issue and it's frustrating. So far the installer said he is searching for a fix but his reasoning for this happening is that the firmware may have issues working with the auto headlight feature since the newer systems are less invasive and therefore rely on the firmware to work with many of the cars features.
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I remember my installer mentioned that after hooking everything up the auto headlight dash light was lit indicating there was a malfunction occurring, yet the headlights worked fine. He said the viper "instructions" were wrong and had to update something. Maybe this is what you are asking? There was no firmware update or anything like that.

Also, after about 2 months of use, I noticed like a 10% chance that once I got to the car, the car door was unlocked. Most may not notice this (and it happens rarely) but I think most people don't notice because as they approach the car they unlock it or press the handle to unlock before opening the door. I went through a testing period of not doing that for 1.5 months and just trying to open the door and noticed in very rare cases sometimes the door was unlock. Of course what happens then is if you open the door without you pressing unlock first, viper turns the car off, but I didn't like this because that means that there is a slight chance that the car is running and someone can open the door and steal my radar detector or something else from my car.

I took it back and he mentioned the viper manual was wrong again and that the infiniti FX 2009+ required 1 or 2 relays for something that I don't remember that fixed the issue. He tried to explain things, but I just don't get electrical......but I haven't been able to replicate the problem since.

This is why having a very good installer is very necessary....not just one that follows install instructions.
 
jdTrader said:
I remember my installer mentioned that after hooking everything up the auto headlight dash light was lit indicating there was a malfunction occurring, yet the headlights worked fine. He said the viper "instructions" were wrong and had to update something. Maybe this is what you are asking? There was no firmware update or anything like that.

Also, after about 2 months of use, I noticed like a 10% chance that once I got to the car, the car door was unlocked. Most may not notice this (and it happens rarely) but I think most people don't notice because as they approach the car they unlock it or press the handle to unlock before opening the door. I went through a testing period of not doing that for 1.5 months and just trying to open the door and noticed in very rare cases sometimes the door was unlock. Of course what happens then is if you open the door without you pressing unlock first, viper turns the car off, but I didn't like this because that means that there is a slight chance that the car is running and someone can open the door and steal my radar detector or something else from my car.

I took it back and he mentioned the viper manual was wrong again and that the Infiniti FX 2009+ required 1 or 2 relays for something that I don't remember that fixed the issue. He tried to explain things, but I just don't get electrical......but I haven't been able to replicate the problem since.

This is why having a very good installer is very necessary....not just one that follows install instructions.
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That door lock issue is interesting. When I remote start my wife's car as well as mine, I can hear the viper system lock the car doors even when the alarm is already activated and the doors are already locked. So when I trigger a remote start event with either car almost immediately after the car starts you can hear the system lock the door, and if the doors are not locked, when you hear the locks activate, they lock. That is the first time I've heard the door lock issue with the viper system. On my first gen 08 I went to Best Buy because the particular installer I went to go see was supposedly really good but no matter what he did he could not get the system to work with my headlights auto feature. I ended up taking the viper system out and returning it, which is why I was so particular this time around about picking an installer with specific experience with our type of vehicle. His claim to this issue not being easily resolved is what I stated in a previous post. He is saying that with the way the viper systems were set up when I had mine installed, he had to hard wire a lot more of the system manually to do the install (this was about two or three years ago). He says now with these new viper systems there is a lot less hard wiring that has to be done to install, almost like viper has integrated most of the system into minimal wiring so that now what you have is a viper system that is more controlled by the software/firmware therefore controlling most of the cars features with this software. As opposed to my (older) type of set up where to control certain features he would just hard wire it. Like you JD I'm no electrician so even though what he is saying makes sense it's not like I can physically check myself. I'm hoping someone reads this and knows what to do to fix this issue. If he can't resolve this issue with a software/firmware update/patch I'm going to have to see what he can do to attempt a hard wire of the headlight auto feature.
 
As you mention, installer is key....and not just one that knows how to follow directions, but improvises to improve or correct potential problems with systems that do have problems on occasion like I've mentioned.

My installer has been doing installs for about 20 years and is a ACM or something certified, which means he is certified as a licensed auto electrical mechanic, but just does custom installs since that is what he likes to do and he is one that says anything is possible and loves a good challenge. He never did an FX, but he didn't even blink because he says he can do any car no problem. My FX took much longer for him to get it working exactly how it should since out of the box it doesn't come that way, but now if another FX comes in he can do it in no time since he knows the caviats of that car.

The point is, not necessarily someone that has done that car before (because maybe they did it but it's not perfect) and I was caught up on that, but as you can see what really matters is the person's experience and attitude on very complex cars. If they turn away any car, chances are they don't know how to think outside the box on making it perfect. Anything can be done and I can do anything needs to be the response. Being a certified electrical auto mechanic helps too.

This is why Best Buy is just a disaster and you basically are drawing a lottery if the viper install by default works perfect based on instructions or not. With our system, it needs tweaks for the perfect scenario or you learn to deal with some issues here or there by a normal installer.

---------- Post added at 11:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:09 AM ----------

I remember him also mentioning that he noticed our electrical system is unique in that a certain sequence of events need to happen before the car turns on among other things....I think that was a reason for one of additional relays needed, because sometimes the values would occur before or after a certain time and that's why you sometimes get issues and sometimes not....that case the relay apparently solved that problem. I'm talking about this like a 1st grader talking about nasa cause i know nothing about it.
 
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jdTrader said:
This is why Best Buy is just a disaster and you basically are drawing a lottery if the viper install by default works perfect based on instructions or not. With our system, it needs tweaks for the perfect scenario or you learn to deal with some issues here or there by a normal installer.

I'm talking about this like a 1st grader talking about nasa cause i know nothing about it.
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Yeah i learned my lesson the hard way with Best BUY but the only reason I went to them is because a friend swore up and down that the installer i was going to deal with was top notch and was good at what he does. I should have know better when I met the kid and he was only like 22 years old, how much experience can you really have at that age lol. He looked like he would probably be an ace at installing systems in older cars that don't have too many luxury electronic features. The FX stumped his brain though lol.

Don't feel bad talking about it like a 1st grader, I would be sitting in the desk to your right lol.

Situations like this make me want to get into learning though. I hate not having a clue when it comes to things like this. On my older cars I learned how to install a full audio system on my own just because of situations like this where I was paying top dollar for the work which wasn't hard if you knew what to do. From building a box for the subs down to installing an aftermarket radio, new speakers, amps, capacitor, the whole nine yards. To the point when I went to a shop to have them help me tweak the bass frequencies on the amps they offered me a job lol. Now with these new cars with integrated subs and amps, its like being in the dark all over again. Kind of makes me want to get in the books about these new set ups for the audio, alarm and everything else.
 
I would never go to best buy for any advice or get any of their knowledge. Most of them have no idea what they are talking about and just read off the box or w/e.
 
So, I thought I was all set... But, it turns out that sometimes when I remote start, I will go out to the FX and see that not only is it not running, but also unlocked!! Obviously a major problem. At first I was thinking, ok I have to lock the car with the phone app or viper remote and then remote start (not just lock the doors with the stock remote or door handle button). But this is not the case either as it has shut down and unlocked after being locked with the viper remote.... I'm going back to place that installed it today, and hopefully they have another module to use or some other quick programming fix. I am going to a very reputable installer here in Chicago that always promises customer satisfaction guaranteed, I hope I'm satisfied!

UPDATE

Ok so here is the update. The FX was unlocking because that is how it's set, once the engine is shut off the doors unlock. The reason I was given that the engine was shutting down in the first place, was that the remote start system was not communicating the Tach. This meant that the remote start thought there was a problem and shut down the process and engine. It is now setup to monitor voltage, and so far seems to work fine. The installer also set it up that if the engine is remotely shut down, or the run time is up, the car will re lock automatically. I will test and keep the scene posted.
 
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So getting a SmartStart system outside of a dealership can ruin the car's warranty? How much did you guys all pay to get a smartphone remote start system installed?

Thanks!
 
superwario said:
So getting a SmartStart system outside of a dealership can ruin the car's warranty? How much did you guys all pay to get a smartphone remote start system installed?

Thanks!
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Don't know about the warranty, but the crazy part about that, is that almost all if not all dealers have a shop that they deal with where the I installer comes to them or they take your car to them for the work. So technically Infiniti is not doing the work any way. Pricing depends on the alarm system you choose to go with like GPS or no GPS, the kind of remote and so on. The actual alarm itself is pretty much the same otherwise. Word of advice if you are getting a Smart Start get the basic model Viper System and have the installer hook it up to your factory key fob so you don't have to carry two remotes if you need range you will use your phone to remote start anyway. GPS or no GPS will be the biggest price decision.

---------- Post added at 11:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:01 PM ----------
jdTrader said:
I would call viper and ask them...they will tell you right away if it's hooked up wrong or you have a firmeware that is set up that way and you can ask if there is a way to update the firmware if that is the case. I've called viper before and they are really good at helping customers out and knowing exactly what the issue may be.
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JD some of the older models, just need a button press like mine. As an update my wife's Moreno had all the issues resolved and she doesn't have to press her start button. I'm a little jealous lol she also just hops in car and goes.
 
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I'm sure a viper swap wouldn't be too much. I would think much less than one that was never installed before. Would t hurt to ask how much it would be to upgrade to the latest model.
 
jdTrader said:
I'm sure a viper swap wouldn't be too much. I would think much less than one that was never installed before. Would t hurt to ask how much it would be to upgrade to the latest model.
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Yeah, it might not cost much but I think I'm going to live with the two button press and put the extra I would spend towards some more mods :smile (2): Just bought all the GTSpec strut bars and braces. Thinking about going from my 24's down to 22's not sure yet. So for now..... two button press it is lol.
 
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