So there is a remote start offered in japan (see pic below of the remote). How does that work with a manual transmission? most cars w/ manuals today wont start unless the clutch pedal is push in. so how do you get around that with the remote starter. hmmm maybe this should be in the electronics section.

 

It would be nice but for my needs, unnecessary.

 

For remote starting newer cars of today. You would have to bypass the clucth sensor. While I have installed a remote starter for my car. It is a bit dangerous(for the car mostly) to have a remote starter for cars that are manual. I'm sure you get the idea. But here in CA its illegal to do so.

But you don't have to buy an expensive remote starter. especially if you have an alarm already installed. There are some manufacturers that sells remote starters to work with your car alarm remote.

 

Well in the UK, and as far as I know the whole of Europe, no manual car requires the clutch to be pressed to start it.

If it is not in gear, then the car will just start, doesn't matter where the clutch is.

If it is gear, then the car will jump forward and not start!

That is the way it has always been here.

Hopefully this means that this particular accessory can be brought to the UK, though they probably won't anyway.

Shahpor

 

And that's the way it used to be here, before America became the Land of the Litigous and folks started abrogating personal responsibility. I believe the Audi "unintended accelleration" suit was the straw that broke that particular camel's back.

 

thanks for that eccles, i couldn't remember which company was involved there, but you hit it on the nose.

 

Call me ignorant ("IGNORANT!!!") but why would one want such a device?! What benefit is there in having the engine start when you aren't in the car? I can vaguely see the point if the car is right outside your house on a cold day and you want to heat it up before braving the elements but is that all? Seriously, I'm perplexed by this.

 

that's exactly it in a nutshell lensman. and there's the cool factor but it's mainly so you can warm it up from inside the house.

 

Oh, OK: well whatever floats your boat I guess...

 

oh wait . i don't mean to say that i want one. although on cold snowy mornings when the snow is piled up on the van that my uncle has in Pa., he leaves the heat/defrosters on the night before so after he remote starts most of it has melted and sloughed off by the time he goes out. that's helpful. but i was more interested in knowing how it would work on a manual if at all.

 

It will warm your car up in the winter. This isn't just so that it's comfy for you, but so that the engine is ready to go once you are. Remember, the alarm is still activated, the doors are locked, and even if someone breaks in, the system will kill the engine if someone tries to move the car without inserting the key and turning it to the on position. This makes it much better then starting your car, then walking back inside (leaving a running car their for the taking).

It will also cool your car off in the summer (how long does it take a Texas car to cool off in the summer...).

And even in situations where you start the car as you are walking up to it, that half-minute gives the engine a chance to get oil flowing before the car starts moving. How many people do you know just start and gun their vehicle? It's a minor consideration, but it's a consideration. And again, in the summer, that half-minute means you won't be in front of the vents when that initial "hot air blast" hits you when you first turn the A/C on.

As far as how it determines if the car is out of gear, some gearboxes have a switch that indicates that it is in neutral, and if I'm not mistaken, the Miata tranny has this (but I can't remember for sure), and the RX8 will be getting a very similar tranny, if not the same. There is also a way to setup a magnetic switch after the fact to also determine whether it is in gear or not.

---jps

 

Not that long, if you do it properly, which is to say crank down the windows and run the AC full blast in fresh air mode for about 30 seconds to blow the accumulated hot air out of the car, then wind 'em up and switch to recirculate, which gives maximum cooling by working on the already-cooler air inside the car rather than the hot air outside.

(Sorry for the thread creep. )

 

Remote starters have been on the market for over twenty years.

A distant relative of mine who lived in Youngstown many years ago had one for his car. It wasn't so much for heating up the car but more for personal safety.

The DeBartolo's were very protective of their turf...It was their town so to speak.

-Mr. Wigggles

 

I live in New Hampshire and had a remote starter installed when I was no longer able to park the car in my garage (needed the space to restore my sail boat). On the coldest days it is easily 20 below zero before you factor in wind chill and most cars do not drive well in that weather unless they have had a chance to warm up a bit.

I went with an Astroflex remote starter/alarm because the system has two infrared sensors that are used to sense when it is in neutral. It was a safety/security feature that I thought was worth having. The system is also fairly secure. When you remote start the car the doors remain locked and if the door opens, clutch is depressed, or gear shift is moved the ignition is disabled to prevent the car from being easily stolen.

 

When I was in high school, I had a manual corsica, i put a remote start in it to get the A/C going in the hot SoCal sun, it made a WORLD of difference after school. The way i got it to work is I had two microswitches in the center console that would be open if the car was not in neutral (stick fwd or back). When it was in the center (neutral) though, the switches bypassed the Clutch pedal switch and allowed the car to start. I later also wired a red light on those switches and the e-brake switch that would flash if the car was off, e-brake not engaged, and in neutral, so that I would always remember to leave the car in a condition that would allow it to start remotely. And, like mentioned earlier, the remote start was connected to an extra accessory channel on my alarm. Press button one for lock, button two for unlock, and hold button two in for 2 seconds to start. Worked flawlessly for years, then i sold that car (and removed the remote start for safety/legality)

 

So Lensman from Cambridgeshire misses the need for remote start? He would probably be interested in the crap I have under my hood to combat what we laughingly refer to as 'winter' around here....
First, a power bar that extends through the grille and plugs in to the 'mains' power. Yes, suicidal though it sounds, we run 120 volt power across the sidewalk to our cars parked on the street. Next is the battery warmer. This is a heater coil inside a plastic insulating blanket, wrapped tightly around the battery.(Battery is minimum 1000 cold cranking amps, a truly huge piece of kit, cold cranking amps only measure the amps at [ I think ] 0 degrees f, which means you better have lots more for minus 45C.)
Then the main man, El Block Heater. Usually in the 600-950 watt range. If it is parked in an unheated garage, you can probably set a timer to turn it on an hour before you want to go to work, but if it's outside, then you leave it on all night.
My car, and plenty of others, have an 'in-car' warmer, on the floor, under the dash, a fan driven blower, around 800 watts.
This will keep the interior around freezing point on a cold night, might even melt some snow off the glass, (but never off the body.)
Yes it is a lot of amps, but usually it will not trip a standard 15 amp breaker.
My old RX-3 had an anti-freeze injection system on it, when the button lit up from a temp sensor, you would give it a five second push, which injected 50/50 antifreeze mix from a 'windshield washer' type tank into the intakes, to cut down the seal leaks in the rotor chamber. Don't take my word for it, look it up!
Now, as to my power bills......lets not go there.
Yes I have a remote start, and will in every vehicle I own, and I will turn on the heated seats before I shut it down, then snuggle in as I drive away!
.

 

That, and you can scare the *$&% out of anyone walking by ... :D

 

Not to mention the neighbor's cat sleeping under the hood. :D

 

I read the first paragraph mentally adding up the kilowatts and formulating the obvious question... but I'll not go there.

 

yeah, the infamous Cold Start system... Mazda kept it in thier wankel designs at least until the Series 5 13B's, i don't know if they kept it in the Series 6 (the 13BREW)...

anyhoo, the consensus among RX-7 guys with that system in FC's (those S4 and S5 motors) is that it caused a lot more problems than it solved, which is why it's one of the "must do" mods, along with removing the (very stupid) second set of butterfly valves in the throttle body...... anyone who knows more about this care to comment??? sorry for jacking the thread.

yes, block heaters are necessary for out-door cars in the winter when the weather gets anywhere below -10C, otherwise you could run the risk of cracking the block (if it got down to -40C, which i've experienced... the snot in your nose freezes... not fun).

 

u can order it from japan and ill work its nothing big...i did that to my dad's benz...and it worked...

 

damn stealth maybe you should change your latitude alittle. minus 45 C seems like a place humans were not really meant to live.

 

well I am going to install a viper 790 on my 8... it has great features and kicks stock alarms ***. remote start is just cool, I know I will use it all the time. my friend is a master at car electronics - so hopefully we can program the system to open sunroof, turn on the audio system, and turn the lights on

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by StealthTL
[B]which means you better have lots more for minus 45C.)

...and thats why I moved from Canada to the sunny skies of Scottsdale, Arizona!!! Boy I sure don't miss that crap!!:D

 

My bud just had a Viper 790 XV installed on his RX-8 4AT and had to surrender a key to leave in the system. He gave Circuit City the Valet key and it works fine. He doesn't use the stock Mazda alarm fob anymore. Remote start works great.

Did anyone have any troubles with aftermarket alarms and keys?