Manual cranking v electronic" remote" start cranking

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
682
Location
il usa
I am thinking of a getting a remote start for the 1999 expedition.

Are there any downsides to getting a remote start. Can it leave you stranded on a long trip whereas one cannot even start the car with manual cranking.

How many seconds does the remote start crank the engine? Can the remote start cause more wear than an experienced manual cranker:)
 
My 2006 Mazda 3 has what you can call manual cranking. It will crank as long as I hold the key in the start position, if that's what you mean.
In any case, I installed the OEM remote starter kit when the car was two-three months old and it has worked flawlessly ever since. I use it daily during winter.

Some of the aftermarket units can have either the crank times adjusted, or read the tachometer signal for cranking times. There is nothing to worry about as long as the quality of installation is good.
 
Last edited:
Most remote starts will run the starter until it sees the engine is running above cranking via tach signal(tapped from the coil or an injector wire) or a "emulated tach" via voltage sense, if the charging system is above 12.6V it will consider that as running.

The units themselves are fairly reliable - DEI has most of the market via Viper/Clifford/Python. The only trouble spots are interfacing with the OEM wiring - especially the engine side and power connections. You might also need a immobilizer bypass as well.
 
Turning a key isn't much more "manual" than pressing a button on a remote.

Hand cranking is a bit more "manual" and allows you to start the engine without using the starter motor, which can be useful, though (unless its a diesel) or is fitted with a dynamo, you'll still need enough juice in the battery to activate the coils in the alternator to provide power to the ignition. My Lada had hand cranking, also the 2CV, but anything recent would need it retro-fitted, which'd probably be quite difficult.

You can get spring-powered starter motors that you wind up, and others powered by compressed air, though mostly intended for big commercials, marine engines and plant. Might be difficult/impossible to find room for one in a car and they are probably quite expensive.

Remote starting could be useful if you are on a witness protection programme, and had reason to believe your car might be wired for bangs. Also if you don't like getting into a cold car.

I hired a scooter here that had a remote starter. [censored]-on-a-bull useless, unless there are a commercially significant number of ex-Mafiosi riding hired scooters around Taiwan.
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Turning a key isn't much more "manual" than pressing a button on a remote.



By turning the key i can crank it forever or stop when i think the motor has started. Whereas with remote i think you just press the button and computer does the rest ?
 
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I wouldn't do it. I'd never splice into an oem electrical system for any reason.

You can buy a T-harness that will interface with the OEM connectors - no butt splices, T-taps or soldering required. You still need to get your tach signal and bypass the immobilizer - there are inferfaces made by DEI(Xpresskit) or iDatalink that will read off the serial data bus for the immobilizer but it does involve splicing into the OEM wiring and that's where things can go wrong.

I've installed an alarm in a friend's old Honda using an iDatalink interface to tie into the car's CAN bus. It worked, but I did see a few body control related DTCs when I hooked up the HDS to it. I still think it's better than tapping into the car's doorlock wiring but I don't advise alarms for new cars anymore.
 
Originally Posted By: nthach
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
I wouldn't do it. I'd never splice into an oem electrical system for any reason.

You can buy a T-harness that will interface with the OEM connectors - no butt splices, T-taps or soldering required. You still need to get your tach signal and bypass the immobilizer - there are inferfaces made by DEI(Xpresskit) or iDatalink that will read off the serial data bus for the immobilizer but it does involve splicing into the OEM wiring and that's where things can go wrong.

I've installed an alarm in a friend's old Honda using an iDatalink interface to tie into the car's CAN bus. It worked, but I did see a few body control related DTCs when I hooked up the HDS to it. I still think it's better than tapping into the car's doorlock wiring but I don't advise alarms for new cars anymore.


Seems like a lot of hassle for a rather marginal advantage.
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked

Seems like a lot of hassle for a rather marginal advantage.


Now with the OEMs offering telematics, doesn't make sense either. If I had to do it all over again, I'd install an OEM remote start that plugs into the body control modules and it requires a PCM reflash.

The aftermarket integration kits still need the vehicle's wiring to be altered.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top