Had a new A/C compressor insrtalled last week, something drained the battery so when they jumped the battery w/ a Snap on machine, it shorted my alarm system. I checked fuses but all looked fine. I knew the install was poor so I re-installed the alarm, w/ an identical one I bought from ebay. It had new harness's, so it made the install easier. Here is what I started with. Sad part is the stereo install shop is the one of the few in the small town I am in, and has been in buisness for over 20 yrs. Obvioulsy no quality control.

 

This is the start of my power harness next to theirs.

 

I am almost complete, I need to add a larger siren, I had removed the larger one to put air filter behind head light. I would like to use the factory horns, not sure how to wire up. Looking into that. I also want to run the wires for the Euro lights I am going to add in the same wire sleeve as the siren, so it looks clean. I have everything back in and running. The hard part was I added power locks w/ the LED lights in the door pins. I wish I had bought a 951 w/ the power locks from the factory. Keyless entry is a must have for me.

If anyone knows how to power the factory horns, please let me know. I have one wire from the alarm to go to the horn.

Thanks
Steve

 

Thank you for posting this, makes me feel much better about my harnesses, I had previously thought mine were bad... but mine are pristine compared to yours...

 

I would have ripped all that crap out and restored the harness back to factory. You could have made a harness that plugs into the factory alarm and central locking connectors. I despise stereo install shops. What you started out with is pretty typical of what I've seen over the years.

 

Z,

At somepoint I need you to show me the harness you made for your driving lights.

 

Have not made it yet, but I plan to run prob 8 or 10 guage wire from alt to the driving lights, then from a relay ground and switched power. I may put a cut off switch for the lights under the dash, but I plan to run them all the time. the fog lights and headlights will be as is.

Steve

 

I did not know you could wire a complete aftermarket alarm from the factory alarm plug. I basically removed most of the crappy connections. I left only the vampire connectors he had from the underside of the fusebox.

To be clear though, my harness is intact, the pics are of aftermarket wiring only. The connections to the cars electrical are the 4 vamp connectors under the fuse box.

Thanks
Steve

 

I don't understand why people use those crimp connectors and scotchlok taps, that stuff is just trouble waiting to happen and yet I see it all the time, especially on remote starters, drives me crazy

 

I'd make the alarm system harness completely separate with tie-ins only where needed. The factory alarm connector will let you install the ignition kill. The central locking connector is your tie-in for your door locks. You'll need tie-ins for the doors (could be taken from the dome light), constant and switched power sources (radio or directly from the fuse/relay block). Did I miss anything? Tilt/proxy/glass breakage modules would be connected to the alarm harness. I'd put the alarm brain someplace that wasn't easily accessible - behind the rear side panels, behind the computers, etc.


IDC (insulation displacement connectors; aka vampire, Scotchlok, etc) and crimp caps are used because they're fast, easy and cheap. IDCs are especially evil - if they nick the wire, it makes the wire weak. If they're not sized right, it'll break strands in the wire and reducing current capacity. And they all allow moisture to infiltrate into the wire causing corrosion. Many of them use either steel or aluminum blades which creates galvanic corrosion. I absolutely hate those things. I'll solder in a pigtail if I need to tap into a wire, but you'll never catch me using those things!