Remote Start?

[Muzzy]

Has anyone tried installing a remote start on their Delica? Just wondering, would be a worth while venture?

[Green1]

Remote starters in the Delica are quite straightforward, just make sure you have one designed for a diesel (so that it will wait for the glow plugs before starting)

[FalcoColumbarius]

The Miss Lil' Bitchi has a remote start on her. Great for warming her up in the Winter and cooling her down in the Summer. Can be fun for freaking people out, too!

Falco.

[JMK]

A couple of problems I encountered.

As there is no glow plug light to tell the system how long to wait, you just have to pick a default wait value and leave it at that. It may or may not correspond to the actual time you glow plugs are active, in my case not.

The remote start needs to know when the engine has started. There are limited opportunities for this with the Delica's system. It means that you may have to install a pickup to measure your RPM's digitally. The other is getting AC current. Once I finally found the right takoff point thanks to robinimpey, the problem is my system does not generate enough AC current which is required to be above 1.75V AC.

See this thread: http://www.delica.ca/forum/need-a-tach- ... tml#p15641


Do not buy a ProStart System from Crappy Tire, you'll get no tech support or help unless you're a dealer. I'd buy Bulldog if I did it again, at least they will help you.

9 months down the road for that project and all I have is a snazzy blue LED flashing at the top of my windshield and a useless remote on my keychain.

[Green1]

As there is no glow plug light to tell the system how long to wait, you just have to pick a default wait value and leave it at that. It may or may not correspond to the actual time you glow plugs are active, in my case not.

Not true, you just need to know where to look, I took a feed directly from the relays under the driver's seat, (there's a philips screw on the front of one of them that puts out enough voltage to work as your glow plug sensor)
The wait value will never be quite right (varies by temperature) but once you take the feed from the relays it helps a LOT with the starting.

The remote start needs to know when the engine has started. There are limited opportunities for this with the Delica's system. It means that you may have to install a pickup to measure your RPM's digitally. The other is getting AC current. Once I finally found the right takoff point thanks to robinimpey, the problem is my system does not generate enough AC current which is required to be above 1.75V AC.

This has been a bit of a problem for me as well, most systems though allow for 2 options, 1 is to take a tach signal (something I've had limited success with) the second is an alternator input (DC), I'm just not sure exactly where to take that input from yet.
Another option someone mentioned to me at one point is what they call a "tach signal generator" which generates an artificial tach signal for the remote starter (I'm guessing it takes from the alternator output for those units that don't have the option to do it directly)

Right now my remote starter will start the vehicle every time, it's just having trouble realizing that it was successful. Once I get the engine-running sensor sorted out (most likely from the alternator input) I should have it licked.

[JMK]

That takoff that robinimpey identified seems to be the correct one, the AC current corresponds to your RPM's. There may be potential to work with it by simply boosting the AC by a factor of 2X. I've been meaning to research ways to do that, for example would it be possible to use some kind of a small transformer or something?

That RPM sensor seemed like a bunch of work. If I recall you have to install something like a magnet on your flywheel and then a pickup sensor to measure it?

But that's good news about the glow plug pickup point, I'll have a look for that.

Also, I now have a new tool I didn't have before that may make this easier, a Craftsman AC/DC clamp meter. Besides being able to read AC Current without having to break the circuit or probe the wire insulation, it also measures frequency. I wonder if there was such a thing as suitable tach signal somewhere that device would be able to identify it? If anyone has any ideas where to look I'd be happy to give it a try and post the results.

[JMK]

Green1, just thinking, could you put an indicator light on that relay you talk of and thereby make you own glow plug light?

[Green1]

Green1, just thinking, could you put an indicator light on that relay you talk of and thereby make you own glow plug light?

Easily, I just haven't done it yet...

As for the AC signal... it must be the tach signal, I can't think of any other AC level you would get on this vehicle... it will fluctuate with RPM, but may not be strong enough for the starter's sensor.

The solution is to use an alternator output instead of the tach sensor, or if your particular starter can't accommodate an alternator line you would need a "tach signal generator" which would take a DC feed from the alternator and generate a strong AC signal for the system.

Another thing to check though, is that it could be happy with the levels of your AC signal, but not the frequency, often you need to "set" the frequency, make sure you do that before completely dismissing the AC feed you have.