Viper Alarm Activation Problems

October 6, 2004

Hey guys,

So I've been meddling around all day trying to find guides and what not on these damn alarm systems. Basically most searches on google came up with this forum so now its my turn :spit

I beleive, after much annoyance in trying to get to the little box :spit

That my car is running a Viper 800 ( here is the awkward digi pic of the model number I took of it as I cannot see around that far ) if anyone thinks different please say :P

I have a remote with I II III IV

Now the car had the viper alarm working when I bought it(second hand car) however have had some work on brakes etc done recently and when the cars come back it no longer has a red LED, it is now GREEN.

The LED becomes solid when car is locked and flash 1 per second when unlocked.

The I on the remote still central locks the car, but does not arm the alarm.

If I hold down the I it sets off the PANIC option.

After much fun I was unable to find a valet button, however there are two silver switches, reading through an online manual I found for the alarm I beleive these to be 'ghost switches'.

Now beleiving it maybe in valet mode, I switched these both twice(said this is the default amount of times in the manual) with the ignition turned on, when I turn off the ignition my car sirens once.

But still im left with a green led, and no alarm.

Also I've tried the I II I with door open and this changes nothing either.

Any ideas? I'm at my wits end hehe :spit

Also I've seen alot of posts that viper manuals cannot be found online, it took me a while but I found a source of them located at: http://www.directed.com/guides/ogs.asp and many other car alarm brands too are there.

Any suggestions as how to enable the alarm will be of great appreciation :lol

October 6, 2004

unplug it for a little bit(couple minutes)..... then plug it back in and try it

wndotint · October 6, 2004

Since you did not buy the alarm and basically have no warranty, seriously consider getting a new alarm. What is the most popular brand of alarm in this forum for having problems? :spit

October 7, 2004

yeah I understand its a piece of crap :P

but ya know, its installed and considering the amount of answers given in here I guessed someone might know :thumb

as for unplugging it, where the hell do I unplug it from :P

wndotint · October 7, 2004

unplug the main harness from the alarm brain.

October 7, 2004

Since you did not buy the alarm and basically have no warranty, seriously consider getting a new alarm. What is the most popular brand of alarm in this forum for having problems?

What kind of question is that???

October 8, 2004

Unplugging a Viper wont do anything, they hold their memory. How a red LED changes to Green, thats beyond me. To me it sounds like its in some sort of vallet mode, but, that sure isnt a normal valet mode from what your saying, unless something is messed up with the LED :thumb .

wndotint · October 8, 2004

Since you did not buy the alarm and basically have no warranty, seriously consider getting a new alarm. What is the most popular brand of alarm in this forum for having problems?

What kind of question is that???

It means that I'm am sick of hearing how awesome Viper alarms are. There are more complaints about Viper in this forum than any other brand of alarm. If DEI had any decent help that the customer could get, maybe that would eliminate some. But they don't help anyone but their dealers. As for your advise (unplug it for a little bit), what kind of advise is that?

October 8, 2004

If you want DEI customer service, and deal with installing their products and troubleshooting their products on your own, Buy a Rattler DIY series product, thats why they designed that line.

If you want a high quality professional alarm installed, buy a Viper series. If you have a problem with it, take it back to the dealer that installed it. If the brain took a crap on it, they will swap it out for a new one because of the lifetime warrenty. DEI shouldnt have customer tech support for this, because customers shouldnt be touching this equipment. The only questions they should have is how to use it, and their dealer can answer that, thats why you pay the money you do to have it installed.

I've installed DEI products for close to 5 years, including Viper/Vallet/Hornet/Rattler/Python, and only twice have I seen a DEI brain go bad. The only thing I've seen go bad other than that, are the old 790 LCD transmitters. If somehow your alarm went to crap by having a brakejob done, I would greatly assume that its a poor installation if anything. Anyone that knows anything about installing knows that alarm work is 95% install, 5% equipment, the install will make or break the product. Im new to this forum, so I cant speak from experience on here, but the other security forums I frequent, Seldom do I see posts from people complaining about problems with a DEI product, and if they are, its installation related.

Last but not least, often when you unplug an alarm, it will reset. Usually when theres a weird problem with an alarm, like is mentioned, a installer will unplug the alarm to reset it, to see if that helps. So, I would say that would good advise :thumb

wndotint · October 8, 2004

I agree with 95% install, 5% parts is the problem. As for the lifetime warranty, I have yet to see a shop honor a warranty when there is a change of ownership of the vehicle. I was merely making an observation as to the amount of complaints about Vipers compared to all other brands combined. I've been installing for over 16 years. I've seen my share of crap installs and crap products. DEI is not known for crap products, but I do believe they are overrated. There are things about them that I don't like, but other installers DO like. For instance, the external relays for remote starts. I hate it. I know it's for the convenience of swapping out relays when they go bad, but I can count on one hand the amount of times I've seen a remote start come back due to a bad internal relay (not counting the Ungo/Clarion keyless/start systems, they suck out of the box). This is an opinion forum and as long as we all keep that in mind, there won't be any problems. As for your advise, you said the customer shouldn't be touching the alarm but to try unplugging it. Self-contradicting.

You also said "If you want a high quality professional alarm installed, buy a Viper series". Buying a Viper does not ensure a professional install, which we agree is usually the problem. Actually, I think the percentages are a little off. Most of the time it's operator error. Not in this case, but usually. He did not buy the alarm and have it installed, therefore he probably does not have a warranty. I'm still baffled about the red to green LED. To my knowledge, DEI does not use bi-color LEDs.