you can get a magnetic reed switch from radioshack for five bucks. its a tube about an inch long and a quarter inch in diameter. It happens to fit perfectly into the hole of some plmbers backstrapping.
So you cut about 4 inches of plumbers backstrapping, stick the reed switch into the big hole at the end, and take measures to ensure it is stable in that position. (glue, tape, epoxy, whatever you like.) then you pull off your console and put two screws into the plastic, securing the reed switch on the drivers side facing the stick.
now grab a small but powerful magnet. this may take experimentation to get right. I had to try three different magnets before I found one that worked perfectly. You stick it to the stick and fine tune the position such that the reed switch is not activated in first or second gear, but IS in neutral. a multimeter helps for this.
now you have a stick in neutral sensor.
the final safety issue is clutch bypass. Now, the standard method to do this is to bypass the clutch entirely, which is a safety issue. The second way is to wire the clutch to a relay, set to fire along with remote start cranking THROUGH the reed switch. this ONLY bypasses the clutch during a remote start when the car is in neutral. this is the safest way. I found it to be cumbersome.
here was my solution: I wired the reed switch TO the clutch sense switch. Now, when I am in neutral, my clutch is bypassed for all car functions (cuise control, which fails in neutral anyways, and starting the car), and when my car is in gear, the clutch acts as if it is a safety device.
so in NEUTRAL, I can remote start my car OR key on my car without depressing the clutch. in ANY gear, my car will fail to start both via remote OR by key unless I depress the clutch.
and its super elegant, as it requires no relays and only one wire (other side of the reed switch is grounded to the star ground inside the console).
I want to put a fuse on this setup. So that in case anything shorts out it pops that fuse. What size should I get? And where should I put it inline?
I was thinking here but I wasnt sure,
Last edited by realitycheck : 05-12-2006 at 12:28 PM.
Well to clear this up, you really don't need a fuse there. You should never have any large amounts of current through the relay. It draws very very little current.
If the switch broke, which would make this thing crank and crank even if it turns on, then a fuse wouldnt help cause it wouldnt blow.
Yeah I didnt think about that. Oh well thanks bud. I cant wait to get this thing in and get it on the car. Im fired up about it. Thanks again for your help. Your awesome man.
If you really want to fuse there then get a 12V fuse, 250 mA or 200 mA. When you crank the starter the voltage drops into the 9V range, but the instant you hit the button its still up at 12V!
Can you guys tell me if I have this right? I ordered the red switch instead of the blue one. so the voltage on the led is different. If you look at bulgin's website here It says that the red led is 1.85V and I put in 50ma cause thats what it says is the max milliamps for the switch so I assumed that was the forward current in ma's or w/e. I put that in a resistor calculator and used 12 volts. And it said that I need 220 ohm resistor, but diskreet is using a 470 ohm resistor for a higher voltage led. It doesnt make sense too me.
nvm I figured it out. I was supposed to use 20 ma for the led's milliamps. man im not looking too smart from this build, LOL.
Last edited by realitycheck : 05-15-2006 at 02:38 PM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
okay, ive got it figured out. its a two relay system. replace the relay shown here by diskreet with a timer relay. DEI actually makes a nice one, I've used it in the past to make homebrew remote start systems. that way, just tapping the button will crank the whole car over.
next, you add a 12volt DPDT relay set to be fired by the output of the timer relay, and wired to latch. the second the contacts close on the timer relay, the circuit OPENS for the DPDT relay, cutting power to the light and switch. now you can hit the switch all day long, the car wont crank.
till you pull the key out, deenergizing the whole system, resetting it for another go. Since you are wiring it all to ACC2, the light wont light up until the key is in position 2. Furthermre, merely turning the key to position 1 is enough to reset the whole circuit.
all you have to do after that is set the timer so it cranks just long enough to turn the car over. piece of cake.
add the neutral/clutch sensor, and the only thing left is the fact that the key has to be in position 2 to get the whole thing to fire off!
whiterabbit, you do realize that if you have a 5 speed your car wont turn over unless the clutch is pushed in? Even when its running, you have to push in the clutch to make it turn over. So the switch wouldnt work unless the clutch is pushed in right? Or are we bypassing the clutch switch with this switch?
Last edited by realitycheck : 05-15-2006 at 03:56 PM.
ive used the timers before with great success. They seem to be the standard right next to tach sense.
in fact, my remote start has the option to run either timer or tach sense.
regardless, I'd be curious what the dealership has to say about how many starters they sell to kids with remote starts. Ill bet the number is pretty low!
reality, check out post #32. I covered your clutch concern 3 days ago!
Ok guys I really need some help with these resistors. Saturday I soldered up the resistor to the 12 volt accessory. I have one wire coming off the cigarette lighter positive wire, Then I split that wire in two, one wire will go to the switch the other I have been trying to wire my resistor two. I put the 470 ohm resistor on there and tested it with my volt meter still 12 volts. Today I didnt have a 510 so I put a 470 and a 47 I think. Tested with volt meter and still 12.14 volts or something like that. Why are these resistors not working? I know that today I didnt heat it up too long I had the soldering iron on there for like two seconds.
LOL, unless you also have the LED hooked up WITH the resistor, there is NO current going through the resistor. No current means NO voltage drop.
When you hook up the LED you should read something like 8-9 volts across the resistor.
In a volt meter the + and - leads are not physically connected. So if you put one lead on the end of a resistor, and one at ground, then it will read 0 volts. The resistor has to some how be connected back to ground, through other components (in this case an LED) to have any current through it and thus have a voltage drop across it.
Also don't worry about heating them up. They should be good for a few seconds. Just reconnect the 470 Ohm resistor, connect it to the LED, ground the LED and ENJOY!!!
