Removing aftermarket Car Alarm

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Bought a used car that has an aftermarket car alarm. I don't like them, nor trust their quality. I want it out of there ASAP. So what do I need to do to get that sucker out and make sure that everything works right back to original factory specs?

Thanks in advance
 
To the best of my knowledge, the only circuit that is actually interrupted is the engine start or run function (starter, fuel pump or ignition). That one will have to be found and wired back together. Other than that, I believe you are just tracing wires to their sources and eliminating. Make sure you don't have any unterminated power wires though, a short to ground could make things interesting.
 
That can be a hard question to answer on an online forum. It's going to depend on several things. What year, make and model is the car? Do you know the brand of alarm? Is it a basic alarm that only goes off if you open the door and maybe the trunk or is it interfaced with the electric door locks and trunk release? Was/is it a professional installation or a hack job?

It should not be that difficult to remove. Start by removing the negative cable from the car's battery. Then find the alarm's siren. Cut its wires and remove its mounting bracket screws. You can follow the siren wires and they will lead you to the location of the alarm module, or "brain" as they are sometimes called. It's probably under the driver's side of the dash, or maybe tucked in behind the driver's kick panel. Remove those panels and it is probably zip-tied in place. Cut it loose and it probably has 6 or 8, maybe more wires leading from it, depending on how complex the system is. Follow the wires and they will lead you to each part of the car the alarm is interfaced with. It is probably connected to true ignition 12 volts, constant 12 volts and a starter interrupt relay, all of which may be connected right at the ignition switch harness below the steering column. Cut the alarm's B+ and ignition wires, and tape up any exposed wire ends. If it has a starter interrupt, you may find the starter wire has been cut in two and a relay connected, cut the wires from the relay and splice the starter wire back together, then find the relay and remove it from the car. It's probably zip-tied somewhere near the steering column. Some alarms have a built-in on board starter kill relay. If so you will only have 2 wires, about 12 or 14 gauge going from the alarm module to the point where the installer cut the starter wire. Cut them loose and splice the starter wire back together.

Then you can disconnect the wire where the installer interfaced with the parking lights. Cut the wire and tape up any loose or exposed ends. You may have a trunk release or door lock interface to remove too. Same thing, follow the wires from the alarm to the point where it is connected to each circuit, cut it out and tape up the wire in the car.

You probably have a valet/override switch in there somewhere, they are easy to remove, it will either have a nut on the front of it or it may be a snap-in switch. There may also be an external shock sensor, if so it is probably zip-tied in place somewhere, probably on a large wire harness under the dash. There is a ground wire for the alarm, follow it to its connection point and cut it loose. Some alarm installers will wire the B+ voltage wire to a separate wire from the positive battery terminal and run it inside the car. You will have either that or the B+ connection at the ignition harness. In some cases it could be done at the fuse box, but unless it's an older Honda that's not very likely.

It should not be very difficult to remove the alarm. They really are all about the same but it depends on the type of car and the brand of alarm.
 
find the brain and unplug it if it is a regular aftermarket alarm that will take care of that.. the starter interrupt usually the thick wires sometimes white and red just disconnect them and tie the stock starter wires together and make sure it is a good connection solder if possible..

What kind of car?
 
Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
find the brain and unplug it if it is a regular aftermarket alarm that will take care of that.. the starter interrupt usually the thick wires sometimes white and red just disconnect them and tie the stock starter wires together and make sure it is a good connection solder if possible..

What kind of car?


If there's a starter interrupt, and it altered the starter wiring, I would rather replace the wiring to the starter than try to connect it back together. It isn't that expensive (usually available near the batteries at any automotive supply store), and you will have a better quality connection that won't give you problems later.

For everything else, a good quality repair to the wiring should be good enough. It would be expensive to replace the other wiring harnesses, and they carry less current, making the repair easier.

For everything else, the advice to trace the wiring from the siren to the control module is great advice. It shouldn't be too hard to remove.
 
It should be a piece of cake to remove your alarm. Everything is right there under the driver's side of the dash. Remove the plastic knee bolster panel, and then remove the metal sub-panel behind it and everything you need should be under the dash.

Once the alarm module is cut loose you can follow each wire to its connection point and disconnect it. B+ and ignition power and parking lights may be connected at the main ignition harness just below the steering column or they may be connected to spade lugs on the fuse box. Either way it is easy to disconnect them and insulate any exposed wire. The starter wire is right there in the ignition harness too, it's either black/white or black/yellow, I don't remember which. If they tapped into the B+ power at the harness, that wire is solid white, about 10 gauge.

The door lock interface should just be 2 wires from the alarm, probably a blue and a green, follow them to the left side of the bottom of the dash and look up. They should be connected to 2 wires there, about 16-18 gauge, these are the factory keyless entry system door lock wires. One is green/red, the other is green/white and the gray factory plug may still be there too. They work on a negative pulse so just disconnect them. If they tied into the parking light circuit somewhere other than the fuse box, the wire they tapped into will be red/black, about 16 gauge, probably in the driver's kick panel or harness going to the fuse box. Remove the siren and tape up and tie up the factory wire harnesses and that should be it. If there is an LED in the dash, you can leave it in place or put a plastic plug in the hole. If you have a regular black color BIC inkpen, remove the black cap from the other end of it and it makes a perfect plug for the LED hole. Same for the valet switch.
 
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