Remote Start for Manual Trans

[jmgtp]

What options are there? I don't want to rig one to work and then have to worry about the car being left in gear. Is there such a system that would determine that the car is in neutral and the parking brake engaged? Legality? Cost?

This isn't for my 60v6, I don't drive that car in the winter so I have no need for remote start. The car is a late model Subaru.

[pocket-rocket]

I had one I bought off of ebay a while back. I forgot what company made it, but it was compatible with a manual trans. The way it worked was it hooked to your parking brake as well. You would set the parking brake, then before you would exit the car, you would hit a button on the remote before shutting off the car. Then, turn it car off (the alarm would keep it running), get out, shut the door. Then it would arm the alarm and kill the engine, this way it knew the trans had been left in neutral. The alarm I bought also had a 2 way pager remote. I liked it.

[torq455]

you could relocate the neutral safety switch to the e-brake mechanism, or with a couple of micro switches, wire it up so that you have to have the e-brake on AND in neutral. if it's in any gear it can't be started. hell, you might be able to have a switch or two on the tranny gear select lever on the tranny. not the best set up, but it can work. however, i'd suggest spending the $$ and getting one that's meant for a manual--no worries.

[jmgtp]

Pocket... was the brand you were thinking of Compustar? That is so far the only brand I have found that has a manual trans capability and it works just like you described. Did you install it yourself? Difficulty? Was it actually used on a manual trans car?

I agree... I will only get one that is readily capable for manual trans, not taking any chances on that.

[pocket-rocket]

No, I think mine was made by a company called Mannix. Yes, I installed it myself. Since I don't have a hard time with wires and diagrams from 4 years of electronics in high school, no it was not hard. Honestly, if you can follow ANY of the diagrams in the Helms manuals then you can install one too. There was a site a while back that gave wire color code and locations for installing remote start systems and alarms, but right now, I can't think of that one. Most all of them sold on ebay that are 2 way pagers have remote start built in that works with manual transmissions. One I found said:

WARNING: BY USING A "SILENT ALARM INSTALLATION", PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT CHANCES TO ACTUALLY CATCH THE THIEF ARE VERY HIGH (HE IS NOT EXPECTING ANYONE TO INTERRUPT HIM) AND THIS MAY LEAD TO A FACE-TO-FACE WITH SOMEONE THAT MIGHT BE QUITE UNFRIENDLY.

And another had a couple cool features:

Owner recognition feature: Car automatically unlocks your doors as you approach the vehicle. Works with & requires an existing keyless entry system.

Driver Paging Feature. You can page the driver by tapping lightly 3 times on the communication module located in the front windshield. The drivers remote will play a melody and the CALL button will light up on the remote. No more waiting for your spouse.

I think my wife might like the driver paging one, so don't tell her about it :P