So I installed a Clifford Matrix 12.5X alarm the other day it's been working great, except today my buddy wanted to see how the shock sensor worked and set off the alarm, I disarmed it and left the car alone. I go to leave and when I turned the key nothing happened.

- You can hear the starter solenoid, but no starter.
- I have the immobilizer wired in, so I was thinking that the immobilizer relay went bad or something and not closing the starter circuit. So, after that I disconnected the alarm and tried to bypass the relay by just connecting the wires in the harness, technically reverting back to stock with the starter wire "intact".
- Didn't help, so I thought my battery might be dead as well so I had the buddy jump that car, still nothing, but I did get the starting to turn slowly for about 1 revolution (of the starter, not flywheel).

Here's the odd part, the status LED stays solid blue, and the car will lock and unlock, but it won't arm. Panic still works.

Any of you Clifford/Viper/Directed alarm owners know anything about this? I know most of you had yours installed, so you probably won't know much, but I'll try anyways.

Thanks guys
- Brandon

 

If your starter solenoid is clicking, it's obviously getting the start command, so the alarm system and immobilizer are not the culprit.

Certainly sounds like a dead battery. The fact that it tried to turn even slowly confirms that.
If a battery is dead enough, not even a jump can provide enough juice right away to help much. The vehicle providing the juice needs to be hooked up for several minutes, and when you're trying to start, the other vehicle needs to be be a good bit above idle (at least 1500+ rpm)!!!

 

I agree with turbodave. Also check the fuse in the engine compartment. I had a similar issue with my remote starter. The lights and everything work but wouldn't start. The mainfuse from the battery needed replacement (I could see through the clear cover that the copper link was broken). If that doesn't solve it then I wouldpostthis question on http://www.the12volt.com/fourm

Good luck

 

- Fixed the alarm LED problem: It was in valet mode which explains why it would not arm/disarm when it locked/unlocked. I must have hit Unlock-Aux-Unlock when my buddy set off the alarm.

- The 100A battery fuse is a-okay.

- I had my moms MDX hooked up with a brand new Optima Red Top under her hood charging mine for about 10 minutes. Same solenoid click, no start.

- The starter wire where I tapped the immobilizer in is in good shape and the splices are tight. All other wiring is tight too.

- I don't think it's my battery. It started strong all day and after sitting for 5 hours after the problem started, the headlights still were just as bright as when the car is on and my system still thumps at full volume.

- Since jumping the immobilizer wiring to bypass the immobilizer relay still doesn't resolve the issue, I think I can safely rule out the alarm itself and look for issues in the starter signal wiring between the immobilizer and the starter itself.

I'm going to post this on the12volt.com and see what's up.

 

Try crossing the solenoid on the starter then see. Could be a dead starter.

 

take some jumper cables and jump the battery directly to the trigger on the solenoid. If it cranks, its a wiring problem. If it doesnt, its a starter/battery problem.

 

So I fixed it. Turned out to have nothing to do with the starter or alarm system. Guess what... it was the ignition switch. The contacts must be wearing out, I found out it needs a little more pressure on the key to start. As of now, it's back to normal. Thanks for the help guys.

I'm going to wait on replacing it until it needs a lot of key wiggling to start it...