Christmas Adventure

[AZViking]

Hope everyone's had a less stressful one than we've had. On Monday, we were on our way to visit my wife's family (3.5-4 hour drive). We stopped halfway for lunch. Go to start the Vibe, and nothing happens (dash lights come on, radio works, HVAC works, but no start (no 'clicking' either) We call the roadside assistance with our extended warranty, the tow truck comes to jump the car (nothing) Battery is about 2.5 years old. So we're able to tow the car to Wal Mart (closest place that was still open) to replace the battery (they checked it first) They couldn't get it started either.SO, my sis in-law rents us a car (2001 Taurus SES) and we leave the Vibe at the local GM dealership (extended warranty only allows us to get work done at a dealership)Fast-forward to today. I call at 8am to find out that they've started working on it. By 11, they tell me that the aftermarket alarm (Which the stealership (Who's motto is "No Bull") installed before we bought it in 2005), is malfunctioning. So they disconnect the alarm and the car runs fine...New problem though. Apparently, whoever installed the alarm didn't do it quite right, and now there's a CEL saying the PCM isn't communicating with the car. Of course, up to this point, none of this 'checking' has been under the warranty (Running tab is $325 w/tax so far). They told me they're going to re-connect the alarm 'correctly' and see if the PCM is indeed shot.Apparently they won't know for sure about all of this until about 5pm today. So, we're stuck at the in-laws for another day, which is just fine with me, but I'd like to be on my way home right now. (If the PCM is shot, that WILL be covered under the warranty) ARGH. We haven't even been using the alarm since we moved to South Dakota, just the factory keyless entry. Here's a pic of the rental (surprisingly enough, the trunk dimensions are equivalent to the 'cargo' area of the Vibe (behind the back seat) if you were to pack the Vibe from floor to ceiling with gifts and luggage)

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[Toasted7]

That is a crazy story... doesn't look too good for your "stealership" either. All of that should be covered under warranty or at least your dealership should pick up the tab since it was their schotty work that caused your problems in the first place. I've, unfortunately, had a few things done by my dealership and it usually takes them forever and it's never done right the first time. Trying to get them to fix their initial screw up... may as well forget about that.Good luck on getting your Vibe back asap and getting home!

[AZViking]

Funny thing is, this dealership who's working on our car right now (not the one we bought it from) is also the local Toyota dealership. So, if they claim they don't have the GM unit in stock, I'll ask that they check their Toyota inventory for the PCM for an 03 Matrix.The lot we bought the car from claimed they installed these alarms ('Chapman' brand alarms?) on all their cars and then you can either buy them from them, or have them uninstall them. I'd had my car broken into a couple of times already, living in the Phoenix area, so I thought it wouldn't hurt since it was a car 10 years newer than the one I was trading in.

[engineertwin2]

Never been a fan of Earnhardt's here in the Valley. I hope all is well for you and your family Brad, and that things work out ok.

[AZViking]

Yeah, I'm going to call them when all this is over. I'll list all the Tech. did when we see the bill tomorrow.Bascially, the alarm was installed using 'scotchlite' connectors? (I'll correct this tomorrow) instead of soldering the alarm to the pcm. The alarm disconnects the starter when it thinks it's being stolen (Which is why all the other electrical items still worked) I guess the tech had called their support line three times during all of this and what fixed the CEL was disconnecting the battery and touching the positive and negative wires together for one minute. (I guess clearing out the PCM). SO, we now have a car that starts, and an alarm that no longer works.They have it down for 6.5 hours of labor, but we're only being charged for 4 ($413.27) My guess is that since we had the option to not buy the alarm at the time we bought the car, they used these connectors in case the customer decided not to buy the alarm to make it easier to uninstall. But then no one told us they needed to finish the install.BTW, hey engineertwin2, I still haven't used the front license plate bracket you gave us. Of course, now that I mention it, I'll probably get pulled over on our way home tomorrow. (I like the look of the front of our Vibe too much to put a plate on it) but I know I'll have to sooner or later.

[AZViking]

Update: I haven't called the dealer we bought the car from, but I thought i'd share what the Dealer who got our car running says:"No voltage going to EFI Relay checked all voltages anf found problem to be in one of the wire splices that were installed by company that installed alarm system. The splice was a Scotch connector.""Removed Scotchlight connector and soldered wires. After engine was started vehicle had CEL on. Hooked up scan tool and was unable to communicate with PCM. Follow Diagnostics and checked all circuits, serial data wires, and connector. Called TAC and followed advice by removing battery cables and touching them together for 1 min. Was able to communicate with PCM and able to reset CEL. Vehicle CEL did not come back on. Aftermarket alarm system is not working at this time"So, the car runs fine now, except the alarm (which is still connected to the car) doesn't work. I did, however find out that the alarm used to lock the doors when you turn the key on (I thought that was part of the Toyota/Pontiac system) So now our door locks stay unlocked when we start the car.Total bill to this dealer was $413.27 ($389.88 for Labor) Rental car was $116 (They forgot to charge us for one day).

[Sublimewind]

That's crazy man, but unfortunitly it happens all to often with crappy alarm installers... Vampire clips are the devil.. (scotch clips you mentioned)I would search out a "good" installer, you have time, go start talking to people about getting an alarm installed, if they treat you right(while not busy of course) and you feel comfortable with them, then consider them... I would mention you need a "clean up" job done as well, after a botched alarm install, see what they say... get all the info up front and tell them that you will be wanting to SEE the work before they button up the car... not that you want to STAND OVER them, you just want to see what they've done and how they've cleaned up the mess.. Many install places (mom n pop places) will respect that, if they don't/can't turn and walk out... Just be straight with them, and ask them to be straight with you... no BS... Glad to hear you got the car back... crappy bout the install... I spent many an hour cleaning up other installs for people, it got so bad, I could pull a radio and tell you which shop did it, by the wiring behind it.. Cheers..