So I'm working on my wife's 87 Fiero GT with a door ajar light that stays on and I notice a clump of wires starting to hang down below the steering column. I remove the lower cover and find a huge mess of wires all balled up and splices everywhere. I see relays and wire nuts and a few non descriptive black boxed and LEDs. Obviously at some point in time the car has had an alarm or remote something or other installed.
I want it out.
Is it safe to unplug everything and remove the wire nuts and splices with no ill effect. I know this sounds stupid, but if it were this easy, how are alarms and other devices secure if they are easily removed?
I'm also concerned that there may be other relays and components else where that I do not see, such as a relay that will keep the car from starting.
I'm also at a loss as I can not find a complete wiring diagram for this car so I can trace wire for wire if needed.
I just removed my old car alarm as part of getting my 86 up and running after many years of sitting. I was convinced it was at least part of my no-start condition and I couldn't get the remote to work even after replacing the battery. Though still on jack-stands, it does start and idle now.
Yes, you can remove it. Disconnect your battery first as a precaution. All the wires will run back to the main alarm module. It should be quite a bit larger than the relays, which is probably what the other black boxes are you are talking about. Start tracing out the wires and then removing them one by one. Take your time and don't leave anything bare. Wrap everything with tape or heat shrink tubing. I think it took me a couple evenings after work to get everything removed. From memory everything pretty much just piggy-backed onto the stock wiring so was easily cut away and taped. There will be one relay that interrupts the starter circuit (should be a large yellow wire under the drivers side dash somewhere). After I had cut this relay away I used a crimp connector to join the cut ends back together. Instead of crimping, I removed the plastic covering from the connector and soldered the wire ends inside; then used heat shrink tubing to cover the whole thing. This seemed like a more permanent way than just crimping but I'm sure that would work just fine if you're not very good with a soldering gun or there isn't much slack left in the wire to work with.
I just removed my old car alarm as part of getting my 86 up and running after many years of sitting. I was convinced it was at least part of my no-start condition and I couldn't get the remote to work even after replacing the battery. Though still on jack-stands, it does start and idle now.
Yes, you can remove it. Disconnect your battery first as a precaution. All the wires will run back to the main alarm module. It should be quite a bit larger than the relays, which is probably what the other black boxes are you are talking about. Start tracing out the wires and then removing them one by one. Take your time and don't leave anything bare. Wrap everything with tape or heat shrink tubing. I think it took me a couple evenings after work to get everything removed. From memory everything pretty much just piggy-backed onto the stock wiring so was easily cut away and taped. There will be one relay that interrupts the starter circuit (should be a large yellow wire under the drivers side dash somewhere). After I had cut this relay away I used a crimp connector to join the cut ends back together. Instead of crimping, I removed the plastic covering from the connector and soldered the wire ends inside; then used heat shrink tubing to cover the whole thing. This seemed like a more permanent way than just crimping but I'm sure that would work just fine if you're not very good with a soldering gun or there isn't much slack left in the wire to work with.
Good luck, Gary
I see the large yellow wire you reference. It's been cut and spliced with a black wire and the other end is to a relay along with more black wires..... (I wish I could post a pic lol)
I also found out last night, one relay under there is actualy the relay for the trunk release and not the alarm. i see two gray connectors, which I assume is OEM, but only one small box or module with tiny wires, maybe two.
I think my plan of attach on this is to trace the wires I see from the OEM harness and if it looks like a splice or cut, remove it. When I'm done, hopefully I will be able to match up the wire colors and resolder them back. This will not be as easy as it looks as it's all knotted and twisted. The installer should be SHOT for this kind of work. (Found out it was installed by the dealer who owned the car before me.) I'm leary about cutting wires, but i looks like most are wire nutted.
It can be done but you have to be careful. I was working on one of my 87 Meras and found not one but two nonfunctional alarm systems installed in the same car. There was a great deal of "extra wiring" under the dash and it took a while to get everything straightened out and back to normal configuration.
If you can find anything that has a name on it, it will make life a LOT easier than just cutting all the wires under there that look like they go to the alarm. they can be a pain in the ass to put it mildly especially if you cut the wrong wire.
If you find a name and maybe even a make on one of the boxes Google it and see if they are still around or there is any info on it. the more info you can find the better !
Some of the systems had labels to put on your windows as well, look under all the deck lids or door jambs as well.
Steve
------------------ Technology is great when it works, and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't
Took a bit over 2 hours. What a mess. I did luck out in that it turns out there was only one wire, the large yellow wire from under the dash that needed to be restored and fixed. I bought crimps and re-crimped the wire back together lightly to hold it so I could solder it. After soldering, I wrapped it tightly with electrical tape. All the other wires were tapped in with those splices that slice into the wire you are tapping. ( I hate those things) After making sure the wire integrity was OK, I wrapped those wires as well. I then figured out the best way to secure the harnesses back for a neat appearance, this hole process was not as easy as one would believe, as many of the wires were spliced under the dash near the gas pedal where the harness come into the cabin. Removing the power and ground splices and fixing those wires was a PIA as I barely fit in under the dash as it is. lol
Looks like it was Harrison alarm (model 91L) , with a door lock module, glass breakage sensor, some sort of relay device, a motion/ tilt sensor (not sure of that) and a horn/siren:
Here is what it looks like all cleaned up with the wires separated.
I went from THIS:
To THIS: I'm not sure where the large gray and white connector originally went, but it had a clip on it so I clipped it to the edge of the lower panel.
So much nicer don't you think?
[This message has been edited by broderp (edited 08-22-2014).]
I have spent this evening removing a (mostly) similar after market alarm from my own Fiero, but there´s one wire i still haven't found out whats for. The wire runs from the ignition, to the alarm. The connection on the alarm reads "ignition", and the wire is a 12v lead when the ignition is on.
The reason I ask, is because the car won't start when I turn the key. I have reconnected the big yellow lead, and bypassed the clutch switch. When i turn the key i can hear a quiet click from the engine bay, and the volt drops to just below 10v (the click sounds electronic, not mechanical). Also the little brake light in the dash lights up.
Mine had a dirt cheap Pyle RKE when I bought it. I usually worked. I couldn't stand the spaghetti bowl of wiring under the dash so I ripped it out one night. Everything works as it should. If I still have the Fiero this winter (I'm having trouble getting in/out), I'll probably remove the dash and install an F body PCM.
I have spent this evening removing a (mostly) similar after market alarm from my own Fiero, but there´s one wire i still haven't found out whats for. The wire runs from the ignition, to the alarm. The connection on the alarm reads "ignition", and the wire is a 12v lead when the ignition is on.
The reason I ask, is because the car won't start when I turn the key. I have reconnected the big yellow lead, and bypassed the clutch switch. When i turn the key i can hear a quiet click from the engine bay, and the volt drops to just below 10v (the click sounds electronic, not mechanical). Also the little brake light in the dash lights up.
Any alarm will want to know the ignition state, so what you're seeing is pretty common.
The starter issue could be a failed starter, a low battery, or a voltage loss scenario between the switch and the solenoid. Are you sure your reconnection of the yellow wire is solid?
Thanks to those who helped!
