Adding a Wireless Pager to the Elantra Factory
Alarm
by southpawboston (Difficulty: easy to medium)
Most car alarm pagers have an LCD screen and warn the user of an
intrusion by a tone or vibration. The LCD screen usually indicates
whether the alarm was tripped by an opened door,
trunk, or hood, or by
shock (with optional shock sensor), and whether the ignition switch was
turned on. The pagers
all come packaged with, in addition to the pager,
an antenna, control module, and wiring harness.
You can find auto alarm pagers for under $100. They usually retail
for
$100-$180, but can be found online for much less. I recommend going
with a pager from either CrimeStopper, Alpine,
or DEI. These are
reputable brands for auto security, and their pagers are all FCC
approved (pagers use FM to transmit
the signal). My pager is a
CrimeStopper FM2500. I found it on eBay for $60, but there were other
online vendors
who listed it for $60-80. It's inexpensive and it works
great. I highly recommend it. AVOID generic or poorly
known brands.
They may claim long signal range, but in reality they barely work from
a block away. Expect about 1/4
mile range at BEST, even with a GOOD
pager, regardless of their claim. Typically, with interference by
buildings,
2-3 city blocks is as far as they'll work. If you routinely
park your car farther away than a couple of blocks, the pager
may not
work for you. To do this DIY, first view and print out my DIY "Tapping into the
ETACS" from the DIY page.
The ETACS module is a central module that controls
the Elantra's alarm, central locking, and interior electrical and lighting
systems.
Tools needed:
- Phillips head screwdriver
- Wire stripping tool
- Soldering
iron
- Solder
- Electrical tape
- Nylon snap ties (optional)
The Project:
1. Following the "Tapping into the ETACS" DIY, remove the dash fascia,
CD deck, and HVAC controls. Unplug wiring harnesses "A" and "C" from
the ETACS.
2. Refer to the ETACS Connector Pin Table in the "Tapping into the
ETACS" DIY for pin identification and locations. Following your pager
wiring instructions, splice the pager harness
wires into some or all of
the following wires (depending on the specific requirements of your
pager):
(+)12V const.
Connecter A pin 1 (Red)
(+)12V Ignition "on" Connecter
A pin 5 (Red/Orange)
(-) ground
Connecter A pin 16 (Black)
(-) door switch Connecter
A pin 18 (Yellow)
(-) trunk switch Connecter A pin 10 (Green/Black)
(-)
hood switch Connecter C pin 7 (Green/Black)
(-)
alarm "armed" output Connecter A pin 16** (Black)
(or starter cutout)
** There is no "armed" output on the factory alarm. You need to
use
chassis ground as an alternative. This means the pager control module
is always on when the ignition is off, regardless
of whether the alarm
is actually armed or not. This also means that your pager will alert
you that your car is being
broken into when you disarm the car and open
the door. This is a shortcoming of the factory alarm system. You will
have
to manually switch the pager on after you leave the car, and
manually shut the pager off before entering your car if you
don't want
it notifying you that you've broken into your own car. There is no
immediate way around this problem that
I am aware of. Maybe some
other brands of pagers have a way of avoiding this problem.
3. Mount the control module by securing to the underside of the
storage
bin below the CD deck using the double-sided tape included with the
unit (the CrimeStopper came with tape,
others may require to find
someplace to mount it with screws. There is plenty of space for
mounting modules
behind and to the right of the HVAC cluster.
4. Mount the antenna on top of the gauge cluster. The gauge cluster
can
be easily pulled forward several inches to mount the antenna without
unplugging any of the connectors. Remove
the four screws securing the
entire gauge cluster in place (two on either side), and gently pull it
toward you several
inches. Mount the antenna horizontally on top with
the provided double-sided tape. Note: The CrimeStopper pager manual
recommends mounting the antenna visibly on the A-pillar, where it will
have maximum range. I thought it would look
cheap having a visible
antenna in the car, so I chose to sacrifice maximum range and decided
on a concealed location
inside the dash, on top of the gauge cluster
since it's the highest point INSIDE the dash, and since that region is
very
close to the windshield anyway. The CrimeStopper antenna base also
has a flashing LED but I didn't care about it being
hidden inside the
dash.
5. Secure any loose wiring to existing wiring harnesses with nylon
snap
ties or electrical tape.
6. Plug the wiring harness and antenna harness into the control
module
and re-assemble the CD deck, HVAC controls, and dash fascia (the CD
deck and storage cubby have to be mounted
back in place before the HVAC
controls because of the control module on the bottom of the storage bin).
- southpaw
