Hey Guys,

I'm just back from having a Viper 790 installed. I have a question regarding the mounting location of the bump sensor. The installer tie wrapped this sensor to a wiring harness located under the dash on the left side of the driver.

Is this a good location, and standard mounting practice?

When I got home, I tried to activate it by bumping the car; the alarm didn't sound.

Also, I tried the remote start, it turned the car on, but when I open the driver's side door, the car turns off.

The warn away perimeter sensor doesn't seem to work. If I put my arm right in the window, it goes into full alarm.

I had it installed at reputable shop close to home, and made sure that the installer had a MECP designation.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Shock sensors should be mounted to a wire harness rather than screwed into a panel in my experience. AS for the proximity/motion/microwave sensor, there are two screws that need to be adjusted and unluckily your friend only adjusted one or did both and have them so close to each other that it automatically triggers full alarm before it has the chance to 'warn away'

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2002 Infiniti G20 Sport

first of all arm it while your standing away from the car
now give it a minute or so for it to set up
some radars require close to a minute
now walk up to the car to see if it triggers
with the shock you have to hit the car i test it using a fist and hitting it on the steel where the door and windsheild meet
and if you set off the prewarn or any other input 3 times the alarm will ignore that zone for i think it an hour or you can reset it by turning the ignition on

Is your car a standard transmission? If so there may be something wrong with the way they used the manual trans interface module. Prox sensors do need to set up, and it is best to arm it while you are 10-15 feet away with no movement close to the car. Most DEI shock sensors are designed to be tie strapped to a wire harness that has some small movement. Other brands do work better solidly mounted to metal though.

Microwave proximity sensors use a mass/speed/distance algorithm to trigger.
A large object moving slowly, or a smaller mass moving quickly will have the same effect.
Ever walk up slowly to a grocery store door, and it doesn't open? Same device used there.
If the warn away is set too high, then busses passing by would trigger it. An arm going straight in at a slow speed should not trigger.
I usually adjust the outer perimeter so that a normal walking speed, approching straight in towards the side windows, will trigger a couple of feet away.
Walking parallel to the car should cause minimal warnings, or you'll be inviting people to key your car!
Moving your entire torso as fast as possible (kinda like a body slam) at the same spot should NOT trigger the inner sensor, or you'll be plagued with false alarms.
If you have a rag top, then bringing both arms quickly down to the roof should also not trigger.

Remember, the radar cannot pass thru steel, only the glass. The steel mesh in the seats will also change the pattern of coverage outside the vehicle

The Viper shock sensors do indeed perform the best tied to a harness, but I find it should be a large one, and preferably one that is somehow connected to the firewall.

Turn the sensor up, wait 10 seconds after arming, and then test.

The front wheels, and the lower windshield tend to be the most sensetive spots on the car, so make sure you lower the setting, til these areas are not too touchy (be careful tapping the windshield...open palm only!!! after 3 triggers within one hour, the zone will turn off until it's been quiet for an hour, unless it's reset by ignition.

Most shops set the sensors a bit low to prevent a lot of false alarms.
There is a balance between false alarms, and protection. How many false alarms a year are you willing to have, in order to have a more sensitive vehicle. The only real way to achieve this setting is to turn up the sensors til they false, and then slowly back em off til the falsing reaches an acceptable level.
Can't be done at the shop, as it takes a while for the car to experience a variety of conditions (rain, thunder, passing vehicles, even the sun coming out from behind the clouds can cause a vehicle to "creak" as it heats up or cools off).

[ April 02, 2005, 07:47 AM: Message edited by: Car Trek ]

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Charlie Lamble
Sault Ste Marie ON

I'm sure you think you understood what you heard me say, but I hope you realize that what I said is not what I meant

Great information guys...thanks!

Judging from what you are saying, I am best to set up the proximity sensors with the top down...as that is really why I wanted that sensor. Easier to leave the car with the top down, if you know that an alarm will go off if someone reaches in.

After setting it up with the top down, I imagine the warn away, would not be as sensitive with the top up and windows up.

I will take some time and experiment with different settings.

Set your sensors with the top up!
You don't want false alarms when it's raining.
also the steel bars in the top will affect the outer perimeter, but you will want to have it work well in both situations, so check it both ways.
When you are leaving your car unattended for long periods of time, you'll want to put the top up anyways....so what if the alarm goes off when they steal your deck, if you're not there to protect it.

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Charlie Lamble
Sault Ste Marie ON

I'm sure you think you understood what you heard me say, but I hope you realize that what I said is not what I meant