Remote Start Retrofit w/ 6 Speed Manual

[alphalife9]

I know the remote start is not a factory option with the manual transmission and understand why the Jeep lawyers wouldn't want it offered with the manual. With that said, I want a 6-speed manual and remote start and would rather not go aftermarket for remote start capabilities. Anyone have any experience getting remote start hooked up through the factory keyfob on any car?

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[KeithM]

Ha ha, you're crazy. I always leave my car in gear as I live in a hilly area. No way I'd trust myself, let alone other people driving my car, with such a system, lol.

It's hard to say how they have the system programmed. It may be as simple as pairing a key with the magic button and getting the car to think it is safe to start. Safe to start may just mean clutch pedal is depressed (brakes too?). Might be able to add a switch to close (or open?) that circuit when you leave the vehicle knowing you will want to remote start it.

I have no idea really. I wonder if there is a way to verify the vehicle is in neutral that can be added to the "I'm intentionally leaving this vehicle so it can be remote started" switch circuit.

 

[alphalife9]

Ha ha, you're crazy. I always leave my car in gear as I live in a hilly area. No way I'd trust myself, let alone other people driving my car, with such a system, lol.

It's hard to say how they have the system programmed. It may be as simple as pairing a key with the magic button and getting the car to think it is safe to start. Safe to start may just mean clutch pedal is depressed (brakes too?). Might be able to add a switch to close (or open?) that circuit when you leave the vehicle knowing you will want to remote start it.

I have no idea really. I wonder if there is a way to verify the vehicle is in neutral that can be added to the "I'm intentionally leaving this vehicle so it can be remote started" switch circuit.

These are my thoughts too. I know it's a bit scary hence why they are rarely offered, but I would love the added convenience even if I have to be extra vigilant about leaving the car in neutral to take full advantage of the cold weather package.

 

[JHJLUR]

I couldn't do it...Id never trust that it isn't in gear, I always leave it in gear....just too dangerous circumventing that system...I mean what if a kid grabs your key fob ( mine does) and hits the start button when you know it definitely shouldn't be hit...too many variables IMHO, if you want auto start get an auto, that and heavy constant traffic where i am got me to check the box for the 8 spd this go around.

 

[alphalife9]

I couldn't do it...Id never trust that it isn't in gear, I always leave it in gear....just too dangerous circumventing that system...I mean what if a kid grabs your key fob ( mine does) and hits the start button when you know it definitely shouldn't be hit...to many variables IMHO, if you want auto start get an auto, that and heavy constant traffic where i am got me to check the box for the 8 spd this go around.

That's a great point. If there were any children in my household I wouldn't consider it.

 

[JHJLUR]

That's a great point. If there were any children in my household I wouldn't consider it.

Yeah, I’m Not judging, by all means it’s up to you... I was just pointing out why I can’t do it... and I did think about it.

 

[alphalife9]

Yeah, I’m Not judging, by all means it’s up to you... I was just pointing out why I can’t do it... and I did think about it.

I've had step kids before so I understand. When I was very young I started a manual car that was in gear... That was fun lol.

 

[DanW]

I wouldn't want it. It wastes gas and isn't good for the engine. Besides, with heated cloth seats, a heated stereo, and legendary Jeep heat (fast and hot), why bother? I also leave mine in gear, along with engaging the parking brake. Also, if yoiu left your Jeep in low range and in gear, it would start and drive off, if you left it in gear.

 

[NavyVet1959]

I'm slowly working my way through the manual while I'm waiting on my JL to arrive and it seems that remote start is not available if you have a manual transmission. So, as an engineer, it got me a bit curious as to whether I could implement such a system on a JL if I was so inclined. Obviously, you would need a requirement that the vehicle be parked in neutral with the hand brake fully engaged. That's a bit contrary of my usual practice of leaving it in first gear with the hand brake engaged, but I figure I could maybe get used to it. The question becomes what other things can be done while the manual transmission vehicle is parked...

• Can the vehicle be started with the key fob outside the vehicle? -- NO -- the furthest point where I could get it to start the vehicle was right at the window opening
• Can the vehicle be started with the doors locked after it thinks that the driver has left the vehicle? If not, then I have to wonder that since my JL is a Sport model and as such there are no electric door locks, does the car's computer even know that the doors are locked to be able to restrict that action? -- ? --
• Can the vehicle be started without depressing the clutch pedal? -- NO -- tried it in neutral, in gear (2H & 4L)
• Can the vehicle be started without you having to depress the brake pedal? -- YES
• The vehicle's start-stop-ignition button has 3 indicator lights on it -- OFF, ACC, and RUN. These indicator lights might be appropriate for determining the current state of the vehicle. If the vehicle is parked and no one is in it, does the OFF indicator light stay lit until you get back in the vehicle and press the start-stop-ignition button? As such, maybe reading the status of each of those lights could tell your code what state the vehicle was in, so you would know what might be valid options for the code to do. For example, if you press the START button on your new remote, you would want the server process on the vehicle to activate the relay that controls the start-stop-ignition button only if the vehicle was not current running. If the vehicle was already running and you activated this button, it would just cause the engine to shut down. -- ? --

I'm not a fan of all these whiz-bang gimmicks that the kiddie engineers put in the JL, but there is always the *possibility* that someone could create something that utilized these features to create something that was actually useful.

I would still rather just have a non-electronic keyed ignition since the key would be waterproof to whatever depth I might dive to...

 

[NavyVet1959]

I wouldn't want it. It wastes gas and isn't good for the engine. Besides, with heated cloth seats, a heated stereo, and legendary Jeep heat (fast and hot), why bother? I also leave mine in gear, along with engaging the parking brake. Also, if yoiu left your Jeep in low range and in gear, it would start and drive off, if you left it in gear.

Some people live in climates where they have long extreme summers and would like the feature so that the car could have a headstart on cooling itself down.

I'm not sure what would be necessary to monitor in order to verity that the emergency brake was set and the vehicle was not in gear. There might not be any switches or sensors that you can monitor to determine that because if there were, I suspect that Jeep would have allowed for a remote start capability on manual transmissions.

 

[Bswen]

I've had step kids before so I understand. When I was very young I started a manual car that was in gear... That was fun lol.

I used the starter to move my old honda civic up the driveway into my parents garage when I was a kid. Just put her in gear, turn the key and away she goes!

 

[NavyVet1959]

I used the starter to move my old honda civic up the driveway into my parents garage when I was a kid. Just put her in gear, turn the key and away she goes!

Yeah, I used that on an old VW Bug that I had in my younger days. It was useful to get the vehicle out of the way if it vapor locked also.

 

[rob28]

I’m looking into this as well as I live up north where temps will drop to -40.
There are systems out there that monitor the shutdown procedure of the vehicle to ensure it isn’t in gear.
Basically if you lift the clutch and then turn off the vehicle it knows it’s not in gear and will allow a remote start. Possibly more to it but that’s the theory.
My dealer is looking into options as he said it should be part of the cold weather group - I’m paying for it so I should have it. I’ll let you know if I make any progress.

 

[NavyVet1959]

Well, my JL came in and I picked it up on Tuesday (7/31). I've tested whether it is possible to start the vehicle without the key fob in the vehicle on my Sport model and my tests seem to indicate that you need to basically be either end the vehicle or leaning the key fob up against the window opening. A mere 6" away from the window opening and it will not start.

As such, the design that I had originally considered for a remote start system would not work. I will try to test the other issues that I brought up when I have the time. Maybe it will provide some useful information. If I combined my original remote start idea with some sort of challenge-response security system in the micro-controller, there's a possibility that a fairly secure method could be implemented for remote start on the manual transmission, manual locks JL like I have.

 

[MALL R8D]

My ex-husband had remote start on his manual truck. (He installed stereos and remote start for a living back when I met him and had done it himself.) He always left his truck in neutral, so it wasn't a problem. Of course, being a truck, relatives like his sister were inclined to borrow it. She left it in reverse. He started it, and it went in a giant circle through the parking lot (backwards, of course) before smashing into a brand new car.

For what it is worth, the police thought writing up an accident report on two unmanned vehicles was hilarious.

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