Upgrade Alarms - Commanded By Factory Car Key
An upgrade alarm (also known as a PLIP alarm or OEM upgrade) is a car alarm that will operate from the vehicles factory remote control. The first thing to be aware of is that for an upgrade alarm to comply with the NZSA Star rating it is assumed the the vehicle already has a factory immobiliser. If your car does not have a factory installed immobiliser and you still like the idea of your alarm working from the original key remote then the best solution would be to have a transponder immobiliser installed with the upgrade alarm.
There are plenty of upgrade alarm options to choose from including the new generation of CAN-BUS alarms. Over the coming weeks the blog shall go into detail about what each product has to offer.
How Upgrade alarms work
Most Upgrade alarms monitor the vehicles central locking wires. For example when the alarm senses the doors locking it will arm, and then disarm when it senses the doors unlock. The trick is to teach the alarm to arm and disarm only when the remote is used. After all it would not be very effective if you could disarm the alarm by simply flicking the cars unlock button on the door!
Teaching the alarm operate from a genuine remote command is generally achieved by two methods. The first is known as the inhibit method, the alarm monitors the switches from the doors (or dash) lock/unlock buttons, if it senses the switch move before sensing the door motors unlock it will ignore the command, this way only a command from the remote which causes the door motor to move first will allow the alarm to arm/disarm.
Hazard Flash Method
Hazard light flash - Enable Mode
The second method used is known as enable mode, with this method the alarm monitors the hazard lights which flash when the remote locks/unlocks the vehicle. In other words the alarm needs to see the doors lock/unlock with the hazard lights. This is not possible on all vehicles as not all have this feature. The biggest weakness with this method is that it maybe possible to trick the alarm by turning the hazard lights on and then unlocking the vehicle. There are ways that a good installer can get around this trick and some alarms are far better than others in detecting this.
The better alarms actually learn the timing of the vehicles hazard and locking signals, rather than simply monitoring them. Anyway hopefully this has not been to technical to follow. I’m sure if you can follow this then the coming reviews will make sense.
Hi, can you do an upgrade to the existing immobiliser on a JDM 2003 Honda Accord wagon?
Digital, battery backed-up, inaccessible siren would be nice.
thanks and regards
peter
Hi Peter,
Yes I can. Your options for Digital Battery back-up upgrade alarms are the Autowatch 555CLAM and the Cobra AB3868
I’ve sent you an email with pricing details.
Cheers,
Julian
Hi Julian,
In an after market alarm, immobiliser deactivation is required
after unlocking the door and entering the vehicle which is not started within a certain time frame.
On an upgrade alarm, (Cyclops P485), I have found that immobiliser deactivation is not required and the vehicle starts even after it has been unlocked and not started for any length of time. Is this acceptable or should the immobiliser kick in if the vehicle has not been started within a time frame after entering ?
Thanks and regards.
Dinesh
Hi Dinesh,
What car is this installed in?
Upgrade alarms are designed for vehicles that have an existing factory transponder immobiliser. The Cyclops P485 (Dynatron 4 Series) does have dual immobiliser but that only kicks in when the alarm is armed. Therefore it is technically not suitable unless you have an addition immobiliser (rules state that it the immobiliser should auto arm within 40 seconds).
It is often assumed that if a vehicle has keyless entry that there will also be an immobiliser. This however is often a mistaken assumption.
The star rating system for upgrade alarms is misleading and often misunderstood by installers. I’ve been trying to bring the matter up with the NZSA but they fail to respond to such questions!
Hi Julian,
Thanks for the information. The alarm is installed in a Subaru Legacy 2.0I non-turbo sedan.
Best regards,
Dinesh
Hi Dinesh,
What year is your Legacy? If it is a made before 2003 then it is very unlikely that you have an immobiliser. If it is the newer shape version then this post covers the details:
http://vehiclesecurity.co.nz/blog/subaru-immobiliser
Cheers,
Julian
Hi Julian,
It’s a 2004 model Legacy and has a key as seen in the link.
From your post “Therefore it is technically not suitable unless you have an addition immobiliser ” .. does the additional immobilizer need to be bought separately (in addition to the two existing) to ensure immobiliser deactivation after unlocking the door and entering the vehicle which is not started within a certain time frame ?
Thanks and regards,
Dinesh
Hi Dinesh,
Personally I’d be considering a transponder immobiliser such as the Autowatch 573PPi or the Dynatron D2200. It is possible to do away with the transponder fob (tag which dangles from your keyring) and code up a transponder chip that can fit inside the Subaru key.
This solution is certainly the easiest to live with as no conscious action is required to disarm it.
Thanks for all the information, Julian.
Best regards
Dinesh
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