Remote start for manual trans?

[blk_5.0]

They dont do it stock for obvious reasons- dummy leaves in gear, remote tarts and car takes off with no one in it. cant do that in an auto as can only start in neutral or park.

Just gotta be careful with it.

I don't get it...how hard can it be to set it up so that the auto start wont work if it is in a gear? My car is a daily in Michigan and auto start would be great....it sits in the parking garage directly across from my office (20-30 feet away?)

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[ElAviator72]

I don't get it...how hard can it be to set it up so that the auto start wont work if it is in a gear? My car is a daily in Michigan and auto start would be great....it sits in the parking garage directly across from my office (20-30 feet away?)

How can the remote start system possibly know the car is in gear? Maybe if it tapped into the OBD II system and read some super secret Ford only codes (doubt such a system exists-the only way the ECM probably knows what gear it is in is by correlating engine and driveshaft RPMs ;) ).

 

[zuki_dan]

I would think some one could come up with a micro switch that will only allow the remote start if the shifter was in the center neutral position. It shouldn't be to hard with a remote mounted shifter that the MT-82 has.

 

[ScottsGT]

My World Class T-5 in my '66 has a built in neutral safety sensor I wired into my AAW wiring harness. I have to put it in neutral to start it. Kind of annoying, but the '66 clutch pedal doesn't have a pedal depressed switch on it.

 

[pyrophilus]

How can the remote start system possibly know the car is in gear? Maybe if it tapped into the OBD II system and read some super secret Ford only codes (doubt such a system exists-the only way the ECM probably knows what gear it is in is by correlating engine and driveshaft RPMs ;) ).

I used to think this reg my '15 and '17 6MT's, but my '19 6MT with the digital IP shows you what gear the manual tranny is in (and even says "N" when in neutral). And it does this even while car is sitting in the driveway, so it's not based on relative rpm to vehicular speed. so obviously the car knows. One would think since the sensor is there, it's just a matter of programming, allow remote start only if 6MT is in neutral and parking brake is on.

And then even if with remotely started vehicle, if the car senses shifter being knocked/pushed into gear without clutch engaged, just kill the engine.

I read eons ago here where someone said a ford tech told them that the cars record the number of door handle pulls, not the door light sensor trips, I mean the actual pulls on the outside handle, and how the tech said one owner exceeded the lifetime door openings for the handle within a year or so.

If the car is indeed this connected, I don't see why it would be impossible to put remote start into the 6MT from factory, other than having to pay ford lawyers because there is some blah, blah, law (or a precedence) that shows a manufacturer being liable for rollaway damage to an aftermarket remote start on a manual.

I guess if there IS a law against it, and/or a lawsuit(s) that happened, probably none of them had cars with as many sensors as modern day manuals, but...

There is a reason why it is illegal to pump your own gas in NJ, because it's cheaper to not change the law than to change the law to make it legal for owners to pump their own gas.

I never keep my car in gear when parked. My wife (hot girlfriend at the time) once had a brand new manual Jetta, and had it kept in gear when parked. It was hit from behind hard enough, and while the car was visibly repaired, she said the car didn't shift/drive right. The dealer told her the car seems to have tranny problems, and gave her expensive options for "shot on the dark" repair attempts. This was when I met her, and when I went to dealer and started asking very specific questions regarding the car, the guy backed off without telling me anything (they also stripped the oil pan bolt on her brand new car, which had complimentary oil changes, and they denied it. Told her that manuals normally burn oil, so they convinced her that adding 1/4 to 1/8 quart every other fuel stop was normal... for a manual, and this was a VW DEALER!!).

Was the car actually damaged because it was pushed while in gear? Probably not. Was dealer trying to make $$$ because they saw a pretty 20 year old petite asian woman as an owner? Probably.

But nevertheless, the headache of that makes my wife get upset if people leave manuals in gear.

When I left my '17 EB in 1st because our driveway is steep sloped backwards, she got upset. I told her the parking brake lever takes like 18-20 clicks to engage and it's at the top of travel, so I am afraid of it rolling back. She said, "obviously you need to get the parking brake lever readjusted".

So I went to my ford dealer multiple times (because I had thr famous "loose parking brake lever" issue), and the tech finally tightened the cable to take up the initial slack (which btw, is tighter than what it is if you follow Ford's FSM instructions).

The parking brake on my '17 was perfect. But now I have a '19 with the factory default loose handle. I did notice that the shifter boot vinyl is thinner and more pliable than my '15 or '17.

Anyway, sorry to ramble, I guess I shouldn't read/post on mustang6g 5:30 in the morning.

 

[pyrophilus]

When he came out of the Party early the next morning with his girlfriend and hit the remote start button, he got quite the surprise as his car shot forward into the Taurus sitting in front of it.

A Nissan service write that I got to be friends with for 20 years said this happened once when he was working at a dealer before Nissan (forget which car make). The owner had aftermarket remote start installed (in early 90,as or even late 80's). Remote start engaged by double clicking lock button or holding lock button or something like that, and while the owner knew to keep car in neutral, the dealer person left car in gear when parked. Next time tech went to get the car, he started to multiple press the lock button to make the car "honk" so he could find it easier, but it also started the car which made it drive straight across the parkinglot into a metal fence. He said the tech was screaming, "oh s@$t!" As he was running across the parkinglot. The car suffered only cosmetic damages to the front, but fence was destroyed. He said owner took responsibility for not telling them about the remote start and didn't give them a hard time (but he also didn't have to pay for the fence).

That nissan dealer had a sheet where when you sign on the order to get work started, one of the checkboxes was, "do you have an aftermarket remote starter? Y/N" when I pointed out that checkbox was when he told me the story.

 

[Elp_jc]

I never keep my car in gear when parked.

Me neither, with one exception: In my garage. Since it's flat, I just leave it in 1st, to be able to leave the parking brake down. Not sure if I'm saving anything, but since the car spends probably 95%+ of its life in the garage, better not to have the spring in tension, and the calipers against the rotors. But any time the car is parked outside the garage, it's only the parking brake. Only when on inclines, I use 1st as a precaution, since I also need to adjust the damn parking brake. I don't want to force the crap out of it. It starts screeching even at mild inclines; POS. Ha ha.

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