Batboard

Just did a 04 blazer, and customer is reporting some issues and I'm looking for some insight here. Installed 4 HAW's, 4 TIR3's in grill, 2 TIR3's in rear tint, a Slimlighter above rear view mirror, and a siren. Power directly from battery, with a fuse tap for ign/acc control. He says his overhead outdoor temp now reads 0. and the interior and dash lights went dim momentarily then back to bright. I remember having some difficulty while installing because the lights went dim (within 10 minutes of no idle) and then battery went dead, I jumped it, and advised him to get a new battery but he hasnt Could this be it? Doesnt sound like it. What worries me is I remember a cluster of components and wires under the drivers dash from a previously installed remote start unit. Maybe they got moved around too much when I was looking for a firewall entry point... Ugh This is why I hate doing these side jobs.

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Fuse tap from drivers side fuse box, 20A radio/ignition fuse. All components are pulling very little through the sense wires, as they all have built in relays these days. I take a look at it tomorrow, I believe the problem is dirty battery terminals, as well as the fact that it is old. I'll clean and tighten all connections

Sounds like your on the right track, clean and tighten the terminals, check all connections and ground straps. Last but not least load test the battery, if you don't have a tester go to any Pep Boys or Batteries Plus or ask around other places in your area. A lot of them will load test the battery for free.

If all that passes have a look at that remote starter crap. I have run into them a few times, usually poorly installed by some stereo shop. Properly installed they are nice to have up here in the midwest on a cold morning. But to be honest it takes me only a few minutes to run out and start it, seperate the ignition key from the rest of the keychain with the quick release, and then lock the doors with my remote on the way back in the house.

yea pretty much betting the battery is crap. Especially with the new load on it from the lighting. I'll test the amp output and notify the customer of the findings. This coupled with the fact he told me that a month before the install he went to vacuum his truck and in the five mins it took he found his battery dead already. I doubt it's the crappy remote start install now, but I'm seriously considering not accepting future installs with messy previous wiring jobs, or making up a hold-harmless / waiver form for these type of jobs. And I agree, a nice quick-release keyless entry remote is what I use and a much safer idea then getting your ignition hacked into for a remote-start unit installed by a guy named jose at the local stereo shop.