EVO-ONE is preventing my physical key from starting my car.

Question

The EVO-ONE installed in my 2003 Buick Century prevents my car's actual starter(not remote starter) from cranking for 5-10+mins at a time.

Here is the rundown:

-Unlock car and start with actual key=no issue.

-Remote start car with Fortin RF kit, hop into car, insert key and turn ignition to run position=no issue.

Here's where it gets weird...

-Remote start the car with Fortin RF kit. Car starts and is running.

-I hop in and insert the key into ignition but "forget" to turn the ignition barrel at all.

-I hit the brake, as you would before putting the car into gear and the car shuts off, as it should, due to the ignition barrel not being turned to "run" position before the brake tap.

-After the car has shut off due to tapping the brake before turning ignition to "run", I turn my key that is in the ignition barrel already and my car's actual starter willl not even attempt to crank. All other items in the car turn on as they should(i.e. radio, air, fuel pump primes, etc.). EVO will turn the car on but will not even try and crank the starter if I try to remote start again at this point.

-I wait about 10mins and then try a few more times with the actual physical key and the car will start now.

 

So after the car comes back alive, I can turn it on and off with the key a million times in a row just fine. I go and repeat the remote starting and put the key in ignition(but not turned to "run") and tap the brake to shut the car off and the car now will not start again.

 

I can replicate this every single time I do what I described above. This problem cost me $200 and and hour on my back in 5F weather putting a new starter in about a month ago because I figured the starter solenoid died on my wife.
 

Why would this be happening? This car is equipped from the factory with an anti-grind relay. It's acting like anti-grind relay thinks the car is trying to double start, which it's not.

Answer 1

I'm not surprised. You are messing with the VATS resistance value by doing that.  It might even do that if you tried remote starting with the key in the barrel since the evo is already sending the value on the j1850.  That's how passlock/vats works. Like my own 2002.

That said, it shouldnt be going into lockout anyway. Please try your test again, but this time after the car shut down because you forgot to turn ignition on, take the key out of the barrel completely, wait a second or two, and re-insert it. Then try starting the car.

 
Note: It's doing that because the car is equipped with VATS (resistor on the middle of the key shaft). When it sees anomolies on the VATS (wrong resistance), the vehicle goes into lockout because it thinks you are trying to steal it. As indicated in the vehicles owners manual, when the vehicle is in lockout, you need to wait 10 minutes.

Comments

You will want to take a look at what is powered at the ignition switch as well.

 

2 ignition wires are necessary

2 accessory wires. Although the BROWN one is sometimes not needed. Heck, Ive done some where it's only the ORANGE, only the BROWN, or both...... welcome to the remote starter world.

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Pulling the key out and putting it back in doesn't do the trick. I tried a gazillion times...

I only have one accessory wire wired and it's the orange. Everything seems to work(outside of the RF remote command problems I'm having...I have another open question on that one) otherwise.

The very first time this happened, my wife had remote started it from inside a store. She got outside and the car wasn't on. She stood outside the car and tried it again to see if the EVO was working and it still wouldn't activate the car's starter. So she hopped in the car and put the key in and it wouldn't start. After many tries and probably about 10mins time passing, she got it to start. When she explained this, I just figured the starter solenoid was going as this seemed pretty textbook starter solenoid.

Why would it trigger the lockout from just trying to remote start it? I haven't had that instance happen since that day either.

Thank you for the assistance.