The Bulldog Remote Car Starter

It is a steal for the price. Even if you get it installed professionally you are nowhere near the $300 to $400 you could spend for some systems that work exactly the same! This is a gift that everyone will love and you'll get more than enough use out of it--especially if you live in extreme temperatures.

I would never install this thing on my own. It is well outside the scope of my expertise. That doesn't mean you should not, but I would consider having a professional do the work. I took it to Best Buy and had it installed there and it works like a charm. You'll need to switch out batteries now and again, and I strongly suggest you watch the dvd once, then watch it again. It isn't totally comprehensive but it helps a lot. It is a do it yourself remote car starter but installation isn't as simple as you think.

You can choose tach or tachless operation. This means that when the remote starter is in Tach mode, the unit knows it's running by reading the AC voltage from the negative side of the coil. In Tachless mode, the unit knows it's running by reading the increase in DC voltage from the Alternator. It also has a remote trunk release which I get lots of use out of.

Something to be aware of is this Bulldog remote car starter was meant for fuel injected vehicles only. It won't work with diesel engines.

If you have never hard wired a car stereo then you should let a professional install this remote start system for you. It is not a simple install. It requires you to splice into your cars factory ignition system, electrical and door locking system. If you don't know what you are doing you can render your car useless. If you have any doubts, by all means have a professional install it. With that said, it is also not the most difficult thing I have ever done and I think most Do-it-yourself people that know a little about wiring and electrical can do this. It took me 3 hours to install. The hardest part of this install is knowing what wires you need to splice, their color codes, and their location. Mind you I also have a degree in electrical.

The first thing that should be done is to find out what wires you need to splice, which is conveniently posted on the manufacturers web site. To get the remote start to function you need to splice a minimum of 8 wires. (After the wires are known then the location of them should be found.) For my truck, the manufacturers web site had pictures which also made this easier. Check the website BEFORE you buy this product to make sure the pictures are there, if they are not, you may have to search the internet, or buy a repair manual to find the location of the wires you need. Next read the instruction book so you complete understand what each wire does and where it goes. It is informative. It also tells you at the end if you need to buy an additional unit to bypass your anti-theft system. I did not have to install one. You can download a version of the manual at their website.

When you have the product at home make sure everything is there, then make a list of all the wires that are coming off the unit, their color codes, where they go to the vehicle, and the vehicle color codes. Again, this information can be found at the website, or a repair manual. What makes it hard is that the color codes of the wires off the remote car starter, and the color codes of the vehicle wires that you are attaching them to, are different. After you have all the knowledge and information its time to begin splicing.
All of the remote starter wires are almost always located under the steering column of the vehicle. They are quite easily reached and involve removing some plastic pieces of your vehicle. The hard part is using a utility knife to cut away an inch of the wire insulation, NOT CUTTING THE WIRE. After that you wrap the wire around the factory wire. This process is explained in great detail in the instruction manual. The wires for the door locks are most likely found in the drivers side kick panel. Splicing the ignition wires is simple to do, and should not take much time. There are 2 wires that can be hard to splice. One is the brake input wire. This wire is needed so the unit knows when you are pressing the brake. In most vehicles after 1996, a switch is located up above the brake pedal. It is a very small wire and very difficult to splice. With time and patience it can be done in half hour or so. Another wire is the parking brake lights, sometimes located in the side panel near the seat. The wire is sometimes hard to locate, not to splice. After that plug in the unit and test its operation by following the manual. When that tests good I hooked up the door trigger wires. Not that hard, now all basic wires are spliced. (there are more optional wires)

Surprisingly, finding the space to put the unit was the hardest part. I had to tuck wires and wire tie them (buy more wire ties) and make room for the panel to fit back correctly. After that I was done and the unit worked fantastically. The truck starts up every time, and door locks work great. The distance is good, at least 400ft without obstructions. I couldn't be happier with this remote car stater.
Bottom line: If you have hard wired car stereos or hooked up alarm systems before, or have knowledge in electrical systems, this won't be difficult for you. If you have no experience with this sort of thing it will be difficult and you will want a professional to install it. Even if this unit (which has a one year warranty) fails, you can just swap the original with a new unit without rewiring anything. This is the best $60 I think I have ever spent.--Eric Hartwell

This is the second remote start that I have installed in our cars. For the price you can't go wrong. It took me about 4-5 hours to install but it is every bit worth it. It just takes time finding the correct wires and getting to them. The tech service help from Bulldog is great. They were very good at trouble shooting my issues and helping me along the way. The remote is easy to use and has great range, ~400ft. I would definitely recommend this product to others.--S. Nelson

I spent much time asking tech support questions prior to the install since it is my first attempt doing something like this. The VCR tape is worth the time to watch, and I watched it several times before and during the install. It went fairly well, except for needing some resistors (not included) and having a remote with sticky buttons, which they have agreed to replace. The actual install took about 5-6 hours on a system with no factory alarm. Overall I am very satisfied with the remote starter, and found tech support reasonably available (busy season?) and willing to help. The written manual is a bit confusing, as is online info, but tech support is very knowledgeable and answered all my questions. They helped me immensely. I love having the remote starter. I recommend it highly.--Ken Sandvoss