CA1055 alarm installation questions

[Dangriga]

Finally getting around to installing an alarm system in my 2006 E350 SMB. I have researched the installation process Best I can, but still have a few questions. I don’t think these questions are specific to this alarm, as any DIY installation will need to identify these wires.

1. Not sure if the E350 is a positive or negative switching parking lights and how do I test.

2. Do I need to connect both the + and - door trigger input wires?

3. There is a wire that is labeled as “ground when armed I put (-)”. Do I just ground this wire? What is it’s polarity when the alarm is not grounded?

4. Apparently each door has it’s own lock/unlock wire. It says to join them all together when connecting to the relays for a 5wire setup. Is there a location in the van where these wires all pass together? They also mention diodes are needed but the alarm did not come with diodes. Why are they needed?

I know this sounds specific, but hoping some one here has already gone through this and can shed some light and advice. Thanks!

 

[Nitromethane43]

1. Seems to be Positive a brown wire behind the headlight switch, probe the wire behind the headlight switch, with the parking lights on there should be 12v.

2. Connect only the negative, but since you have individual door triggers, they would all need to be tied into the alarm, using diodes to isolate each signal, otherwise the factory computer would get a signal that all doors are open.

3. that would be for optional items on your arm, and would not be needed for a normal install, just remove the wire or cap it off, it would just be like an wire in open air not connected to anything when not armed.

4. I an not too sure where you are getting that information, but you can also tap into the lock/unlock switch, that should control both doors. the wires would connect on the kick panels on either side of the floor by the doors. Diodes are like check valves and only urrent to flow in one direction, mostly so there is no back feeding into the factory control modules.

 

[Dangriga]

So I got the alarm working. Then I decided to add a motion detector sensor. Pretty simple, power, ground and trigger. Used diodes on the trigger (white bar towards door trigger) cause I need to use the same door trigger as the alarm. Also put diode on alarm wire (white bar towards door trigger) Everything went to hell when testing. Now the dash lights flash instead of the siren. Removed motion detector and put everything back the way it worked. But still the dash lights flash instead of the alarm. Any idea what happened?

 

[Nitromethane43]

Im not too sure there, one would need a lot more information to diagnose that one. So are you saying the dashboard lights are flashing like the parking lights are being turned off and on, or are certain indicators flashing?

Without knowing everything that went on I would look back at your spliced or taps that were made with the motion sensor. Most of the time they would be tied into the armed option the #3 wire you were asking about earlier and there is no need to go into the door triggers again.

It sounds like it might be a good idea to seek an alarm installer, knowledgable stereo shop or one that can troubleshoot automotive electrical issues.

Also using diodes, it would depend if you went up or downstream of the diodes on the motion sensor, if you were after towards the ground side then it would be OK, but if it was up on the computer side then things could have happened if power was applied there.

If you have photos of what was done or diagrams of how things were connected it might give insight on what went on.