To those who installed aftermarket alarm themselves

[RedTurboEclipse]

I'm debating on whether or not I should do it. I'm pretty knowledgeble about electronics.

I'm planning on picking up your basic alarm with keyless entry.

The diagram can be had at the12volt.com

Now was it too difficult to install. I know the important part is hiding the brain, etc. I have nothing to begin with so having one present is better than anything. My main concern is locating all the wires. Obviously under the steering column a few will be tapped. The others is what I'm concerned about.

Is there a location where all the wires I need access to is present in one place that I can easily tap into. Also most of the alarms come with a siren, can I just hook it up to the factory horn so I don't have to mount the included siren. Thanks in advance

 

[zwickyj]

I just installed an alarm on the eclipse and I wouldn't say it was a pain, but very time comsuming, if I had to do it again I would pay to have it done. But the wiring and the wiring locations can be found at www.vfaq.com and yes most alarms have a horn output so the siren is not needed, I opted not to use the horn but rather the siren. If you decide to do it, let us know how it turns out.

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

Your car profile says you have a Talon. Did you install it on a 2G eclipse? I have the wiring diagrams and most of the wiring needed is in the kick panel. When they say "kick panel" Is it that mess of wires by the clutch with those relays?

 

[Gary 420A RS]

its a pain in the ass. i took mine to a proffesional after attempting it.. cost me 60 dollars.. well worth the load off. you know.

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

What was the biggest pain that decided you should just bring it to a shop?

For $60 I could deal with that, but most places are $100+.

To be quite honest I'm not going to install any extra features. Just the standard features, keyless entry, lights flash, etc. No remote start or anything. And im not really planning to hide the brain super descrete. I mean I have no alarm to begin with right now, so any even though brain is not hidden real well, is better then nothing.

 

[Gary 420A RS]

nothing on it is really hard just time consuming so i brought it to a professional.. you can get it iam sure.. its just sometimes iam lazy and i dont want to do that or my radio so i had it done for me.

 

[Killa_dsm]

When I installed mine it wasnt that hard at all. The only hard thing was trying to get to the door lock wires. Since it is way up under the dash. But it took me about 2hrs to get everything nicely done. Just take your time and you should be fine. Everything you need is under the dash and the kick pannel on the left.

 

[droppinbottom]

Not too bad of a job on my 1g but like said earlier it is time consuming.
Just always remember that some wires look very similar for the one you are looking for and when they say kick panel that is a broad description.

Good luck.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

You guys are lucky, people around these parts want hundreds of dollars for an alarm installation.
i'd attempt it myself regardless. Just get a good light and make sure you have all the parts you might need BEFORE you start working...somehow I always neglect that

 

[travislaw]

I installed a complicated Clifford Matrix RSX 3.5 alarm system with remote start. It was very time consuming (22 hours). Most of the wires (including the door lock wires) are located in the kick panel on the drivers side, not need to go up into the dash. My friends and I went all out though. We used male and female connectors and made sure we could unplug the alarm harness and plug the original wire back together no problem. I even used a turbo timer harness and adapted it to work for the alarm wires going into the ignition so it is just plug and play, no cutting into the iginition wires at all. I put in a back-up siren with battery in the car somewhere to annoy the hell out of anyone that tries to steal the car. I then wire the car where I wanted the wires to go and put the brain in a really hard to get to spot. I hate having audio stores do car alarms. They put the fuse for the alarm right by the battery. All a thief has to do is pull the fuse and the alarm shuts off, but not on my car. A bit of advice, get a voltmeter. Test the wires you think go to each part. For example on the door locks. Make sure the door is shut. Have someone with a voltmeter attach the positive side to the wire and ground the negative side. Then lock and unlock the doors with your key. If the volt meter reading changes, then you have the correct wire. (Some of the color schemes had three wires with the same color scheme, so you have to make sure you get the right one.)

 

[zwickyj]

Yea, I also have a 98 eclipse, and like I said and everyone else now said time consuming, but if you have time go for it, make it clean and just make sure you have the right wire, a lot look the same, I wish I could have had it installed for $60 but its upwards of $100-$200 here, i'd say if you got time go for it, get butt connectors and a crimp and have at it, also a gang of wire ties. Have Fun

 

[spartan]

You said that you can get the wiring diagram on the12volt.com? I have never been to this site. Would the wiring be the same for a non-turbo 2g as a turbo model? I am wanting to install an alarm that I have sitting around into my 2g also.

 

[zwickyj]

Yes, you can register and the12volt.com and they have vehicle specific wiring diagrams availible, but why not just use vfaq.com go to the electrical section and click 2g and all the wiring is right there.