My fiance has a 2002 cavalier 2.2 OHV automatic. Any suggestions for an automatic start that I could intall myself? I’m pretty handy and I have already been able to replace the head gasket and fuel pump in this car. I just have no experiecne with automatic start.
Do you mean ‘remote start’?
That shows how much experience I have with it. Yes. I meant remote start.
Google ‘remote starters for cars’, lots of them. I’ve no experience with them.
We had an 05 Malibu for a while with remote start. We never used it even though we live in the north. I just don’t care about remote start and would not pay anything for it given the choice.
Car engines in winter warm fast enough.
This will require splicing into the starter’s wiring, and could be bad if you mess the job up. On my old car I had one installed at a Ziebart here in town for $250. Just the basic start and unlock features. When I bought my Mazda, I ordered the factory remote start and had Mazda install it.
I would not install an aftermarket remote starter. Too many potential problems. When you start cutting and splicing the wiring you never know what will go wrong.
Unless the car came from the factory with a remote start system (which it didn’t) I recommend you live with it the way it is.
Problems, yes. However, if one has a shop that performs these kinds of installations everyday, then the chances are smaller than if one has it installed by his buddy that’s worked on cars, but never done that kind of install.
The one Ziebart installed on my Civic 6 years ago is still going strong today with no problems at all. Also, the factory installed unit on my Mazda was actually installed AFTER it arrived in the US. But, it’s covered under factory warranty, same as everything else
The Cavalier comes from the factory with an ignition immobilizer system. Put simply, it requires the presence of a key to start. To fool the car into thinking a key is present, you need to install an immobilizer bypass to make the remote start work. This is a task best left to the professionals. I wouldn’t recommend this job be tackled if you have no experience with remote start installations.