I have a 2009 Civic DX that needs the battery replaced. I have an aftermarket Viper keyless entry/alarm system installed, and I’m wondering if I need to worry about reprogramming the device when I change the battery.
The battery has enough juice that I can still use the remote to lock/unlock the vehicle, but I can’t turn the engine over. I want to do a quick swap, but I worry that all of the programming on the Viper brain will be reset. Is this a legitimate concern to where I’d want to find some sort of memory saver solution to use, or am I OK to do a quick swap? I tried Viper customer support, but they were of no help and closed my support ticket without even answering me.
I’m not worried about my car’s clock or radio presets changing at all. I’m just concerned about the alarm system not working properly after I install the new battery.
It will not work unless the cig lighter is powered at all times. You could hook up a 9V battery to the battery cables. Be sure to not do anything like open a door and have an extra power demand put on the 9V battery while you do the battery swap.
The car is powered by the 9V battery instead of the car’s 12V battery. Hook up the 9V before you undo cables from the 12V. Move fast and don’t add to its load.
Why not just call a few battery places , tell them about your Viper system and see if they install a new battery without causing a problem . If you mess up in your driveway or garage you might have to have the vehicle towed to a shop.
There’s a constant power maintainer that plugs into the OBD port and will work even if your cigarette lighter isn’t constant-power.
However, you’ll be fine disconnecting the battery. The first thing a car thief does when dealing with an alarm is disconnect the battery. Alarm makers know this, so they store the programming in non-volatile memory.
The 9v battery will work fine, just turn the car off, then turn the KEY to the RUN position. With key in RUN, the “power point” or cigar lighter will be connected, and will give continuous power to the systems. EZ