My colleague received a remote start system for
his classic Chevy. It will be installed tomorrow. Will this
system eliminate the need for an ignition key? Neither one
of us has ever owned a vehicle with remote start. Thanks!
Properly installed, no.
What would you be saying the day the remote starter failed to work and the ignition key you had in your pocket did too?
Yep, I would likely be saying the same things too.
You hit a button on the key fob to start the motor remotely. If you put the car in gear without putting in the key and turning the ignition switch to “on” the motor will die. The remote starter has about a zillion wires and hooks into many of the car electric circuts. Make sure whoever does the job makes all the slices carefully and that they are taped well to protect against moisture.
Saddly many remote starters work fine for a couple of year and then fail. At which point you get another one, or uninstall the failed one. Uninstalling means cutting all the wires to the unit but those splices are still there and need to last for the remaining life of the car. I’ve had remoted starters and I wouldn’t put one in a “classic” car. If it is a show car it would lose points in judging.
If this classic car is equipped with a carburator and therefore a choke I’d definately not put in the remote starter. The choke will stay on until the first tap of the gas petal and than means dumping in an excessively rich fuel mix all the time the car is running after the remote start. Not good for the life of the motor, and horrible for the pollution pouring out of the tailpipe. Remote starters are only practical on cars with fuel injection and automatic transmissions.
Do some more homework before installing the unit to be sure it is suitable for this particular classic car.