need help with an ancient Kenwood car alarm

[JohnnyTurbo]

The car we just picked up has a very old Kenwood KPC-60 alarm system in it. Very hi-tech, but very old. It seems to be working and that is the problem, we do not know how it operates and we think is is preventing the car from starting. It has a small remote head unit in the console and we think a small 3 position switch in the glove box has something to do with the alarm. It also has a key fob remote. Anyone ever see one of these before? It is probably from the early to mid 90's since the car is a '91. I removed the Mitsubishi mobile phone unit that was tucked away by the rear pass speaker enclosure. The handset was hidden in the console along with the alarm control unit. Very old school and most likely very expensive when it was new.

[UTRacerX9]

I dealt with a similar situation a long time ago on a white Stealth ES with an aftermarket alarm. In my case, car wouldn't start either, we didn't have the key fob for the alarm to turn it off. However, it did have a small switch similar to what you describe, it was the valet switch, which allows the car to start when selected. Try playing with that switch and starting. Once we got the car started we disconnected the battery and then turned the car off, and removed the alarm box. After that, it started up every time.

[95gto]

I could not find any info for the system online, and without the manual the best thing to do is ditch it. However you could just disconnect it temporarily for troubleshooting purposes and the reconnect it at a later date if you really want to keep it.

For the time being though I would drop the lower dash panel on the driver's side and remove any connections the alarm makes into the ignition harness. This will prevent the alarm from interacting with the car while you try to resolve the starting issues. Chances are the starter wire in the ignition harness has been cut so that it can be connected to a 'starter kill relay'. You will just need to reconnect the factory wire.

If you don't feel comfortable doing this work I would find a reputable Car Audio shop and pay them to completely remove the system.

[james92tsi]

Since you've already located the alarm brain - disconnect the brain and try to start the car.

if it won't start with the brain disconnected, you'll need to dig into the ignition harness as the post immediately above mine indicated to find the starter kill relay.

(Typically starter kills are Normally Closed so unplugging the brain means the start kill relay will never be energized and stays closed - completing the starter circuit. The start wire you are looking for at the key switch is black with yellow stripe.)

[JohnnyTurbo]

This alarm has at least 20 input wires to it. I located the ignition kill (black/yellow stripe) and re-connected it. I an pretty sure now we have the click click no start. A few days ago I was having to do multiple key starts for it to finally catch the starter. I'm going to splice in a push button start switch and worry about the rest after the NG.

[Chris@Rvengeperformance]

This alarm has at least 20 input wires to it. I located the ignition kill (black/yellow stripe) and re-connected it. I an pretty sure now we have the click click no start. A few days ago I was having to do multiple key starts for it to finally catch the starter. I'm going to splice in a push button start switch and worry about the rest after the NG.

the push button will not be reliable if you have the click click start problem. Wire in an extra relay under the hood. been there done that.