I have Viper alarms with remote start on three SDs and one OBS in the family, and all have been faithful except this one on a 2004 F350. It started acting up a year or so ago. It would not unlock/disarm, and several times I had to override it with the ignition key and the button on its Control Center, while the siren blared and armed Texans looked at me with a certain amount of suspicion. Smile and wave....

Now as of this morning, it won't arm, disarm, lock, unlock, remote start, nothing. I tried the spare non-LCD remote and it's the same. The (fully-charged) LCD remote is sending a signal and receiving a signal back, according to its little displayed icons. But the truck does nothing.

When I turn off the truck the blue light on the Control Center comes on steady. But the button on there does not respond normally. I should be able to re-link a remote, according to the Viper Owner's Guide. I tried to do that op as a workaround. No go. It's as if I had no alarm anymore. The truck has fresh batteries and alternator. FICM voltage stays steady at 49v, so truck voltage is not an issue. I suppose I could disconnect the batteries and see if that resets the Viper. But I'm tiring of Vipers.

Viper has harsh policies about installers. Several have told me that Viper won't let them buy the alarm unless they become an official dealer. I don't like big companies holding small businesses hostage to "become a dealer" which usually means buying many thousands of dollars of stock. The nearest official Viper dealer to me is far away in a nasty city. I'm ready to move on to another brand. Today I found a local installer who will install any alarm I buy.

Who's running an alarm with remote start in their Super Duty and recommends it? It's curious that I was unable to find a Viper user forum on the web. Perhaps Viper sues them.

TIA

 

Viper customer support is of little use. They advised me to find a dealer but the nearest one out here in rural Texas is waaaay over in Austin. Which isn't Texas, really.

 

Given the complexity of the wiring of some of these Viper systems, I highly recommend taking it to a dealer and have them trouble shoot the system, otherwise you might be opening a can of worms trying to fix it yourself.

 

Agreed. And given the symptoms, I'd wager dollars to donuts that its cpu has failed. Not a wiring issue.

But it's frustrating that the Viper support pages list a series of error codes and possible causes thereof ... but does not tell us how to pull codes. The LCD remote is certainly capable of displaying codes, but their doc is silent on how to get them.

Another reason I'm asking if anyone is running a competing brand of alarm, with satisfaction.

 

Well, I was surprised to get a helpful response from Viper via email (below). More helpful news from others on Amazon who inform that if you have the 7756V remote the 5706V should be the main system you have. And they sell that for $200 and change on Bezoszon. So I'll try their tip below, then order a replacement 5706V system.


"The most common reason that one of our systems will not go into programming, is an issue with the door trigger input. Whether its the vehicles door trigger itself or a connection issue. If our alarm systems do not see a door open, they will not enter programming mode. Try opening other doors to see if it is an issue with that one door. It is rare, but I have also seen the antenna "lock up". So long as you can unplug it without damaging the wires, try unplugging it and plugging it back in. Then try programming again."