Alarm Installation

CAUTION: You will be working with the electrical system in this DIY. When working with the electrical system, it is always a good idea to make sure the engine is off and the positive terminal is disconnected from the battery.

Installing your own alarm system is actually one of the easiest things to do on any vehicle.

I installed the Bulldog Talking Vehicle Alarm, but these instructions should work with other alarms with only some minor modifications. Link to the alarm I'm installing: http://www.bulldogsecurity.com/Products/453055347-model-2030-talking-vehicle-alarm-system.aspx

Before I begin, a bit about how car alarms work. Most alarms have two sensors, a shock sensor, and a voltage sensor.

The shock sensor detects vibrations in the vehicle, such as a bump, shake, or glass breaking.

The voltage sensor detects when the interior lights turn on due to someone opening the door.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have a old, weak battery, the alarm will randomly trigger due to variations in voltage. This WILL drain your battery. So, if your alarm randomly goes off when no one is around, time to test your battery.

Note that this install was on a JK, but the procedure is the exact same for any vehicle. I've included a picture of the engine compartment of my MJ for reference.

You want to install the alarm on left or right side of the engine compartment. You *MUST* install the alarm on a GROUNDED metal part of the engine compartment. If the alarm is not properly grounded, it will not work. Do not attempt to attach the alarm to any parts in the engine, only the engine compartment itself. Do not attach the alarm to the hood, as the hood ground wires have a tendency to break (plus the screws sticking through the hood would look really tacky). In fact, while you're in there it might be a good idea to check (and correct) the ground wires. They should be attached near the hood hinges. Improperly grounded hoods could lead to static discharge, and possible explosion if any gas vapors are in the air.

Test to make sure the alarm will fit in the desired location prior to removing it from the mounting bracket.

The alarm and bracket shouldn't be rubbing against any hoses, and definitely should not be rubbing against any hot wires.

Examine the alarm and note how the black ground wire is attached to the mounting bracket. You'll need to reattach the wire later. If your alarm does not have a metal bracket, you'll need to attach the ground wire to a ground screw. More on this later.

Remove the alarm from the mounting bracket, then use the included self-tapping screws to attach the mounting bracket to the engine compartment.

Re-attach the alarm to the mounting bracket, making sure the black ground wire is placed between the lock-washer and mounting bracket. (Sorry, wish I took a picture of this, but you'll understand when you see it).

The alarm should look something like this when you're done:

If your alarm does NOT have a metal bracket, you'll need to attach the ground wire to a ground screw, such as this one:

Test to see if the alarm is properly grounded by touching the end of the alarm's "hot" wire to the positive post of the battery. The Bulldog system says "Thank you" if it is properly grounded.

Remove the end of the hot wire from the battery, then carefully route the wire along the engine compartment, securing the wire so it won't move. I used electrical tape:

Finally, attach the positive terminal to the battery post, then attach the alarm's hot wire to the battery terminal (not the post itself).

Optionally, you can replace the alligator connector with a circular connector and attach the circle connector to the battery terminal. This way if someone does break into your vehicle, they can't simply disconnect the clip after opening the hood. Also, you won't have to worry about the alligator clip working loose this way. I haven't done this yet, but here's an example of the connector.

If you have any questions please let me know.

wow, that alarm is extremely simple, and I am not a fan. looks very easy to defeat especially if its on a wrangler with easy access to the engine compartment. There is no hood open sensor and a simple check for voltage change I think would false a lot. Glass breaking is generally a low impact act. most car alarms will not detect a shattered window if someone uses something like a spark plug or a center punch to take out a window and then reach in and grab stuff. it also looks like if you remove the alligator clip it is totally disabled.

I would go for a nice DEI:

http://www.hookedontronics.com/show_pro ... thon_460HP

it has a starter kill, impact sensor, door trigger, locks, light flash and you can add sensors like a proximity sensor.

that way if they cut power to the vehicle they still have to disable the alarm under the dash in order to be able to drive away with it.

Yes you're correct, if you remove the alligator clip it's disabled. Hence why I recommended the circular connector.

I have tried opening the hood with the alarm enabled, and the movement/vibrations from opening the hood does trigger the alarm. Haven't tried breaking the glass, and not planning on trying that!

The fact of the matter is, if someone wants to steal your entire vehicle, alarm or no alarm, they will take it. Alarms are only deterrents to make your vehicle less attractive to thieves, and help deter people (mostly kids) from screwing with your vehicle, doing stuff like climbing on it or inside. They will not prevent theft.

I never keep anything valuable in any of my vehicles. A lot of people disagree with my "backwards thinking", but I actually leave my doors unlocked whenever I go to the store. My reasoning is that if someone wants something in the vehicle bad enough (my cassette player maybe? :rotfl2: ), I'd rather they steal what's inside and not damage the vehicle, than damage the vehicle AND steal what's inside.

What's the main reason I installed the alarm? The car finder. Plus it was a gift, so why not? :rotf:

free is always good. and the leaving the doors unlocked is what most wrangler owners have adopted, unfortunately people are to stupid to check the doors and usually take the cutting to enter route :roll: .