Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Removing the Failing Code-Alarm From a 2002 Jeep Wrangler TJ

I'm phrasing this title carefully, in case another Jeeper needs some help out there.

And your standard Internet Warranty applies - at no time does Ramblingmoose.com take any responsibilities for any actions that come from this article.  You perform any work on your car at your own risk.  If you feel uncomfortable with working on your car, take it to a qualified professional.  I'm not a qualified professional, I merely took the time to find the files out there to remove the alarm from my car.

Again - take this as help, but you are doing this at your own risk.  It "worked for me".



In the 16 years I have had the Jeep, I have done only two mods to it that effect the electrical system.

I upgraded the radio,  and that is powered off when the key is removed.

I ordered an alarm installed at purchase by the dealer.

That is the problem.  Since the car sits for a while between uses, the alarm was draining the battery dead.

I know that because whenever I went to run the car, it either would not start, or pressing the Disarm button would make a strangled noise from the alarm.  Most of the time the alarm was not working at all.

So in an effort to diagnose my electrical system, the thing had to go.

The goal is to render the car back to original manufacture or as close as possible to it.  Since the alarm noise maker under the hood had rusted to the point where it may do more damage than good in removing it, I'll leave that and the valet switch in place.

I also ended up removing the bypass switch from the glove box and repurposing it as an ignition kill switch.

So the car starts without the alarm now as long as that switch is in the right position.

To determine whether you have the right alarm system, you have to look at the alarm itself. 
Luckily for me, I had the model sticker still on the front after 16 years.

Taking that sticker and the number on it, I had to search to see if it made any sense. 

No, it hadn't.

I went back out into the car and flipped the thing over. 

On any electronic appliance that transmits  over the radio waves in the US, there must have been an FCC Sticker.  That sticker has and FCC ID Number.  The FCC never forgets, and that information can be searched on. 

That number told me that it was from Code-Alarm and that it was an EVS II (two).  It told me who was responsible for this at Code-Alarm and some other information that was all worthless.   You see, Code-Alarm, having being bought up by Audiovox which became Voxx International, those people and the original documentation are not completely available.

Documentation you will want to get.  This is a link to the original instructions by Code Alarm and Chrysler to the tech on how to actually install the alarm system.  In case my instructions get to be too much, check this link.

The View Behind the Knee Kick Panel of the Wiring Bundle After Work


To achieve this, you need to remove the knee kick panel under the steering column.  Two Phillips screws.

Then remove the shroud from around the steering column and key.  Two Phillips screws.

Both will give you ample room to work with.  I had a lot of trouble working in the tight spaces, and really could have used a "Jeep Chick" with her smaller hands and body.  But you do what you can with what you have, even if you are a bruiser of a guy like me.

The way I did this was to remove both connectors from the alarm control computer box and that rendered the car immobile.

There are two connectors, a 6 pin and a 22 pin connector.  The connection to the ignition is in the smaller 6 pin connector.  The wires in question are the two yellow ones of the same thickness - one is solid yellow and the other is yellow with a black stripe. 

There is a third yellow wire on the 6 pin connector that goes to a kill switch in the glove box compartment.  I used this wire for testing and later for a kill switch.



Ignore the other wire harness for now.  I actually left it in place because I had to travel somewhere, but that is the feed to the alarm emitter under the hood (black and red), plus a bypass (brown wires).  The remaining wires are to a shock sensor, hood switch, light sensor, and back door switch.  I am purposely ignoring them for now since as I said, I left that harness in place.

From the original installation document:
  • Blue - Jumpered off the ignition harness (To be Cut)
  • Red - Jumpered off the 12+ Volt line in the ignition harness (To be Cut)
  • Yellow - To Ignition Side of the yellow ignition line (To be re-joined at harness)
  • Yellow with Black Stripe - To Starter Motor side of the yellow ignition line (To be re-joined with the yellow ignition line above)
  • Black - To Ground (To be Cut)
  • Yellow - Thinner solid yellow line - (To door on/off switch.  Reuse as kill switch)

Trace the thicker yellow and yellow black striped wires from the 6 pin harness back to the steering column.  In mine, everything was wrapped in electrical tape.  

There is a yellow wire that goes from the wiring harness on the left of the steering column, and in mine, it was cut and spliced to the yellow and striped wires that came from the six pin connector.

I removed the spliced-in wires and had the original yellow wire parts from the jeep exposed.

Those two pieces must be reconnected to be able to start the car.  You can test it by clamping the ends together.  At this point the car was disconnected from the alarm, and the car was able to start when I connected the wires together.



Now, a variation.

In order to clear out the alarm box, the box was now hanging on the floor with its two wires.  The grey wire is the antenna to the alarm.  The yellow wire runs under the dash to behind the glove box.  That yellow wire had a switch on it and I wanted to use that switch as a kill switch.  Flip it one way and the car can be started, the other way and it's never going to start.

Good idea huh?

Since the yellow wire on the steering column was too short for me to comfortably connect using butt connectors on that 88 degree (31 c) morning, I got frustrated and this idea.

I connected one end of the switch to one end of the yellow steering column wire that came from the ignition key switch.  The second end of the kill switch went to the other end of the yellow steering wire.  That second end of the wire disappeared in the wiring harness of the car.  Both ends were tidied up with crimp connectors, then taped over with electrical tape.

The kill switch was tested and then left in the car on the on position.

I got out of the car after putting all panels back in place and taping any dangling wires down.


End note:  I was at the point where the car would not start on the third day after driving it enough to charge the battery.  I just got back this Wednesday morning.  This was done and mostly written on Saturday after working on the car as I did it.  As I tested the connections, I'd turn the ignition enough to see if the starter motor would start.  Made sure to test it each intervening day but never drove it - so the battery was not really topped off.   This morning the car started like a champ and said that it's ready for duty.  (He's a Jeep after all) 

So we're golden and I found the problem!


Some History about Code Alarm and what happened with them after I got my Jeep.

Code-Alarm was a company that contracted with Chrysler for their installed car alarms.  The Jeep TJs were not coming from the factory with an alarm.  The alarm was installed at the dealer.  My dealer in Norristown, PA did a fine job of putting everything in place and it worked well for 15 years.

In the intervening years, the niche manufacturer Code-Alarm got bought out by Audiovox.  Audiovox later renamed itself as Voxx and that is where it is today.

So the Alarm in my Jeep is an orphan product.  If you have one in your car, it may be a good idea to look into removing it or replacing it.  In my case a wee little switch is enough.

Maybe Voxx International can help.  Or perhaps Chrysler/Jeep or whoever is owning them these days.  Or maybe they could just bring back the Jeepster...

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