i have a polar car starter in my 2003 dodge durango. it worked before, probably over a year now since i've last seen it work. the light on the remote works when i push any button and the light in the vehicle flashes quickly when i push any button on the remote but there is no response whatsoever. Any ideas?

 

Sounds like its in "valet" mode.

 

^^^^

x2

 

how do i get out of valet mode?

 

Every remote starter brand/model has it's own way. What model do you have? You may have to crawl under the dash and look at the "brain" to find out

 

It's a Polar Start PS-2905.

Spoke with tech support at the manufacturer and he sent me an installation guide. I can get in and out of valet mode only by using the ignition method. Turn on and off 5 times.

So we figured the remote had to be reprogrammed. Basically push hood switch for 4 seconds and release, parking light will come on, then push the switch again quickly, parking lights stay on for 20 seconds, turn ignition on until lights go off, then turn ignition off,on,off quickly, push lock button twice on the remote and the parking lights will flash 5 times. All of this happened and everything responded as it should have. The remote must work as the lights only flash if the lock button is pushed twice. The antenna must work as it picks up the remote and must send the signal to the module as the parking lights flashed at the end of the programming however the car will not start nor will the doors lock/unlock.

Back to the drawing board.....

 

one other thing i found interesing. The unit should have a valet button, I couldn't locate it anywhere. So I checked the diagram on the install guide to see where it should be plugged in on the unit and sure enough the valet button is not plugged in where it should be.

 

That's kind of odd..... I haven't seen any units so far that need the vehicle to be started for anything more than programming the tach.... Most Dodge vehicles need relays and sometimes resistor arrays to make the door locks work (Why I hate Caravans...) so there could be a toast resistor or relay breaking that circuit But that's seperate from the non-starting issue. If the tach isn't programming, then the remote will send the signal, the brain will recieve it, but the vehicle won't actually start. On top of all of this, the Durango needs a bypass, so it could even be the bypass that has decided to choke out on you The last thing I can think of is that the brain is just plain toast, but I hate to jump to the "you need to buy a new one" level. Start with one thing at a time. I'd start with the starting issue. Check all wiring and isolate wether it's the brain causing the no start or the bypass.