- Dec 5, 2011
- 1,584
This weekend I installed a Bulldog remote start on my 2004 Trailblazer and I want to share how I did it. There are 3 reasons I chose the bulldog unit. It has the security bypass built in, Bulldog offers a lot of support and instruction on how to install for DIYers, and it was cheap.
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
Estimated time: 2 hours
Part number: Bulldog RS83B
Cost: $50 (Amazon)
Tools needed: standard hand tools, pen torch, solder, electrical tape, multimeter, utility knife, zip ties, and a wire stripper.
First, drop the lower dash covers.
Remove the metal steering column cover to reveal the wires that are going to be tapped into.
The way I tapped the wires was to strip back a 2 inch section of the car wires. Separate the strands into 2 sections. Insert the tap wire in between the 2 strands of wire, twist the wires together, solder, and wrap with electrical tape.
The first wires to attach are the larger wires coming from the ignition switch.
-Attach the 2 red constant power wires from to Bulldog to the the vehicle's red wire.
-Attach the white igntion wire from the Bulldog to the pink wire from the vehicle.
-Attach the other igntion wire (white with a red stripe) from the unit to the white wire on the vehicle.
-Attach the white with black stripe accessory wire from the Bulldog to the Orange and Brown wires from the vehicle.
-Attach the yellow with black stripe wire from the unit to the yellow wire from the vehicle.
The next wires are attached using crimp on wire taps that came with the Bulldog remote start.
-Attach the brown parking light wire from the 9 pin harness to the gray with black wire coming off of the headlight switch. My Trailblazer had 2 wires of the same color. I had to use the test light that came with the unit to figure out which one to use, the correct wire will show a negative when the parking lights turn on. You also need to make sure the switch on the back of the remote start unit is switched to the negative (-) position.
-Attach the blue with black stripe brake wire from the Bulldog to the either one of the white wires coming from the brake light switch above the brake pedal.
-Attach the black wire to a good ground, I used one of the bolts from the metal steering column cover.
-Run the yellow antenna as straight as possible anywhere you want and zip tie it in place.
-The rest of the wires I did not use. In the future I plan on hooking up the hood pin for safety, and the blue auxiliary wire so I can use my factory key fob for remote starting. It was 10 degrees below zero and i decided to save those wires for later.
Now attach the wires from the 4 pin Passlock harness.
-Attach to yellow wire from the Bulldog to the small gauge yellow from the ignition switch under the column. Mine had 2 yellow wires, I had to use a multimeter and find the wire that put out about 5 volts while the engine was running. If you look at the harness plug, it was the yellow wire that was farther to the left I believe.
-Attach the orange wire from the unit to the orange with black stripe wire from the ignition switch.
-The other 2 wires are not used.
Now plug everything into the Bulldog remote start unit. Test the unit and make sure everything works correctly. Take your time and run your wires in nice bundles and in a way that they wont be damaged. I used split wrap around my wires to make sure that no moving parts or sharp edges could damage my wires over time.
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
Estimated time: 2 hours
Part number: Bulldog RS83B
Cost: $50 (Amazon)
Tools needed: standard hand tools, pen torch, solder, electrical tape, multimeter, utility knife, zip ties, and a wire stripper.
First, drop the lower dash covers.
Remove the metal steering column cover to reveal the wires that are going to be tapped into.
The way I tapped the wires was to strip back a 2 inch section of the car wires. Separate the strands into 2 sections. Insert the tap wire in between the 2 strands of wire, twist the wires together, solder, and wrap with electrical tape.
The first wires to attach are the larger wires coming from the ignition switch.
-Attach the 2 red constant power wires from to Bulldog to the the vehicle's red wire.
-Attach the white igntion wire from the Bulldog to the pink wire from the vehicle.
-Attach the other igntion wire (white with a red stripe) from the unit to the white wire on the vehicle.
-Attach the white with black stripe accessory wire from the Bulldog to the Orange and Brown wires from the vehicle.
-Attach the yellow with black stripe wire from the unit to the yellow wire from the vehicle.
The next wires are attached using crimp on wire taps that came with the Bulldog remote start.
-Attach the brown parking light wire from the 9 pin harness to the gray with black wire coming off of the headlight switch. My Trailblazer had 2 wires of the same color. I had to use the test light that came with the unit to figure out which one to use, the correct wire will show a negative when the parking lights turn on. You also need to make sure the switch on the back of the remote start unit is switched to the negative (-) position.
-Attach the blue with black stripe brake wire from the Bulldog to the either one of the white wires coming from the brake light switch above the brake pedal.
-Attach the black wire to a good ground, I used one of the bolts from the metal steering column cover.
-Run the yellow antenna as straight as possible anywhere you want and zip tie it in place.
-The rest of the wires I did not use. In the future I plan on hooking up the hood pin for safety, and the blue auxiliary wire so I can use my factory key fob for remote starting. It was 10 degrees below zero and i decided to save those wires for later.
Now attach the wires from the 4 pin Passlock harness.
-Attach to yellow wire from the Bulldog to the small gauge yellow from the ignition switch under the column. Mine had 2 yellow wires, I had to use a multimeter and find the wire that put out about 5 volts while the engine was running. If you look at the harness plug, it was the yellow wire that was farther to the left I believe.
-Attach the orange wire from the unit to the orange with black stripe wire from the ignition switch.
-The other 2 wires are not used.
Now plug everything into the Bulldog remote start unit. Test the unit and make sure everything works correctly. Take your time and run your wires in nice bundles and in a way that they wont be damaged. I used split wrap around my wires to make sure that no moving parts or sharp edges could damage my wires over time.
