I wrote this write-up around a year ago and thought I would share it with RCC.
I recently installed the Python 1401 unit on my 87 GXL, and even though I had a decent amount of wiring experience before, this was a challenge. It might have been a little easier of better instructions were provided, but with the help of RX7 Club and
The12Volt.com, I finally got everything working the way it should. Maybe this write up will save people who plan on installing this sometime…
PARTS NEEDED
- Python 1401/ Viper 5101 Keyless Entry & Remote Start Unit ($90-$150 on
Amazon and eBay)
- 1 DEI 451M Relay ($10 eBay)
- 1 momentary push button switch (optional for Turbo-timer/ Cool Down mode) ($5 Radio Shack)
- 4 12/10 gauge T-Taps ($5 Radio Shack)
- 12+ 16/14 Gauge T-Taps ($5 Wal-Mart)
- 12+ 16/14 Gauge Butt-connectors ($5 Wal-Mart)
- 1 pack assorted connectors (Ring Terminals, Spade Terminals, etc) ($5 Wal-Mart)
- 1 4-pin relay (If you install hatch actutors) ($8, eBay)
- 2 or 4 door lock/ unlock actuators (2 for just the doors, 4 for the doors and the hatch) ($10/ pair, eBay)
- Assorted zip-ties, black preferably ($5 Wal-Mart)
- Electrical tape ($2 Wal-Mart)
Total Cost Estimate: $137-$220
TOOLS NEEDED
- 10 MM socket
- Drill
- ~3/8 inch drill bit
- Phillips head drill bit
- Wire stripper tool
- Wire crimp tool
- Pliers
WIRING INSTRUCTIONS
Note: This exact wiring is for the Python 1401. Some of the Viper 5101 wiring is arranged differently in the plugs but the wiring colors are the same.
Note: Wires that will need to go through the firewall (I put them through the speedometer cable hole):
1- Main Harness (12 pin)- Wire #2, red- (+) for Python unit
2- DEI 451M Relay- Purple wire- (+) for DEI unit
3- H2 Harness (18 pin)- Wire #9, violet/white- to trailing coil
4- H2 Harness (18 pin)- Wire #15, grey- to hood open/close sensor
Main Harness (12 pin):
1- Trunk release output (red/white)- connected to 4-pin relay wired to hatch actuators (if you choose to install hatch actuators, I ended up not doing this)
2- Constant 12v input (red)- connected to (+) terminal of battery
3- Horn honk output (brown)- connected green/ orange stripe horn wire on column
4- Light flash insolation (white/brown)- DISCONNECTED
5- Ground (black)- grounded to chassis
6- (+) door trigger input (violet)- DISCONNECTED
7- Factory horn input (blue)- DISCONNECTED
8- (-) door trigger input (green)- connect to drivers side door ajar sensor (rear bottom of door jamb, only necessary if you are using the turbo timer button option)
9- Dome light input (black/light)- DISCONNECTED
10- Turbo timer input (white/blue)- connected to momentary push button, with other side of switch grounded
11- Parking light output (white)- tapped into the red/black wire on the headlight switch plug (There are two of these on the plug, so test which one it's supposed to be on. I believe it's the 2nd or 3rd one from the bottom on the plug and on the side opposite from the push-clip thing that holds the plug into the switch.)
12- Ground when armed output (orange)- DISCONNECTED
Door Lock (3 pin):
Use DEI 451M Relay and plug into here.
DEI 451M Relay:
Purple- connected to (+) battery wire
Thick Blue- wired to blue wire on door actuators
Thick Green- wired to green wire on door actuators
Brown- grounded to 10MM bolt on the driver side of the transmission tunnel behind the plastic cover on the lower dash
White/ black stripe- grounded to 10MM bolt on the driver side of the transmission tunnel behind the plastic cover on the lower dash
Blue/ Green/ Red wires on plug- plugged into Python 3-pin connector
H2 Harness (18 pin):
1- Factory alarm disarm (light green/black)- DISCONNECTED
2- Aux 4 (orange/black)- DISCONNECTED
3- Factory alarm arm (green/white)- DISCONNECTED
4- Aux 2 (violet/black)- DISCONNECTED
5- Aux 3 (white/black)- DISCONNECTED
6- Aux 1 (white/violet)- DISCONNECTED
7- Diesel wait to start (grey/black)- DISCONNECTED
8- empty
9- Tachometer input (violet/white)- tapped into (-) black wire on Trailing on coil
10- Status output (dark blue)- DISCONNECTED
11- Flex relay (pink/white)- DISCONNECTED
12- Accessory output (orange)- DISCONNECTED
13- Starter output (purple)- DISCONNECTED
14- Ignition 1 output (pink)- DISCONNECTED
15- Hood pin input (grey)- connected with provided sensor (I mounted this just above the drivers side headlight. A ~3/8 hole must be drilled)
16- 2nd status/ rear defog (blue/white)- DISCONNECTED
17- (+) brake shutdown input (brown)- tapped into white/ green stripe on brake switch and gets (+) when brake is pressed
18- Neutral safety input (black/white)- ground to green/black wire off of tranny (pin G on the ECU) (
Thanks Icemark) (This makes it so that the remote start will not work unless the transmission is in Neutral, saving your car from hopping around your driveway/ parking lots into god knows what...)
Remote Start (8 pin):
1- Ignition input (pink)- on black/ yellow stripe wire that sends (+) to ECU/ etc from ignition
2- Fused ignition 2 (red/white)- on solid black wire on ignition that receives constant 12v
3- Accessory Output (orange)- connected to solid blue wire on column that powers radio/ wipers/ etc.
4- Starter Output (violet)- on black/ red stripe wire that sends (+) to starter from ignition
5- Fused ignition 1 (red)- on solid black wire on ignition that receives constant 12v
6- Ignition 2/ flex relay (pink/white)- DISCONNECTED
7- Flex relay input (pink/black)- DISCONNECTED
8- Fused accessory/ starter input (red/black)- on solid black wire on ignition that receives constant 12v
PROGRAMMING
- Change the unit to Automatic mode (Menu 3, Item 1, Option 2)
- Turbo mode must be enabled if you use the switch (Menu 3, Item 6, Option 2, 3, or 5 depending on length)
- Other things I changed that aren't necessary: notification honk if a door isn't closed and doors lock when ignition turned on.
MOUNTING/ WIRING
I ended up putting the unit behind the radio surround- there was just enough room for it to fit under my single-DIN stereo (I do not have a pocket under the radio). I taped all of the loose wiring under the dash together and zip tied it up under the dash. Before, I had everything zip-tied up under the dash and it had started to sag down. It did not get in the way of your feet/ the pedals but you could see a few wires poking out from beneath the dash, very tacky and sloppy IMO.
For the extra wires on the 18-pin connector, I rolled them up and put a piece of tape around them to hold them together. They're so small that they don't really use much space, plus I may end up using some of them in the future.
On the 8 pin connector with the thick wires for the ignition and what not, I de-pinned the wires that I did not use. To do this, I used a small flat-head screw driver and slid it above the spade terminal into the plastic connector and pulled on wire. It popped out with a little bit of force and saved a little bit of space.
For the push button and toggle switch, I mounted these on a plastic trim piece that snaps into the mounting kit for my radio. I've seen them mounted on the steering column cover as well as the center piece of the center arm-rest where the mirror controls are.
END RESULT
Remote start works perfectly. When the car is locked, the parking lights flash once (corner lights/ dim brake lights/ gauges/ stereo/ logicon all light up) and the horn honks once. If a door is ajar when the car is locked, the horn honks a second after the first honk to notify you. When the car is unlocked, the parking lights flash twice and the horn honks twice. When the car is remotely started, the parking lights are lit up until the key is put in and turned on, and the brake pedal is tapped. The doors also lock themselves once you tap the brake pedal. When the car is on and you press the turbo timer/ cool down button, the parking lights come on and the doors unlock. You can remove the key and the car will turn itself off (after 1 minute for me). I also use the turbo timer as a door unlock button when the car is running. When you get in the car and start it as normal, the doors lock after 3 seconds. When you turn the ignition off, the doors immediately unlock. And if at any time you want to turn off the car if it is remotely started or kept running with the turbo timer/ cool down button, just press the brake pedal (this is essentially the kill switch for the Python unit).
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
FC RX7 Remote Start and Keyless Entry Write-Up (Viper 5101/ Python 1401)
Linear Mode
