Miata Mailing List: June 1992, Message #27
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   From: (none)
Subject: Re: Alarms
   Date: (none)

In message <9206090144.AA03730@thedeck.Eng.Sun.COM> Mark Koch wrote:
>
> Does the Mazda alarm just plug right in somewhere?  Or do I have to hack
> the hell out of all my wiring like an aftermarket alarm?  

It doesn't just "plug right in", but it wasn't too hard.  You have to rip
up the rear carpet and run wires from the trunk to the dash; drill some holes
in the firewall to bold the siren on to; and then plug the alarm wires between
the ignition switch and the starter (up under the steering wheel).  They give
you the right plugs, so you don't have to actually splice wires.  Then you
have to drill another hole to install the Blinking Red Light, probably the
most important part of the whole system... I installed headrest speakers at
the same time I installed the alarm, and the whole process took me about four
hours, which isn't so bad for me.

The alarm seems fairly intelligent in its logic about what to do when various
things are opened when the alarm is in which state (it doesn't do anything
really dumb.)  If you open the trunk without a key (that is, without the lock
turning) it goes off immediately.  If you open it with the key, the trunk
opens without disarming the alarm (opening a door will start the countdown.)
But if you open the trunk, and hold the key "turned" for a few seconds, it
disables the alarm, which is handy.

If you buy the remote control, then when you arm the car with the remote,
opening a door sets off the alarm immediately.  If you don't arm the car with
the remote (as when you don't have one) then opening a door starts a 30 second
countdown after which you have to put the key into the ignition.  I might buy
the remote kit one of these days, but it looks like it might be kind of hard
to install now that the rest of the alarm is already in.

It also has a motion sensor with adjustable sensitivity, and two levels of
complaint, depending on how hard/frequently the car was bumped.

	-- Jamie