My Taco Possessed? Weird Electrical PROBLEM.

So the bad thing about remote start systems is that frequently, certain wires are cut and the device is installed in between the cut section, meaning you can’t just find the brain and unplug it. I do not know if the 07 Tacoma is one of those vehicles. Been a long time since I’ve worked on one and I don’t have access to guides and manuals anymore.

I would honestly take the truck to a reputable shop that does viper alarms (Directed is the parent company of Viper)

tell them your truck runs when it isn’t supposed to and you suspect it’s related to the remote start system.
If you want it removed, pay them to remove it. If you want it fixed, pay them to fix it

 

Delay. Antenna cable routed under windshield pillar fascia into dash. Will obviously be a major project to take all this apart to find whatever crap the previous owner installed. Hope to spend some time this weekend--glad this isn't my every day driver! Will update as I make progress.

Destin: I live in the mountains and nearest Viper shop is 1.5 hours away. Hope I can find something simple (good luck to me!). Thanks for your suggestion.

 

Update: The engine now starts and stops with the key as expected. I've done nothing except look at the visible wiring.

Just spoke with an auto remote start installer who will come to my house and he's going to remove the Viper system for me next week. In this case I'd rather pay somebody $50 to do the work than take the time myself and learn ultimately useless electro-mechanical lessons.

One thing the installer told me is that normally with remote start systems, once the chipped key is inserted, the remote system is disabled by stepping on the brake. He is sure that if my engine still refused to shut off via key that stepping on the brake would do the job. Didn't get to test it (yet?) since the system is currently running as expected.

 

I don't know the inner workings of a remote start system, but...for it to work doesn't it necessarily mean you can start the vehicle without a key nearby and that it bypasses the OEM immobilizer? Otherwise it wouldn't work. If all that is true, I'd think the problem lies in that remote start module.

 

Update. Without my doing anything except visually inspecting the remote starter antenna wiring, my Taco now starts and stops with the key as expected.

I contacted a guy who installs Viper and other remote starting systems who will come to my house to take mine out. For $50 it makes a lot more sense to pay an expert than waste a ton of my time and learn some useless crap I'll never use again.

Useful info: the installer told me most remote starting systems will disengage once the key is inserted and the brake depressed. This is a design attribute to pass control from the remote system to the normal key system. I didn't get a chance to test this because everything worked as expected when I checked it this morning.

 

Final: The remote starter installer came to my house and removed the rat's nest (spaghetti plate if you prefer) of wires related to the remote starting system. Took him 20 minutes and he charged me $60. Money well spent.

Sure glad I didn't attempt this myself; I'm not afraid of working on our vehicles (cut my teeth on my 1969 Jaguar E-Type roadster back in the mid-70s, and you may know what a nightmare those Smith Electrics were!), but this had so many connections (none soldered, which actually made removal easier) it would have taken me forever to trace the proper wires and avoid breaking anything.

Everything works as expected and no further problems.

Oh: Except my TPI warning light came on just before the installer came. He told me it was probably the spare, and it was. I would NEVER have thought of checking the spare for a TPI sensor, so this also saved me a ton of time and aggravation.

 

Thanks for the update