DEI DBALL2 Remote Start Install using OEM fob - 2017 Tacoma Push to Start

Update 16 October 2017:

**** READ THIS ****

I can no longer recommend anyone purchase products from Directed. That includes any of their underlying brands; Viper, Autostart, Clifford, AstraStart, Automate, Python, Avital, or Install Essentials.

Directed is taking an anti-enthusiast stance and is terminating all user accounts that are not associated with a dealer of their products as of October 31, 2017. While that is certainly within their rights as a vendor, it is also within my/our rights to recommend against doing business with any company with that attitude.



*IF* you should decide to go with a DB2 or DB3 based remote-start system you will need to ensure you buy it pre-programmed from somewhere.

As an alternative, I suggest people look at the Fortin products. https://fortin.ca/en/vehicles/toyota/tacoma/2017-push-to-start/

I will continue to leave this post in place as the underlying information related to the truck will likely apply to other products such as the Fortin EVO-ALL or EVO-ONE.


Update 31 Dec: I've successfully installed the Directed DSM300 SmartStart module and it works nicely. I'll get the writeup posted as soon as I can. Writeup is here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-smartstart-installation-with-dball2-remote-start.467530/

Also, I added a gallery of the picklist options when flashing the DBALL2. It may be helpful for making your choices if you're having someone else do the flashing for you.

Background:
Let me begin with saying that I don’t intend to take away from the efforts by KB VooDoo and nickj718. They’re offering the TW community a valuable service as not everyone is confident/experienced with understanding wiring diagrams, figuring out not-so-clear manufacturer instructions, or able to self-support in the event of a problem. I do recommend their product if you just want one-and-done and have someone to help you out if you have a question.

I’m not that guy. I enjoy figuring out puzzles. I started wrenching and messing with automotive wiring more years ago than I wish to admit.

It’d have been less time and not much more money for me to just buy from Nick & KB VooDoo. On the other hand I’ve been immensely entertained figuring all this out, and I wish to share my learning with the TW community.

Let me clear up three things first:

• I’ve developed this info *without* access to any private instructions. While publicly posted info has been taken into consideration, I’ve used the DEI provided instructions and verified all pinouts against the FSM and other vendor remote start systems.
• No, I won’t flash a module for you; I have too many projects in the queue already and I don’t want to impinge upon the service already offered. All I am providing is information to the TW community for those who want/can use it.
• This is ONLY for push to start Tacos, 2016 and 2017.

The Gear:

The basic part involved is the DEI DBALL2, available from Amazon and other places. Just a raw DBALL2 won’t work; it must be flashed with the correct firmware and configuration for the truck. To do that you need an XKLoader2 module, also available from Amazon and other places. I paid about $38 for the DBALL2 and $30 for the XKLoader2. YMMV.

DBALL2:

$100 Directed Electronics XpressKit DBALL2 Databus All Combo Bypass Module

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H2PHSY2

XKLoader2:

$35 XpressKit XKLOADER2 2nd Gen Computer Programming tool

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001XTZBHO

You’ll of course need the usual stuff: light, electrical tape, solder, soldering iron, zip ties, cable sleeve if you want, x-acto or razor, screw driver, 10mm socket wrench, grounding terminal, sheet-metal screw (aka self-tapping screw), etc. I soldered all my connections. Takes a little more time but properly soldered taps do not fail. FYI, the wires are 20-24ga, so if you do choose to use T-taps be sure to get top quality and be sure to get the right size.


Flashing the DBALL2:

To begin with you’ll need a Windows computer with Internet Explorer. Just the way it is. I used an old laptop that’s running Windows 10 and it worked fine. Go to the website www.directechs.com and click on Register in the upper-right. You’ll need to have a registered account on the site before you can flash your module. Once registered, go back to the main page and install the XpressVIP 4.5 flashing software. I just kind of went with it and didn’t pay much attention to the written directions which seemed outdated. *shrug* It worked.

Plug the DBALL2 into the XKLoader2 using the 4-pin cable from the XKLoader2’s packaging. Then plug the XKLoader2 into the computer’s USB port. Opening/refreshing the main page should now show the DBALL2 as connected and give you the option to Flash Module.

See this gallery for the screens as I flashed mine: http://imgur.com/a/fcHfn









I logged in (again) using the same account I’d registered. The options all seemed pretty self explanatory. RSR means Remote-Start-Ready which the 2016-17 Tacomas with Push-to-Start are. Note that DEI doesn’t list the 2017 Tacoma; I just used the 2016 and it worked fine on my 2017.

You can select the run-time - default is 15 minutes which I left as is. I’ll change it later with a reflash if I need to lengthen the time. I selected the SmartStart option as I intend to add one of those soon. It seems to work okay even if it isn’t connected.

Once everything is set, click on Flash and let ‘er rip. When complete I disconnected the USB from the computer, then the DBALL2 from the XKloader2.




Gallery of Picklist Options when Flashing:

http://imgur.com/a/gpeV9






Installation:

The official instructions from DEI are at this link presently: https://directechs.blob.core.windows.net/documents/dball2-tl8-rsr_en_ig_vm20160610.pdf

If they make a change it might move; to find it again go to www.directechs.com and plug in make/model/year then look for the DBALL2 model and click on the “RSR Install Guide” link. Double-check the application matrix in the document, but at this time you’re looking for the Installation Type 3.

Obviously, you’ll want to disconnect the negative battery terminal before you dive in. You’re dealing with +12V constant power and an ECU. Better safe than sorry. Also, don't reconnect the battery until everything's all wired up and all connectors are plugged in.



Beyond that the DEI instructions were pretty much straightforward. I won’t duplicate the info by creating step-by-step directions.

Some notes however:

First is at least on my truck I didn’t need to do anything for a hood pin; the truck already knows if the hood is shut. Open your hood and see if the dash display tells you it’s open. If so, you should be good.

Second, and most importantly, the Push-to-Start and Steering-Lock-Connector wires are available at the Smart Key ECU Assembly on connector C29 and you do not need to disassemble the steering wheel cover nor do you need to get behind the PTS button. See below section for Alternate SLC & PTS wiring.

Some of the connectors are shown in the DEI diagram from the front (PTS & OBD) and some from the back (ECU white connector). The wire colors did all match up, although their idea of Lt. Blue isn’t my idea. The pins are correct though I did need a magnifying glass to read the embossed numbers.

If you have Auto headlights in your truck, you’ll cut the white wire on pin eight from the white ECU connector and tie the part from the connector to the yellow DBALL2 wire and tie the wire harness part to the orange/yellow DBALL2 wire. Essentially the DBALL2 is inserting itself into the autolight circuit. Of course this also means if you remove the DBALL2 you'll need to jumper or reconnect the auto lights wires you cut. If you do not have auto headlights, just secure the two auto light wires from the DBALL2 and don’t do anything with the truck wire.

Once everything is all connected, reconnect the battery and follow the Module Programming procedure (diagram below). Personally I preferred to connect the harnesses to the DBALL2 before I reconnected the battery, but the procedure as written is: Connect the 12 pin and 14 pin harnesses to the DBALL2 and then connect the batter, wait for the LED to turn on solid red. Press the PTS button twice to turn on the ignition. The green LED should turn on for three seconds. Press the PTS button once more to turn the engine off.

Close things up and you’re done.

Merry Christmas,

GPB, A Helluva Engineer

PS: I've ordered the DSM300 SmartStart module and will detail its install when I get it.

SmartStart is installed:


Writeup here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-smartstart-installation-with-dball2-remote-start.467530/


DEI Installation Diagram:

(note - in the photos below the colors may be a bit off due to the warm color temperature of my trouble light)

Note the alternates for the SLC and PTS, saving you some digging around. The colors listed in the DEI wire reference chart appeared to be correct, albeit their idea of Tan (Beige) and Light Blue wasn’t exactly my idea of those colors. I recommend going by the pin locations more so than wire colors.




Smart Key ECU Assembly:

This part is to the right of the Main Body ECU and is vertical, the diagram shows it turned to the side with the top of the component on the right.






Connector C29:




OBD Connector:

As I was laying this out I used tape flags to mark all the wires before I began soldering connections. It helped avoid confusion in the middle of the process.




Main Body ECU Connector:







Module Programming:
I recommend connecting everything up before you reconnect the battery.

Door unlock works fine without anything special:

 

I had been working on this long drawn out idiots guide to this but @gpb covered most of it so I'll just provide a few more pictures and charts as you can never have too many of either. If I fat-fingered something, let me know.

For those doing their own kits, below is a diagram of the dball connectors showing which wires are used and those that can be removed if desired along with what the finished product looks like. The pins are easy to remove using a small precision flat head screwdriver or needle by applying downward and outward pressure towards where the wire enters the connector. The dball wire locations below are labelled based on the connector color and the pin number so B3 would be blue connector, pin 3 or the Tan/Black wire for HS CAN High.





Overview of the layout under the dash. Each point is labeled with a number which is used in combination with the pin # to give a location. (ex. 2-16 would be the PTS Output on the Smart Key ECU Assembly)




Wire pairs:



Schematic of how the PTS and SLP wires run to the Smart Key ECU allowing you to avoid removing the steering column cover and pts buttons.



Connection layout

The Ground and 12V connections should be fairly self explanatory so I'll skip those especially the ground since some may prefer different locations.

2. Smart Key ECU Assembly (Beige or tan, beige or tan, I don't know what the hell they are but they work.)



3. OBDII Connector (Directwire image was better than mine so I just re-labeled it. Once again, blue or light blue. Whatever, it works. Some have managed to get the cable holder that holds the obdii wires off the bolt holding it to give more slack to work with. Was tired and figured I'd probably just end up breaking it so I left it alone.)



4. Main Body ECU Connector

 

Awesome, great write up.

 

Way to go gpb

*Also, FYI most places will flash that device for free before they send it so you don't even need the xkloader.

 

Awesome, thanks!

 

Good job @gpb, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone figured this out and shared the wealth.

 

@nickj718 @KB Voodoo

 

Cool

 

Since you called me into this thread (which I was prepared to ignore).....

You don't seem to understand that TW supports its vendors, and the vendors support TW.

You can call us "greedy fucks" if you want, but all we've done is create a simple to install kit that eliminates all the programming, and we offer it at a great price.

By the way, here is the order link for our kit: http://www.kbvoodoo.com/shop/remote-start-kit-for-toyota-tacoma-2016-2017-preorder

 

This is *almost* the same argument as the pop-n-lock.

You could source the pop-n-lock actuator yourself for $10 and have to do the mounting and wires yourself vs paying $98 for the pre-package pop-n-lock. It's preference. What the OP did was give people choice.

 

We didn't do anything shady. You were acting like a jackass and the moderators cleaned up your garbage.

 

Had it not been for @nickj718 no one would even have this. Did anyone think of that? Also the directions posted here are the same as his video........

You guys also know KB Voodoo pays to be here right?

This is a board that people come to for suggestions, help and ideas. Stop polluting it with hostility its getting quite crazy. I'm almost positive canyon runner was the bullied unpopular kid in school and is a dick for that reason. Your comments provide no help so just shut up

 

^ Ban this guy already

 

Didn't you support the other thread enough already....

 

I have posted way more threads helping this community for free than you bud, of you're 40 post here, how many have been in that thread...

 

Doesn't matter your attitude sucks and calling people out is plain bullshit

 

Hopefully this doesn't turn into a shit show. This thread was the original intent of nick's thread. Remote start for $45 or less. Sounded great, right! I'll give it to nick for suggesting the idea but he certainly didn't develop it. It was just a matter of running across it and pretty sure I saw it mentioned elsewhere but it didn't seem to gain any traction. As for the directions being the same as the video, there's only so many ways you can take panels off and or connect wires. All of the wires are already there in the DEI diagram aside from the change to using the smart key ecu assembly which isn't too difficult to figure out after taking a gander at the factory service manual. There is a place for pre-made kits but people like alternatives. btw- my kit from nick is finally out for delivery today. That one will be up for sale on Monday as I made my own while waiting!

Walter Scott said it best "Oh, what a tangled web we weave. When first we practise to deceive!"

 

^ This. I went the DIY route with the pop-n-lock and I'll probably do the same with this kit too. Thanks @gpb for the write-up.

That said, for anyone that's not super technical or is inexperienced with electronics, the kit offered by KB Voodoo is the way to go.