Parking Brake alarm keeps poping up

[matthieuallie]

I think the parking brake wire has been grounded (have to check with the install guy) and I get the Warning every so often: i did a reset of the unit and that seemed to clear the alarm but after some time it came back.
Any idea?

[ducatiboy]

Yep, it's grounded. You don't want that (at least not only that). If your unit was made in July 06 or newer, then ground that and the the connector 2 wire grounded.

[url=http://www.sminntech.com/z1flash.html]http://www.sminntech.com/z1flash.html[/url] (check the 07/06 bypass)

If your unit was made in June or before then you absolutely want that parking brake wire NOT grounded. It won't work.

[matthieuallie]

Thanks for the quick reply.
I had read read your bypass document and most of your posts too but was a little confused too.

I thought that the reset would clear the alarm for good...
So the manual light flash wont work right?
Parking wire has to be left unconnected of connected to the parking brake wire (and the parking break not set of course) for the bypass to work, correct?
My install guy told me about the manual flash bypass (he did not want to install the TR7) but I guess he did not know that the brake wire was to be left no connected: he should have spent more time on avic411.com! ;-)

Thanks again Ducatiboy!

-Matt

[ducatiboy]

Yah, if the parking brake is grounded it can (and usually does) interfere with my circuit or manually flashing of the lights.

So disconnect that parking brake wire. Then reset the unit. Then and only then will the message not come back. If the parking brake wire is still grounded the reset only gets rid of it for a while till it figures out that it's still grounded.

But the only way you will be able to get to all the features is to make sure you flash your headlights when you start the car. If he doesn't like the TR7's any chance he would install one of my circuits?

[thrang]

[quote name="ducatiboy"]Yep, it's grounded. You don't want that (at least not only that). If your unit was made in July 06 or newer, then ground that and the the connector 2 wire grounded.

[url=http://www.sminntech.com/z1flash.html]http://www.sminntech.com/z1flash.html[/url] (check the 07/06 bypass)

If your unit was made in June or before then you absolutely want that parking brake wire NOT grounded. It won't work.[/quote]


I'm a bit confused - when I had the unit installed, I instructed the installer not to attach the parking brake, and not to ground it - just tape the end up and leave it free.

While I have your flasher, I haven't installed it yet, so I've still been manually flashing the lights. When I start the car, I ALWAYS get the parking brake warning, but the flashing bypass ALWAYS works.

Is it likely that it was never "reset," so perhaps the installer left the wire as instructed, but I'm getting the message anyway? Yet the bypass functionality is there - I've driven upwards of an hour, and I've never lost the functionality.

BTW, there are multiple "resets" for the Z1 - which one do I perform to clear the message? And what else does this reset clear/wipe out?

Thanks

[matthieuallie]

The different reset levels are explained in the manual (at the end).
it also explains what is/is not whiped out after the reset.

Even though I get the parking brake alarm (and I think my brake wire is grounded), the maunal flashing does seem to work sometimes...
But as per Ducatiboy, i will have the brake wire disconnected and will probably get one of his circuit too.

[thrang]

[quote name="matthieuallie"]The different reset levels are explained in the manual (at the end).
it also explains what is/is not whiped out after the reset.

Even though I get the parking brake alarm (and I think my brake wire is grounded), the maunal flashing does seem to work sometimes...
But as per Ducatiboy, i will have the brake wire disconnected and will probably get one of his circuit too.[/quote]

I'm not sure the manual will explain which reset to perform to illegally clear the parking brake warning message....so can anyone let me know?

[ducatiboy]

If the parking brake wire was ever grounded and you drove around with it like that, a parking brake warning message will pop up (while driving) and from then on it will keep showing up every time you start the car, but not while you are driving, just when you turn on the car.

To get rid of this:

Step 1, unground the parking brake. This will allow the flashing to bypass the unit, but it will still bring up the warning message.

Step 2, reset the unit by pressing the little recessed button to the right of the eject button.

If you do step 2 without doing step 1, you can drive around a little while and then it will figure out what you are doing and pop that message back up.

[ducatiboy]

[quote name="thrang"]
I'm a bit confused - when I had the unit installed, I instructed the installer not to attach the parking brake, and not to ground it - just tape the end up and leave it free.

While I have your flasher, I haven't installed it yet, so I've still been manually flashing the lights. When I start the car, I ALWAYS get the parking brake warning, but the flashing bypass ALWAYS works.[/quote]

Well for this to happen, someone grounded the parking brake and drove around with it grounded. I don't know if you did that first or your installer did that, but someone did and didn't reset it after pulling the ground.

[quote name="thrang"]Is it likely that it was never "reset," so perhaps the installer left the wire as instructed, but I'm getting the message anyway? Yet the bypass functionality is there - I've driven upwards of an hour, and I've never lost the functionality.[/quote]

If you have manually flashed the lights and it was bypassed and then didn't and realized it was not bypassed, then yes, he probably pulled the parking brake wire from ground and didn't reset the unit.

[quote name="thrang"]

BTW, there are multiple "resets" for the Z1 - which one do I perform to clear the message? And what else does this reset clear/wipe out?

Thanks[/quote]

reset the unit by pressing the little recessed button to the right of the eject button.

[thrang]

[quote name="ducatiboy"] [quote name="thrang"]
I'm a bit confused - when I had the unit installed, I instructed the installer not to attach the parking brake, and not to ground it - just tape the end up and leave it free.

While I have your flasher, I haven't installed it yet, so I've still been manually flashing the lights. When I start the car, I ALWAYS get the parking brake warning, but the flashing bypass ALWAYS works.[/quote]

Well for this to happen, someone grounded the parking brake and drove around with it grounded. I don't know if you did that first or your installer did that, but someone did and didn't reset it after pulling the ground.

[quote name="thrang"]Is it likely that it was never "reset," so perhaps the installer left the wire as instructed, but I'm getting the message anyway? Yet the bypass functionality is there - I've driven upwards of an hour, and I've never lost the functionality.[/quote]

If you have manually flashed the lights and it was bypassed and then didn't and realized it was not bypassed, then yes, he probably pulled the parking brake wire from ground and didn't reset the unit.

[quote name="thrang"]

BTW, there are multiple "resets" for the Z1 - which one do I perform to clear the message? And what else does this reset clear/wipe out?

Thanks[/quote]

reset the unit by pressing the little recessed button to the right of the eject button.[/quote]

Thanks - I'll give it a shot tonight...