EXTREMELY Frustrating! (door locks)

[lmpetersen]

I have a 2011 e350 SMB and the previous owner added a decent Alpine stereo system to it, double din head unit, speakers, backup camera, etc. He also added a Viper remote door lock unit. When I first got it, it worked fine, but now there are a few things that drive me crazy:

- The van doors lock when I use the key fob about half of the time, but sometimes if I hit the door lock button on the fob the lights flash as if it is locking but then the little blue light above the TCS starts flashing and the doors remain unlocked. It will blink continuously until I unlock the doors. I have not been able to determine any particular pattern of behavior that would cause this.

- The auto door lock feature will NOT shut off. I have children, so if I turn the vehicle on sometimes I like to be able to get out and continue loading, let it warm up, etc. I have gotten in the habit of unlocking the doors manually, and also carry the keys on a breakaway keychain so that I can always unlock it...but why wont it turn off when I program it do so?

- Lastly, the rear backup camera used to come on when I would put it in reverse along with the backup alarm. The alarm used to annoy me, but I can see some value to it. I am assuming that the camera was wired into the alarm, and then the alarm wired into the backup lights so I am going to keep digging into see if a wire rubbed and grounded or something but is there a fuse for that somewhere?

So...if anyone has experience with the Viper system, it would be appreciated. There is very little info online and I am not great at tracing electrical issues. Thank you, as always!

[doublevan2]

Hi "Impetersen" -- if you run across an owners manual for your Viper system - give me a PM - I'd love to have a print out of the manual and/or details of how the different key fob do what ?? My van is a 2002 SMB - V-10. Thanks --

[86Scotty]

If you don't have some quick luck here I would recommend finding a stereo shop that has been installing Viper alarms for awhile. Any of their techs that have been around awhile should know exactly what the behavior should be on a Ford van, which should be identical to the tons of Ford trucks they've likely seen. I can't help much except to say that I've never had good luck with aftermarket door lock units. Many of them I've never gotten to work properly, I've seen bad relays and horrible instructions and material quality.