Powerlock Security System

[JimAndAnnie]

FYI Powerlock security systems have not been available from Truckaddons for many months this year. (It is a hard to defeat starter motor disable system.) As a result of Yella Fella being stolen, we just had Powerlock installed by Jesse Ortega at Dubarr Automotive in Huntington Beach (714-375-0991) It seems to work fine so far and we were very happy with the service we got from Jesse...The installation took about 3 hours and cost ~ $450.

[scatter]

I've mentioned my Powerlock system ups and downs elsewhere on the Forum. I love the system, but had LOTS of problems with it on my SMB. What year rig and what engine do you have? To sum it up, worked fine on my '07 w/6.0 for a few months. Then occasionally kept the engine from starting. I've been working with Jessie, of PowerLock, about it and have been waiting for over a year for their next upgrade to come out.
Please keep us posted here as I really want to get a PowerLock back on my rig - when the problem gets fixed. The old wired system never gave me a problem on other rigs, but the newer wireless setup gave me fits.

[JimAndAnnie]

Hi Scatter,

We have a 2010, E350, V10, Quigley 4x4. We had a Powerlock system installed and about a week later it failed. We called the Powerlock 24 hour hotline and they called back about 30 minutes later and told us to disconnect the battery to reset the powerlock system. Over the following couple of weeks the Powerlock failed about 20 times. We returned to Jesse at Dubarr Automotive and he managed to reproduce the failure but there were no error code and he didn't know what caused the problem. He replaced the starter motor solenoid and the van has started fine since then...

We miss the peace of mind of having the system but disconnecting the battery to start the van was getting old. Our latest plan is to ensure that the LED flashes...any suggestions on what we should install? Wish we'd read your posts earlier...

[scatter]

I don't think I can help you much here JimAndAnnie. My rig is an '07 with the diesel. My only way to get the rig going was to remove the starter and then chip off the epoxy and remove their module that's on the starter.
I was assuming that my problems were due to the diesel engine and it's electronics. Seeing as how you have the gasser, I don't know what's wrong. I've had their system on several other rigs with no problems. My hassles also started with their new wireless system. The old one had a wire running from the the dash unit to the starter. It was a bit of a pain to run the wire, but really only took about 15 minutes. The new wireless setup is a snap to install, but if it doesn't work, it's worthless. I am assuming that their units work for most non SMB rigs?? Can't imagine that they could stay in business otherwise.
I've been talking with Jesse (PowerLock's main troubleshooter 800-966-9578) and he is at a loss as to what's wrong.
So, as I said, I don't know what to say. I still think it's the best system on the market as far as theft proof, but if we can't start our own rigs.... I've had to pull the starter in three different countries, mountains, deserts, parking lots, middle of nowhere and once at 10 degrees lying in snow. I gave up on it.
I still call Jesse, and if they come up with a cause and it's cure, I'll install another on.
So, good luck.

[IheartDieselVans]

I'm wondering if anyone's heard any updates to this situation, or had a Powerlock system installed successfuly on a 6.0. I'd love to install this on my 2008, but not if it won't let me start the vehicle!