Re: Remote Locks

["David Teitelbaum <jtrealty@xxxx>" <jtrealty@xxxx>]

You make very good points for doing things yourself while 
acknowledging the benefits of the Zilla products. Adding my 2 cents 
worth, when I see a car with wiring that the owner has modified I have 
to wonder what is going on (some owners are not good at it!). All to 
often there is NO documentation and if there is ANY it is incorrect, 
inaccurate, or out of date due to additional modifacations. I like to 
see "standard" updates and modifacations, it makes it easy to 
understand what is going on and troubleshoot. I won't for a minute 
tell you not to modify your car, it is just IMHO it could devalue your 
car if someday you want to sell it. At the very least try to keep good 
records as to what has been done for any future owners (or yourself if 
you ever have to work on it) like what was done, how it was done, what 
parts are added, where you got the parts, and when you did it. Like 
any science experiment notekeeping is as important as the experiment 
for repeatablity. Too many cars have had burglar alarms added with the 
wiring hacked up and no documentation, the only course of action is to 
try to dissect the alarm out and return the wiring to stock. This is 
one of the great benefits of "plug and play" it is easy to remove and 
replace if there is a problem! For any vender to offer upgrades the 
simpler it can be installed the less the chances of someone installing 
wrong and then blaming the vender for selling a defective device, it 
happens more often than you know. Plug and play is beyond some people, 
of course not any that are on THIS list. On the subject of plug and 
play not too long ago an owner had a problem with hard start. After 
all of the suggestions not helping he finally found the problem, 
someone had PLUGGED a fan fail relay into the hot start relay plug. So 
you can even screw up plug and play!
David Teitelbaum
vin 10757


--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "checksix3 <jetjock11@xxxx>" 
<jetjock11@xxxx> wrote:
> --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Watkins Family <watbmv@xxxx> wrote:
> > Lets also remember that there are alot of owners who don't have 
the 
> > technical skill to take an off the shelf remote kit and install 
> it.<<
> 
> You seem an example of that. (no slam intended) It takes very little 
> skill to interface a simple keyless entry unit to either the stock 
or 
> Zilla modules. A few simple wires and it's done. We agree on one 
> thing however: If you don't know what you're doing in more complex 
> issues you're at the mercy of those who do. Thats life and it's 
> exactly what motivates some of us to learn.
> 
> >>The stock DMC lock controller basically sucks. It burned out my 
> solenoids and cost me quite a bit to replace, this is why I first 
> bought the Lockzilla Controller.<<
> 
> You profess technical ignorance yet pass judgement on a technical 
> issue. My stock module has cycled 872 times (ask me how I know that) 
> since rework without a single failure and if it ever does fail it 
> can't possibly burn out my solenoids. It cost me all of $3 to rewind 
> a bad solenoid and $7 to make sure it never happens again. There was 
> very little skill involved in either of those operations.
> 
> >Bottom line folks, at this point in my over 10 years of DMC 
> ownership I would not trust my cars electronics to anyone other than 
> those that are making products for the DeLorean ONLY.<<
> 
> You make it sound as if only those who market things for the car are 
> rocket scientists. It's pretty simply stuff. Yes, the Zilla products 
> are well done and Bob makes a great contribution to the non 
technical 
> D community with his expertise. (His schematic was an admirable 
> endeavor for charity reasons, even if it's rife with errors that 
> should have been corrected.)
> 
> For those lacking technical skills his plug and play engineering is 
> the best way to go. But as Martin pointed out, those with technical 
> skills will naturaly cring at paying the price when they can do it 
> themselves. Do those of you who perform your own egine or mechanical 
> work feel any different about taking your car to a "professional"?
> Of course not, you do your own work because you know how and because 
> you obtain the satisfaction of knowing it's done right. I dare say 
> you might even feel it's done better than anyone else could do it... 
> understand now?
> 
> > While there are competing products out there made by different DMC 
> > Vendors, the Zilla line is my preference. I find them to be well 
> > built, 100% backed by Bob and I know that my supporting this 
> product will help develop other items. Why support PEP-BOYS? or 
> AUTOZONE?<
> 
> As you so aptly put it: Bottom line. I support myself, first and 
> foremost. I've no obligation to support any of the vendors or to 
> continue this car's exsistence is any way, it's just a car. You 
think 
> the vendors are in it *only* for love? I've far more expensive toys 

> that need my cash than the Devil Car and I didn't get them by giving 
> away my dollars when I could do the work myself. Again, do you take 
> your car to a mechanic when you could do it yourself?
> 
> I'd also point out many "wiring modifications" are simply done on 
the 
> Zilla side of the product rather than on the car. This is what 
allows 
> the plug and play feature in most cases. My opinion is that, the D's 
> wiring being one the most atrocious examples of automotive 
electrical 
> engineering I've ever seen, modifiying the car's wiring isn't such a 
> bad idea at times. I feel as long as it's well done and properly 
> documented it's not an issue to those who wish to do so. And as 
> Martin pointed out, "modifying" is a relative term. For example, my 
> all-in-one system's wiring is 95% done in the relay compartment and 

> changes the stock wiring very little.
> 
> I have complete confidence in the modifications I've done to the car 
> using the methods, materials, and engineering employed in my 
> profession and they're fully documented for any future owners.
> I see no reason to bash those of us that have the ability to do such 
> things. Likewise, Bob's products are an option for those who cannot 
> and he deserves equal credit for them. Some of us don't wish to be 
> constrained by one particular soultion and also don't wish to market 
> what we may see as a better way. (I appreciate the business hassles 
> that involves.) In addition, my stuff is long ago installed and 
> working, I've not had to wait for someone to bring a solution to 
> market nor will I be forced to piggyback something onto something 
> else made by a particular vendor. 
> 
> Then again, maybe I'm just too stubborn to know better. After 
> analyzing the failure mode of the stock Fan Fail Module and 
> modifiying it, I continue to use it with full confidence. Having 
said 
> that, I'll likely purchase a FanZilla for it's additinal benefits 
and 
> because it's value is worth the time it would take me to design and 
> fabricate a similar device. As I've said before, this car isn't 
> rocket science but there are times it's just easier to buy something 
> already elegantly designed than to screw around with doing it 
> yourself, even if one can. It's up to each of us to make that 
choice.