Remote Engine Starter in Civic Hybrid

Those guys aren't too smart.

Just send your kid out in the morning to start your car.

Actually, there are companies that do install those things for you. Ask them. Look up auto alarm or stereo installers in your area and ask them who does it and then ask that guy for references.

I don't think you can install one on a manual transmission car.

For most of the Remote Starters out there this is true. There are a few which can do it but they require some sort of verification that the car is in neutral for obvious reasons. One I looked at used a sort of "reservation" policy where you had a little procedure when you shut off the car to "show" the starter it was in neutral. If you forgot to do it then you couldn't remote start it.

Shawn

Yes you can! It's dumb to leave it in gear. Parking brakes were invented for a reason.

Cheers,

Stu

Is it an automatic or not as you really need a neutral/park safety switch contact to be fully safe and most manual gearboxes do not have one....

If it has an automatic gearbox, you can buy one and get it installed by a competent mechanic in the USA.

I have never seen them anywhere else as in most civilized countries it is highly illegal to leave a car with a running motor, even if all doors are locked. Its called "Unnecessary pollution".....and is downright dangerous to my mind!!!

Alaskans do it in winter I believe....you would think that with the price of petrol today, more people would not want to do it anyway.....

I was stationed at Coleman Barracks, Mannheim-Sandhofen for several years in the mid '80s. We were all told that local laws allowed only 30 seconds of idle time on any vehicle. This included Military vehicles on and off post. Fines when caught were rather stiff, if I recall correctly.

You are still perfectly correct Sir!

Was it not Mark Twain who said that....

It's a Hybrid, Why on earth would a person buy a car that is built for fuel economy then make it less efficient but using a remote starter to warm it up for 15-20 mins.

Reality check please.

Extremely well put!!!

What Germans do to warm up a car and to get rid of snow & ice, is either to have built in a special tiny water heater that burns something like 1/4 liter per hour of diesel or petrol and it heats up the water for 1/2 an hour.....or they place an electric fan assisted heater in the car and first make sure that it is firmly fixed and not pointing at anything it shouldn't and then use a time switch to turn it on and off at the right times.....

Both work well as long as you make a point of running the mains cable say through the steering wheel, so as not to forget it before driving away......!

No one ever said I was going to warm up my car for 15-20 minutes. I consider myself a very environmentally conscious person, however, I also like to take care of my investments. I'm only 24 and I hope to have this car for another 10 years. I like to let my car "warm up" for 1 minute no matter what the weather in order to allow the oil (or in my case the synthetic lubricant) to work its way around. I think a remote starter would ultimately promote this longevity.

You want to talk about wasted fuel/unecessary pollution/idleing time, take a look at the construction industry. Heavy machinery including cranes and earthmoving equipment stay on for a full 8 hours a day (assuming no overtime). They dont get turned off for lunch or downtime, even if it is not being used.

If you are using the correct oil, correct maintenance, you don`t rev hard on a cold engine, you are doing nothing with this time that is worth having......

An engine warms up quickest (most damage to an engine is done while warming up, do not forget that small but important point!) by being driven, not sitting at idle for any length of time. This has been known for many years.....

So if long life is the aim, start as few times as possible, drive away immediately, do not stress the engine till it reaches a proper temperature.

And it sounds as if the building industry needs a severe spanking!!!

By the way.

I dontknow how you guys started to assume that I have a Manual transmission but thats not correct...never said that. In fact, Civic Hybrids dont even have regular Automatic transmissions, they have a whats known as a "Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)". From what I know about it there are no gears, just belts.

Maybe this is the source of the problem with installing a remote starter?

We were just being careful, we do not assume anything. You still need access to the park/neutral switch, if this car even has one.....and you can find it.....

All the advice given was meant well, even if slightly inaccurate with regards to your model.....

Personally, I cannot see anything positive with your ideas, just a waste of fuel and increased engine wear.....as I mentioned before.

Thanks Germany, I appreciate the advice.

More than anything I was just curious if there was somthing special with Hybrids that didnt allow for such devices like remote starters or security systems. I wasn't satisfied with the answers from the people at Honda, and I guess I'm alright with the ones I've received here. I assure you this though, I'm not buying one.

Goto aftermarket alarm and remote start installer.

Like other had pointed out, idling the engine to warm it it up is just wrong.

There is another reason not to do it. Not only engine oil need to get warm, tranny fluid need to get warm also. Tranny fluid won't get warm by idling. You need to drive the car to get it warm. So by idling the engine to warm engine oil, you kept tranny oil stone cold. You then drive away thinking you can drive normally with engine warm but killing the tranny instead.

One more reason. Cold engine oil doesn't work well at low rev. Oil is too thick to support the shaft to prevent it from touching the bearing.

Don't idle the engine to warm it up. Drive away without hard acceleration or high rev.
I kept mine below 4000.

It seems to me that a hybrid doesn't start in the traditional way. Don't you just insert the little fob into the dash and press the "On" button? Then the cars' computer doesn't figure out what to do next till you start driving it off. I would not say it is impossible, but it may take a serious firmware hack to allow it.

(Off Topic) I have an after market remote starter on my wife's Honda Minivan that we didn't know about when we bought the car. We accidentally found out we had that feature when the toddler was playing with mommies keys and started up the car in a closed garage by pressing the buttons for the power locks. I thought someone was trying to steal the car or there was a serious electrical problem. I ran out to the garage, but could not shut it off because the doors were locked, I ran back in the house frantically looked for the keys, which I finally found in my little girl's hands. I put it in the ignition and turned it to the running position and then back off and it was still going. I could not shut the car off until I pressed the brake. I was not very happy. I found the remote starter on the firewall and I spent the next hour downloading the manual off the internet so I could figure out the right keypress combination to make it work.

For your knowledge, any car can be modified to use a push button start. That's just what you do by turning the key: close the contact of the starter.

But with a hybrid, that is QUITE a different kettle of fish!!! The button tells a Hybrid that you want to move, it decides which motor to use and how much!!

Years ago ALL cars had such buttons by the way.....at least in the UK!!!

Hello Hazirjain,

So let me understand this, you want to remotely start an on demand engine that may not run when you first start moving?

It is an Electric/ICE hybrid correct?

The engine is made to start and stop on it's own, as needed.

If you wish it to reduce wear then mount an oil accumulator on the high pressure side of the lubrication system that when the car gives the engine the signal to start their is a small delay while the oil system is pressurised and then it starts. Done right you shouldn't even notice the delay.

The only reason to put a remote starter on a hybrid is to check for bombs attached to your ignition system.

Brad