Starting and Security with ISIS...

We spend a lot of time learning from customers about what functions they want in their cars. Everyone wants an electrical system that is easy to install and works flawlessly. That is a given. There are some guys who want simple cars: they need to be able to start the engine, turn on headlights and turns signals. That's about it.

At the same time, we find that most of the guys that come to us want more. They want their project car to have the same performance, comfort and features as their daily driver. Face it, we all have become spoiled by what our cars do for us today.

One of the most common requests that have been getting lately is to integrate push-button starting in cars. You have a few options for how you can use this switch in your car when you wire it to ISIS. Both of these are built right into ISIS and require no configuration.

The simplest is to use one switch to turn on the ignition input and a second momentary switch for the starter input. This link takes you the application note on our website that shows how to wire this.

Another option is to use our One-Button start personality. This is standard on all of our basic configurations for the 2 and 3-Cell Kit. It replicates the one-button start functions that you find in many new cars. To make this work, you wire the a button to the ISIS One-Button start input wire. That's it, only one wire. The ignition output on the POWERCELL wires to the ignition system for the engine and the starter output connects to the starter solenoid.

If you press and release the button, the ignition output turns on. Pressing and releasing it again turns the ignition off. In you press and hold the button, the ignition turns on, there is a half-second pause for the fuel pump to prime then the starter solenoid engages to crank the motor. It will crank as long as the button is pressed. Once it turns over, you take your finger off of the button. The starter solenoid drops out but the ignition is still getting power from the POWERCELL. To shut down the engine, you press and release the button again. This shuts off the power to the ignition output.

The best part of this is that with ISIS you don't need to buy any external module to get the one-button start function. It is all integrated as part of the ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System.

Now, I know your next question. You now have a car with a cool red button that you can use to start it but you have no key. How do I keep someone from stealing my car? That's where the ISIS inLINK wireless system comes in. inLINK is a very simple upgrade to our basic 2 and 3-Cell kits. It gets you wireless control over the car for things like door poppers, trunk releases and lighting. Most importantly, it gets you a powerful security system for the car. When you lock the car from the inLINK key fob, the MASTERCELL disables the inputs for the ignition, fuel pump and starter solenoid. If you try to turn on any of these inputs, you get a message on the inSIGHT LCD module on the MASTERCELL that tells you that these functions are disabled. The car cannot be started until the system is unlocked by the key fob. This function becomes completely integrated into ISIS. There are no separate modules to splice into your electrical system.

A lot of our customers use our One-Button start with no keys at all. They lock the system from the inLINK key fob and walk away from the car.

You can get more information on the ISIS One-Button Start function and inLINK at our products page by clicking here.

Jay