Turbo timer + alarm

[ATSAaron]

I had a free afternoon today while my wife was out shopping with her parents. After I got bored watching TV I decided to install a turbo timer in her 99 Miata. The M2 Miatas use the same turbo timer harness as an FD Rx-7. What luck! I had one in stock. The harness makes the job almost fool proof. Just unplug the wires off the ignition switch and install the turbo timer harness then plug the stock harness back into the new turbo timer harness.

The only additional wires are a ground wire and an e-brake wire. Lots of metal under the dash meant it was easy to find a grounding spot. The center console came out with just 5 screws and I tapped into the e-brake wire.

Finding a place to mount it was a challenge. I ended up mounting it in the fuse box cover. Here's a quick pic I snapped in the dark:



Soldering irons are REALLY good at cutting that plastic.

After it was all done I found the only problem: The Alpine alarm would not arm until the turbo timer had finished counting down. Hmm, that kind of defeats the purpose of the turbo timer if you have to wait around to arm the alarm. I crawled back under the dash and started looking for a wire that told the alarm that the car was running. I got lucky and relocated the wire from one the turbo timer kept alive and moved it to a wire that the turbo timer didn't keep on. I guess its possible I could arm the alarm while driving down the road now, but I don't see that happening.

See ya,

Aaron

[Majik]

Thats good to know, I have a similar problem. I was trying to install an engine start button, but because of an ignition kill switch the PO installed it wouldnt work. I need to crawl up there. And some time in the future, the info about the FD harness will come in handy.