Replacing proximity sensor with dual zone one

Soldato
Joined
31 Oct 2002
Posts
13,892
Location
Newcastle upon Tyne
Hello all car alarm experts!

The Elise comes with a Cobra 8186 cat 1 alarm as standard. This has the standard microwave sensor which goes off if somebody enters the car.

I was wondering how I'd go about changing the sensor for a dual zone one that warns people away when they get too close (like the Cliffords do)

Would something like this do the job and how would I go about wiring it in?
 
Not sure myself but if you dont get the answer you need give the guys at www.motorguarduk.co.uk a call, and they will be more than happy to help, these guys dont even care if you are or will be a customer, there just a top bunch of lads.


edit:

Sorry it seems that the proximity sensor on mine is a dual as standard.
 
Last edited:
At a guess you run it along with the internal sensor, looking at this quick wiring guide (Proxy 4).

"Red is 12v positive, Black is gnd, Green is armed signal-, orange is inner zone output- and Blue is outer zone output-,"

Your current alarm must have a Outer zone input and the inner zone output is looped onto the current inner proxy sensor loop?
 
brown wire......switched earth
grey wire........external trigger
red ....live

you can pick these wires up at the main unit behind the panel next to the radio, or at the existing sensor wiring.
if you leave the original sensor plugged in connect the trigger wire to the blue/pink at the unit or door pin switch.

if you connect to the grey wire you can cancel the sensor with the small button on the handset.

up to you what you tell the insurance as you are tampering with a cat one, (to late at night to preach , and from what ive seen of your posts ,you are one of the more sensible ones,.), if you need a diagram email in trust. ;)
 
gc123 said:
brown wire......switched earth
grey wire........external trigger
red ....live

you can pick these wires up at the main unit behind the panel next to the radio, or at the existing sensor wiring.
if you leave the original sensor plugged in connect the trigger wire to the blue/pink at the unit or door pin switch.

if you connect to the grey wire you can cancel the sensor with the small button on the handset.
Sorry, I'm not following you here.
I took a pic of my sensor yesterday and it appears to have 3 wires, black, blue and purple. (it's difficult to tell as it was dark when I took the pic so I've had to increase the contrast to be able to make them out)

I assume that these 3 wires are the switched earth, external trigger and live. I understand that the dual zone sensor has 4 wires, do I just need to unplug the original sensor, put the new one in its place, connecting the relevant wires and the extra one is the output for the warn away siren

8186.jpg
 
Dude, why are you even bothering? You just like messing with stuff yeah? :D

Car is garaged at night surely? And it's not the sort of thing you'd take into town on a Sat night....

I'd strip my alarm out if it wasn't for the insurance wanting a Cat 1. Friggin thing drives me mad locking my bloody doors after xx seconds & draining my (tiny) battery. :mad:
 
I've been thinking of doing this to my elise as I just got the std cobra one as well.
Personally I would go with the clifford one as at least you know it would be good quality, reliable and the zone wouldn't drift like some cheap ones do. With this one you would have to source you own warning buzzer ( should be fairly easy to set up, cliffords have a -ve trigger, I not sure what the switching capability of the dual prox is so I would use a relay inbetween. ie dual prox > relay > buzzer )
 
merlin said:
Dude, why are you even bothering? You just like messing with stuff yeah? :D

Car is garaged at night surely? And it's not the sort of thing you'd take into town on a Sat night....

Yeah, it's garaged and rarely leaves my sight but yesterday a bloke at work caught 2 kids paying a bit too much interest to my car. When I checked the CCTV they were the same 2 kids that had nicked a motorbike from next door literally an hour beforehand (they nearly knocked me over at lunchtime as they sped away!)

And yeah, I do like messing with stuff too :D
 
LOL, got bored of cycling to work all of a sudden eh?

:D Can't say I blame you having that on the drive. I'd rather take an Elise to work than go by private jet.
 
merlin said:
LOL, got bored of cycling to work all of a sudden eh?

:D Can't say I blame you having that on the drive. I'd rather take an Elise to work than go by private jet.

Oi, I cycled today. I'll have you know I'm sat here in my shorts today (the benefit of having your own office ;))

Simon said:
Is that dynamat in an Elise ? :eek:
Dynamat Extreme (lightweight stuff).

The standard touring pack sound deadening for the Elise is 35kg so I decided to add my own which is about 3kg, much better.
I've also got a quicksilver exhaust (10kg lighter than standard and 10x as loud!) so I'm still doing ok for weight saving.

By the time I add my amps and sub I should still be about 25kg lighter than a standard 111R Touring :)
 
eidolon said:
Oi, I cycled today. I'll have you know I'm sat here in my shorts today (the benefit of having your own office ;))

I'm sat here butt naked. That's the benefit of having your own company.

:D
 
as you look at the unit in the drawing wiring plug on the right(unit upside down) first wire left hand side is powered 12v, second(middle one ) is switched earth, and the far right is is your sensing wire. cobra supply the units ,the wiring is factory loom colours.
 
(((((I've been thinking of doing this to my elise as I just got the std cobra one as well.
Personally I would go with the clifford one as at least you know it would be good quality, reliable and the zone wouldn't drift like some cheap ones do. With this one you would have to source you own warning buzzer ( should be fairly easy to set up, cliffords have a -ve trigger, I not sure what the switching capability of the dual prox is so I would use a relay inbetween. ie dual prox > relay > buzzer ) ))))


dont want to get into this argument again but as for reliability this is why cobra are the first choice for a growing number of manufacturers. (ive been on both sides of the fence and under it ;))
 
gc123 said:
as you look at the unit in the drawing wiring plug on the right(unit upside down) first wire left hand side is powered 12v, second(middle one ) is switched earth, and the far right is is your sensing wire. cobra supply the units ,the wiring is factory loom colours.

Cheers for that, makes things much easier :)

I've ordered the Microscan sensor as it had the Piezo buzzer as part of the package.

Do you know if it's possible to change the remote fob to a different one. It's just that I hate that stupid rubber bit that attaches the fob to the keyring.
 
not at the moment, all cobras come with them, the only drawback is they do pick up dirt fairly quickly. i suppose at a push you could unclip it from the handset then drill and fit a chain. they are better than the early tags and much to my better judgement i havent broken one in the last 8 years. :p by the way its good to see the microscan units are still the same. (in his best star wars voice...) dont cross the zones( star wars voice off) or you will be up all night. gc123
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom