black-jax nightmare
 

Where do i stand, with the firm who installed my black-jax? Had it installed in october, and it started playing up on thursday. I have been ringing them non stop and still no answer. And today it gave up the ghost, and has locked itself out completely.I cant use my car, i cant get in touch with them, i can't leave a message, and to top it all, on the receipt they gave me, it says that the customer is responsible for getting there vehicle to them for any warranty work. How the hell can i do that? I can't even get off my drive.:mad: Also had a hotel booked up for our wedding anniversary, and have had to cancel t, loosing £50 deposit, and a very angry wife to deal with. What can i do?:cry:

Hmm as far as I know Blackjaxx can't lock you out completely. If you've entered the code wrong and the alarm / immobiliser has tripped then you can just wait and enter your code again.
Failing that get onto Clifford directly and see if they can help.

If it works the same way as the onboard BlackJax fitted to some of the Concept range of alarms I believe it shuts down for about 5 minutes if you inadvertently input the wrong code 3 times.

You could always PM 'Mark@Clifford/Directed' on this forum and ask for his advice.

Andy

have you tried pulling the fuse theis should just disable the blackjax .... chris

But I don't think that would reconnect the immobiliser cuts would it, that wouldn't be much of a security device if so, overridden by pulling a fuse!!

Andy

The units can crash if they haven't been put in well. Subaru assist could recover the car to the Cliffford dealer or another one if they're no longer trading.

You could try connecting a laptop to the unit and see if you can reset it that way.

I have'nt put the wrong code in, what happened, was tha on thursday instead of the usual entering the code and away you go, it took four go's, then every time i had to put the code in in was taking more goes. Then today it just would'nt accept the code and is now locked out. I don't want to start pulling fuses and connecting things. But what about, their policy of if it's not working and under warranty, it's your responsibility to get it to us, i've never heard the likes. It's not a pair of shoes.

Sorry i wasn't suggesting you had put the wrong code in. I meant the units are susceptible to problems if they had been installed poorly.

It sounds as though the unit needs to be reset at a Clifford dealer. They may need to sent the unit to Clifford UK to be sorted out.

Don't bother pulling any fuses, it won't make any difference.

Not sure about your point on the warranty but some Clifford dealers will come out to look at the car. If not your breakdown cover should see you right.

I used to work for a car audio/security company and in the unusual event of one of our installs failing, we would send out a mobile technician to rectify the problem. We were a Clifford dealer too. If you can get in touch with the installers and they won't come to you because the car is immobilised, tell them you'll call another security firm to rectify the problem. If it turns out to be an installation problem you'll expect them to cover the costs otherwise you'll inform Trading Standards and complain to Clifford Electronics.

Andy

Cheers gent's, will do that, but if i have no joy with them,( and i have e-mailed them over the past few days)i will name them and shame them. The only reason i hav'nt named them yet is to see if they sort it out proffesionally.We will see!!!

It sounds like you've had what happened to mine - the plainview switch failed and wouldn't register that I was pressing one of the buttons (the "unmarked" one in my case AFAIR). I was getting intermittent contact and it took more and more goes to get it to work until it went tits up :(

There'd been a few stories on SN about them going so I'd recently bought a spare for 5-10 quid from my local Clifford place and therefore, I could change it. If it is this switch that's gone, the car will be dead until you can enter the blackjax code into the alarm ecu unit via another plainview switch... (unless you want to try to drive until it cuts the engine and deafens you each time :eek: ;) )

Once I'd got mine working again, I stripped down the original switch to see if it could be repaired but they're made to give a different resistance across 2 wires rather than common earth and 2 switches which would be 3 wires and is easy to "hotwire" by shorting out the terminals...

I can't remember whether the second unit failed but this was replaced FOC and the other sent back to Clifford as a warranty claim as it was a relatively short time after.

Andy

PS I could use my old man's car to get to the dealer otherwise I'd have been stuffed as well :(

PPS If you change the switch and it doesn't play ball, try disconnecting the battery for a minute or so to reset the alarm (remembering to disarm it before you take off the terminal or it'll power up in the alarmed state...) You don't "fully" reset the alarm doing this but it's enough to "warm boot" it :)

Apple your'e a diamond. I don't have a clifford alarm, something a bit more special(but stupidly expensive, german engineering) so the black jax is an add on, but it seems exactly as you are saying. Cheers for the input, once this is resolved i think i'll buy an extra switch. Cheers webby, I love this site.

As said, it is usually the switch. They are really easy to replace because a short way up the wire is a connector....just unplug the old switch and fit the new one. I had to do this recently as my blackjax switch went a little dodgy in exactly the same way. I swapped the switch with the one from the Clifford alarm just to get me going. I then took the dodgy one into the local Clifford dealer who swapped it FOC as there is a lifetime warranty on Clifford products. These switches do take some abuse especially when fitted to Blackjax. It is still much better than somebody breaking into your house, nicking your keys and taking the car.

:D glad I could potentially help...

What seemed strange with mine was the unmarked button failed whereas the one that gets the most use as the "numbers" are put in is the * buttton - ho hum ;)

Mine's part of a Clifford system so I wouldn't know if the switches are the same or different for standalone blackjax units but it seems they are according to theotherphil :)

they are the same, the reason i had mine fitted was that the alarm i have now(even though it was stupidly expensive,and never gone wrong)has a sytem like the clifford, but it locks the thief in. And i was worried that, the thief may wreck my car to get out.

I have replaced the plain view switch, and it still is locked out.What can i do?

Have you tried disconnecting the battery for a minute or so to reset the unit? Make sure doing this won't screw up any other electrical systems eg alarm, radio, ecu etc first ;)

This is how mine got going but if it doesn't work, I'm afraid it's a call to a dealer or Clifford themselves and grovel etc unless anyone else has any ideas ;) :)

Also, disconnecting the battery won't lose the code so it's still the same as before.

Check that the switch is the same type you took off - apparently there's been a couple of different types over the years.

Andy

Phoned them this savvy, got angry, called green flag, and took it back to them. They said that they could rip it out!!!!! And when the gaffer is back off holiday, i'll get a check in the post? So i pointed out that if i wanted holes in my interior, and a more nickable c car i could take a drill to it, leave the doors open and hey presto!!! So it is obviously the main unit not the switch. WATCH THIS SPACE.....:cry:

We were locked out on a car with a Blackjaxx that wouldn't accept the code.

As wrrjones stated above, we pulled the in-line fuse which was conventiently :rolleyes: (NOT!) hidden behind 3000 yards of wiring behind the dash..... we then put it back, and the unit accepted the code.

It didn't disable the immobiliser, but it did reset the inbuilt timer letting us put the code in correctly.

If you still have not rectified this problem then call 01372 847 120, speak to customer services and ask to speak to "Mark Allen" in "Technical" i will ressolve this in one way or another.

Hi Mark, I'm interested in this thread as my unit has begun to need 3/4/5 attempts to input the code before accepting since about November (never actually let me down though - yet, fingers crossed). The supplier/installer said it's the switch & it has a 1 year warranty only & it had just expired!
Not got round to sorting it yet but this thread acts as a reminder.
Steve

PM your address and i will send you a new switch

how much is a spare switch mark ???

Many thanks Mark, you have pm.
Steve

As a footnote to any potential purchasers of blackjax, despite one or two switch issues this is a top piece of kit which provides protection against hijack but also would foil the break-in for your car keys scenario too.

This isnt the only forum where people have had serious bother-ie getting stranded-with the blackjax kit.
Lets hope they start using better quality components.

Dipster

I thought Cliffords were advertised with a life-time guarantee!

Blackjax problem
 

hi there,
Selling my car and someone came to test drive my car today, but without my knowing whilst in the house, they have entered the wrong code on the blackjax a number of times. Now the car wont start at all even with the right code. Ive left the car for 2 hours and stil wont respond. Any ideas people.
Much appreciated
Shaun

Wow 10 year old thread:D And I see your from Wombourne, only down the road from me!!!:thumb:

Have you tried taking the battery off and then putting it back on again??? Might not work but worth a try!!!:thumb: