4-RUNNIN' FREAK

After having a fellow coworker fall asleep in a work truck with the a/c on but the truck not running and the battery dying, I thought about this.
What if there was a battery tender device to "keep an eye" on the battery charge and when it falls to a set level, turn on with a remote start, where it would only start when a switch was in an on position? Now say you go camping and you have some stuff running off an aux battery and all, and you decide to go fishing or something, and the battery begins to die and this would see the level at where the truck needs enough juice to start, and starts for you. Now the bad parts would be, say if you leave it in a garage with the switch on and it starts for some reason, or it starts in the dead of night in a city to get stolen. Plus many more that maybe others can think about. I think it would give me a piece-of-mind that my truck can start in the middle of the sticks, and not a soul around for miles to give a jump.
Is there something already on the market that I do not know about?
Or was it just a waste of time to type?
Does the post make any sense?

edit: And you didn't have one of those portable jumpers with you

bulldog-yota

I think it would be very dangerous to have the engine start "at will". I magine you forgot about the device and you are working on the engine while for some reason the battery voltage drops. Can be painful.

I know there used to be devices on the market that monitors the battery level and first sound a little buzzer when it drops to a certain level and then disconnects the battery from the electrical system when it reaches the next level. The buzzer could be disabled, and the level adjusted. I cant remember them being used on everyday autos, more like RV type or speciality vehicles that was used very infrequently.

CynicX

could be a latch to prevent the engine from start when the hood is up with doing something else under the hood....it does seem dangerous to me....i think i'd rather beg for a jump start hehe

4-RUNNIN' FREAK

Like a switch on a washing machine. Close the lid it starts... open it stops.
My thing is... what if there is not a person around for miles?
It should have some benefit.

4RUNR

I had a remote start with built-in auto-start when battery goes down below a certain level. Or when temperature got too low it would start at intervals and warm up. Wasn't a fancy unit, I would imagine quite a few do the same thing from the factory, and the features can be enable or disabled at will.

WATRD

The remote start in my alarm does just what you describe. When the voltage drops to a preset point, it starts the truck up and runs it for 20 minutes, then shuts it down again. The first few times it started in camp when I was sound asleep after a long day of wheeling, I came running out of the tent with a 12 gauge, but other than that, I love having it

Unfortunately, most of the places I would be when my battery was discharged, you can beg all you want for a jump start, but unless you can find a "current bush", it won't do you a bit of good. And I love my 12v cooler WAY too much to do without it to "play it safe"

ElwayLite

what you have to watch is a manual. A bud put a remote start in his 5spd PU after suggestions not too. He left it in gear one day at work and bumped the button in his pocket, the lady behind him wasnt happy when it bounced off the front of her car like 5 times.

914runner

I have a 5-spd manual and when I was looking at getting an alarm with remote start, I read about a neutral switch. You place it somewhere by the shifter base and when the shifter is in gear it wont let the remote start work.

boogyman

i don't know about the 4runners, but the tacomas have a clutch kill button that allows startup without the clutch being pushed in.. i'm sure the remote can be wired into that somehow, and prevent the vehicle from cruising around by itself.

-Russell

PirateFins

The Clutch Cancel switch will do just what you don't want to happen. It is designed to enbable the truck to be started while in gear. It does not disengage the clutch at all. It will bump the motor, in gear, to give the truck a rolling start, when you need to hold the brake and gas at the same time.

caylorm

Why not just buy one of those portable jump starters? For around $70 you can get one with 450 amps, 1200 peak.

shovelhead

:pat: Why did the guy have the A/C on without the engine running? It doesn't get real cool that way.

4-RUNNIN' FREAK

He's not very bright. He said he wanted the fan on but not waste gas.
You can ask ( or annoy) him at PDZIEKA@aol.com
He just put in $2,500 for a tranny rebuild and the car is not even worth $800

"Cat-O-Leen"

I have no opinion on your subject. I just wanted to say your avatar made me laugh.