Vehicle Theft Security System

The Instrument Cluster controls the Vehicle Theft Security System (VTSS). When the VTSS is armed it will monitor the status of the ignition and door ajar switches. If the alarm is tripped it will sound the vehicles horn, flash the exterior lamps and the VTSS indicator located in the instrument cluster.

The Instrument Cluster will enable the VTSS feature once it has received PCI bus messages from the Sentry Key Immobilizer Module and has also detected the driver cylinder lock switch being cycled to the lock/unlock position.

Arming the system is accomplished following a normal exit sequence of removing the key from the ignition, opening the door pressing the power lock button to lock and closing the door, by using a cylinder lock switch or by pressing the RKE lock button. After all the doors are closed, the VTSS indicator will flash quickly for sixteen-seconds indicating the pre-arm process, after which it will flash at a slower rate indicating the system is armed. If during the pre-arm process a door is opened, the ignition is turned to the Run/Start position or if a RKE unlock button is pressed the system will exit the pre-arming process.

Disarming can be accomplished with a RKE unlock, turning the ignition on with a valid Sentry key or unlocking the vehicle with a cylinder lock switch.

The Alarming state will last for 18 minutes after which it will timeout and return to the armed state. A tamper alert feature will alert the customer to the alarm being tripped while they were away upon returning to the vehicle by flashing the VTSS indicator for 30 seconds after the system has been disarmed.

All of the switches for the VTSS system can be monitored using the DRBIII®. The DRBIII® is also useful for a customer complaint of the alarm going off with no apparent reason by viewing the VTSS last alarm caused by display.