Well, this is just great.
I went to the trouble of printing the diagram so I could take it home and write you the email but I left it on my workbench or something.
Anyway, I will at least tell you or your electrical shop how to get at the alarm system control module. I will not elaborate too much on things that you should be able to figure out for yourself, or look up in a Bentley. Then first thing in the morning I will get the pin assignments for it. There are only 2 that are relevant to what we're talking about...I really just should have done it before I left work.
ANYWAY:
Pull the entire black plastic cover from under the bottom of the driver's side dash; the cover that is above your toes while you drive.
Pull the the lower dash (padded vinyl) cover. There are screws along the bottom, and at the top it is just clipped in. Give it a yank.
Once you have that piece off, look to the left of where the steering column goes into the dash. There will be a metal dash frame that was once covered by the trim you removed, and some open space above it where you can see the innards of the dash, and then the rest of the upper dash which you did not remove.
At the very left of the metal piece (this is more or less what used to be called the kneebar) where it ends, there is a 10mm nut on a little bolt on it, going through the metal. This little bolt is attached to the alarm system control module, and is what holds the module in the dash.
If you're feeling really froggy, you can try to take it out. Good luck-there is a learning curve involved with working odd-shaped things out from odd-shaped holes, such as the insides of a dashboards.
If you do take it out, you can take the cover off of it and look for broken solder joints on the circuit board. I have been able to see a few before and then solder them back with my gun. But more often than not, the flaw is too minute to see and you either have to bypass the starter-kill portion of the module (as described below), or just get a new module altogether.
Since you seem interested in just testing and ultimately bypassing it, that is what I'll describe.
There are 2 connectors that plug into the module. One has 6 terminals in the plug, and the other has 10 terminals. One of plugs has a wire in it that comes from your ignition switch (the input to the alarm module), and then the other plug has the wire that eventually ends up at the starter solenoid coming out of it (the output to the starter.)
What you will do is grab a test light (DVOM won't work here because you need a little current draw, such as a light bulb to be sure its working) and turn the key to the START position and look for voltage at the wire that comes from the ignition switch. If you get a light at THAT pin, you know that:
Your ignition switch is doing its job, and the wiring from the igntion switch to the module is good.
If you do not get a light at that pin, you must then test the ignition switch. But I'm telling you, I think you'll find the module bad. If not, we'll address that later.
So we are assuming you got a light at the wire coming from the ignition switch.
With the plugs going into the module still in place (you don't need to unplug them unless you plan on removing the module for inspection or replacement), and the key held in the START position, you will then test for voltage at the pin that is on the other plug that goes out to the starter solenoid.
If you DO have light at THAT pin, you know that:
Your ignition switch is good.
Your alarm system control module is good.
The wiring between the module and the starter is NOT good (assuming your electrical shop actually tested the starter correctly, which I have no reason to doubt.)
If you do NOT have light at THAT pin but you did at the first one, you know that:
Your alarm system control module is bad internally.
The repair, as you may have already guessed, is to simply install a jumper wire from the first pin to the second pin. If I was doing it I would actually remove the wires from the connectors they are in and splice the together, but you really don't even have to do that-you do not have the tools necessary to do things like that (but your electrical shop might). I'd recommend some good scotch locks, or whatever other method you can come up with.
When you have it wired up, when you turn the key to start, the alarm module is out of the picture and the voltage from the ignition switch can now reach the starter solenoid, the starter will turn, the car will start, and we'll all live happily ever after.
So there it is.
I'll get you those pins in the morning.
