Is it Possible to Control Vehicle Key Fob/Remote Start with arduino board?

Question

Curious if there are any projects out there in which someone controlled a remote vehicle starter with an arduino board.

Specifially, I am considering a method to start my car at a preset time every morning.

I am thinking it would be easy to wire up an arduino to the Remote Fob itself and send the signal to start at a set time (I am an arduino noob and have not done anything but basic tutorials with a small Teensy board).

My specific system is two-way and sends back a success or fail signal after you attempt to start, would be nice to program the system to try to start X number of times after a failure.

Has anything like this been done? Anything similar?

UPDATE:

There seems to be some confusion...

My vehicle already has a viper 2-way remote start system installed.

I would like to wire one of the existing key fob remotes to an arduino board to control the remote itsself(which sends the signal to start the car).

I do not wish to wire anything additional into the car. Basically just emulate the press of the remote button via the microcontroller.

Pics of the FOB pcb:

Answer 1

All of the Remote Starter systems I have seen are aftermarket products. In fact, most auto dealers use these after market products when installing them in new vehicles. It should be easy enough to find the manufacture of yours, and send for a replacement remote fob. Once the fob is programmed to your vehicle, you can hack the contacts to your new circuit.

As far as sensing the engine running most of these units use a sample of the engine RPM (tach) and detect the pulses. The RPM outputs on the ECU of the vehicle, and is probably already tapped to use for the Remote Start unit. For the report back function, you can buy a remote fob & receiver and hack it in much the same way as your starter key fob.

EDIT: After reviewing the new information and pictures, I will revise my answer to the following:

If the led in fig 1 (lower right corner) is the confirmation of a start indicator, then a photo transistor can be optically coupled to this led through something like a short hose or tube. This can then be an input of the Arduino.

EDIT 2: In fig 1, middle of the board may be a tactile button switch to initiate a start. If this is the case, a relay could be connected to the Arduino output and wired to the tactile switch in parallel.

Answer 2

This is a very broad question, so can only be answered in generalities.

You might possibly find a description of the protocol between the fob and the car, but not the passwords used with your particular car. Usually these include rolling codes with only the hashed results sent over the air. Therefore listening in on a few transmissions won't tell you what the code needs to be for the next transmissions. In practise, it will be simpler make the existing key fob do the transmissions. Maybe you can rig up something so that the arduino activates a solenoid which pushes a button on the key fob.

As for determining success, that's all up to you. Maybe you can put a sensor by your car that detects it is running. Something under or near the car looking for steady noise might work, or maybe detecting the spark if it's a gasoline engine. Maybe some sort of IR sensor looking for exhaust heat. These are just ideas. I've never actually done a car-running detector.