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My car alarm keeps going off
Ok, a bit late for advice at 2am but I'll give it a go.
My car alarm has suddenly started going off for no reason.
I thought a could circumvent the alarm by physically locking the car rather than 'blipping' it. But no. The alarm went off a couple of minutes later.
The only way I can figure out how to stop it going off is to leave it unlocked. As you'll understand, that's not entirely satisfactory.
I have a feeling something is wrong as it's stopped flashing when i 'blip' it to lock it. And when I 'blip' it to unlock it, the 2 flashes are further apart than they used to be.
Can I assume from this that the electrics are shot?
I live in the middle of Leeds and leaving it unlocked really isn't an option overnight.
Update - even leaving it unlocked doesn't work. My neighbours are going to lynch me.
My car alarm has suddenly started going off for no reason.
I thought a could circumvent the alarm by physically locking the car rather than 'blipping' it. But no. The alarm went off a couple of minutes later.
The only way I can figure out how to stop it going off is to leave it unlocked. As you'll understand, that's not entirely satisfactory.
I have a feeling something is wrong as it's stopped flashing when i 'blip' it to lock it. And when I 'blip' it to unlock it, the 2 flashes are further apart than they used to be.
Can I assume from this that the electrics are shot?
I live in the middle of Leeds and leaving it unlocked really isn't an option overnight.
Update - even leaving it unlocked doesn't work. My neighbours are going to lynch me.
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It locks OK when I use the key though and the alarm doesn't go off.
I have a little stick on my keyring to disable the alarm if the central locking fails. You press it onto a button under the steering column.
Leaving it unlocked shouldn't be a problem. the immobiliser should still work.
After the last alarm I 'blipped' it and the doors locked but it didn't flash and since then have had no alarm (5 mins or so) - but shall check the doors nonetheless.
If it's not a door issue I should probably assume it's an electrics issue, no?
No one's property gives them the right to keep people awake with dodgy alarms.
I live in a town centre and they go off all the time often at 2am and are often on for an hour or more. Most annoying - why have an alarm and then do nothing about it when it goes off.
Not much help to the OP - I suggest you buy a car without an alarm!
Trust me, living where I do, I get to hear all sorts of alarms at all sorts of times. Which is precisely why I'm wanting to avoid contributing to the cacophony of aural dirt.
If I could buy a car without an alarm right now, I probably would do.
If it continues to go off, I'm going to have to disconnect it somehow. Not being totally clever where these things are concerned, I wouldn't know where the hell to begin.
then lock doors all doors manually with the key as you won't have any electrics for the central locking etc.
Reconnect battery in the morning.
WARNING: Be careful not to short out the battery with anything metal across the two terminals and take off any metal jewellery and metal watch straps as these can short out the battery and you will end up with nasty burns as they heat up!
The OP already said that, but it didn't work!
"I thought a could circumvent the alarm by physically locking the car rather than 'blipping' it. But no. The alarm went off a couple of minutes later"
Some alarm work by detecting current when door opens activating the light. If your battery is dying the alarm may think the door has been opened.
Some alarms have a motion sensor; is there a strong wind or any unusual vibrations?
Locking the car manually by turning the key (not using the remote button) doesnt stop the alarm engaging. My current car, a more basic Polo has central locking, but not remote, and it activates the alarm upon turning the key. So this doesnt bypass the alarm.
On the Astra, there were 2 interior light switches. When pressed in a certain order before leaving the car, this would disable the internal cabin motion sensor part of the alarm. But it doesnt disarm the entire alarm. So problem remains.
On the Astra MK4, the alarm has a power backup. Removing the car battery wont stop the alarm!
The Alarm main system is built into the car, so that it cant be removed or taken out. But if it should go wrong......
On that system, the siren part ("Sounder box") is seperate from the rest of the system, which is a good thing, as it was this part that went wrong.
Turns out this is a common failure on Astra's of this age, and the same system maybe used on the MK5 (not 100% sure).
Take care where you leave the car. Even if you leave the car in a locked garage overnight, but the car unlocked to prevent alarm activation, you are not covered by insurance.
Had the Sounder box replaced. Total cost £160.
On MK4 Astra's like my one, there
A few years ago there was a 'thing' going around - burglars set off car alarms in driveways, hid, people came to their front door, 'blipped' the alarm off and reset it. Burglar does it again, person comes back out, resets it back in.
Burglar does it again, person thinks alarm is knackered with a capital f, so switches it off altogether. Burglar breaks in, steals car/gets stuff from the car and runs...
This can be a sign of a failing battery. The voltage starts to drop, and that triggers the alarm to go off. Usually worse in the cold weather.
Has the car been difficult to start recently?
It was only about 2 minutes before it went off, though. I'd just parked in a big retail park to go to the cinema, got about 100 metres from the car and heard it go off.
Went back to it two or three times before I figured out that it was the interior light that was still on. :rolleyes:
I guess it depends on the car, but on the Astra, you couldnt disarm the alarm. Everytime you lock the car, no matter how you lock it, the alarm would always be armed.
BTW, does anyone know if there is a way of disabling the auto locks? It drives me mad if i leave the kids in the car whiole i'm in the petrol garage and stuff and also by the time i've loaded my arms up[ with stuff for the boot etc it's locked itself again.