Help Please

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Fox

New Member
Posts
133
Hi All,
I have got a 1998 Tdi and I am having problems with the alarm.
When I set the alarm it is fine for a while then it will go off and I can't silence it with the remote, it will still start and drive with the alarm sounding and the only way I can shut it up is to remove the connection to the siren.
If any of you have any ideas what could be causing this PLEASE let me know asap.

Trevor.
 
This is one of those nightmarey ones that are difficult to answer without some kind of physical diagnostics or at least seeing the vehicle.

A few pointers though, the alarm systems on these have two types of trigger. The first is a perimeter trigger such as a door opening or bonnet lifting, the second is internal motion. For the door opening, it uses your interior light switches mounted in the door appertures. If one of these is faulty to a point that it is activating your alarm, I would also expect it to be flickering the interior light when switched to "doors". If not, check out the hood sensor position. ie. is it being depressed enough by the bonnet. To do this, put a thin layer of plastercine or modelling clay on the bonnet where the switch would make contact, no more than 1mm thickness. Close the bonnet and open it again to check the contact level. Also check the switch itself to see if it is secure and not moving around.
If all the above finds nothing wrong, then the problems are a little more sinister. It could be the sensitivity of the motion sensor or it could be the siren itself. The sirens have a tamper mechanism built into them. It works by them holding a charge in an internal battery, then if somebody tries to disconnect it or the main battery whilst armed, the siren goes off and stays going until either disarmed or the internal battery discharges. If you say you cannot silence it with the remote, I would imagine it to be something like this as the cause as the signal from the alarm ecu isn't getting to the siren.
Two questions. When this happens, do the indicators flash?
and
Do the indicators acknowledge the remotes buttons being pressed even though the alarm doesn't shut up?
 
Hi Haddock,

Thanks for the reply whn the alarm goes off you can still open/close the doors with the remote and no the indictors dont flash when the siren is sounding.
I will have a look at the other things you said to try but if all else fails I will have to get an auto electrician to have a look as I dont like leaving it parked up with no alarm.

Trevor.
 
Hi i would check first that the alarm is arming correctly, indicators come on when locked and unarming,i would then just try using key to lock car to turn off ultrasonics sensor or disconect it, you could also check to make sure that the BBUS (the siren),battery back up sounder,is getting a 12v feed when the engine is running,you should not be able to start the car if engine has immobilsed itself so you could have a fault with the alarm ecu or bbus so i would do the basic checks first like checking all door pins bring on the interior light so you can rule out any short circuit from them,hope this helps tiga,there is a self test on the alarm system i will dig out the papers.
 
It sounds to me like there is some sort of power supply fault to the siren itself. The tamper mechanism works from voltage drop. This is why if you leave your lights on for too long, the siren will go off. This appears to be of a similar ilk. I would focus in that area if I were you. Good luck, let me know how you get on.

H.




Fox said:
Hi Haddock,

Thanks for the reply whn the alarm goes off you can still open/close the doors with the remote and no the indictors dont flash when the siren is sounding.
I will have a look at the other things you said to try but if all else fails I will have to get an auto electrician to have a look as I dont like leaving it parked up with no alarm.

Trevor.
 
Thanks,
I have been informed that the most probable cause is the internal battery is either had it or not getting a charge I have checked the power to the siren and it is fine so I am in the process of getting a new siren.

Trevor
 
Trevor,
It sounds more likely to be a problem with the power supply with the ignition switched off rather than an internal battery concern...It is receiving enough of a charge with the ignition on and holding that charge as it is the internal battery it is using when it goes off! Could be something as simple as a blown fuse or relay in the power supply. Worst case is an inline fuse or internal fault within the siren (but I doubt it), so before wasting money on a replacement, check the feed to the siren with the ignition off. Smacks of something simple this one, but they're always the hardest to find!!!!!
 
HI all,

Just letting you know it was the internal battery on the siren, I put the new siren on a couple of days ago, gave it time to charge and then tested it and all is well, siren goes off and it all turns of with the remote.
The only down side was the cost of the siren £86.00.

Trevor.
 
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