Alarm Problem

[BigMo82]

Went to Asda last night, when I loaded the shopping and got back in the car I noticed my interior and door courtesy lights went off. As i changed these to LED's about a week ago I thought it must be a blown fuse but about 10 seconds later the car alarm went off and wouldn't stop. The car would start and drive as normal but with the alarm going on and off every 30 seconds. So I disconnected the Battery but even after doing this the alarm still went off for another 3 or 4 minutes. Reconnected the Battery and the same problem again. Tried this several times and have up and called the RAC.

RAC turned up at 2:40am and couldn't figure it out as the car starts and drives but the alarm keeps going off. He eventually found the alarm I'm the right and side of the boot removed the siren box and disconnected it. I drove home no problem. Unlocked the car about an hour ago and it starts fine. I opened the siten unit and found it has a Battery in there which I will try and replace to see if that cures it?

The only other thing I have noticed is that when I turn the car off the rev counter isn't dropping. But when I turn the ignition back on it drops back to 0 and then revs as normal once the car is started. What a night!

[mintalkin]

led bulbs will draw a lot less amps that a standard buld so it could be that whats causing the problem, a resistor is usually added to bring the amps up the what they should be.

[BigMo82]

Ok found and changed the fuse for the interior lights. Changed the door lights back to the originals. But couldn't change the interior light as the fixing is a little loose as though something has moved out of place. I wonder if this was causing some of the issue. I have found anothe siren and motion sensors for a reasonable price and may change both these to see if they resolve the alarm problem.

Mo

[raz5652]

Hi Mo, am having the exactly the same problem, changed LEDs, worked for a week and now no interior lights working, i have checked all the fuses all seem ok. But now having problem with the alarm. What was the solution at the end? Pls let me know

[BigMo82]

Ok the first thing was to replace a fuse in one of the fuse boxes under the steering. Secondly I disconnected the alarm in the boot. This is on the right side and can be reached through the opening in the boot trim. Lastly I disconnected the motion sensors in the roof. Touch wood had no problems since.

It's definitely been caused by the LED light in the roof interior light. I have never managed to get my interior light working again with unlocking or opening the door.

Mo

[raz5652]

cant seems to see any fuse box under the steering...

[BigMo82]

It's around that area, it's a probably closer to the obd connector port near the bonnet release. It's a small box and has about 20 small fuses in it. It has a plastic cover that has to be pulled off.

Mo

[Konrad C]

Hi Mo.

I have read somewhere, that it is not possible to use standard LED lights in cars which courtesy light circuit, with auto fade to off. This can cause issues with the circuits of the system. You may have damaged the courtesy light circuit for the door auto fade off.

There may be special LED's that come with special resistor circuits which work for this type of application.

Also remember that the 'Dome' circuit which operates other system can also be affected.

So unless somebody with a Toyota has successfully got the correct LED system to work with the courtesy lights, I would leave the bulb as standard. This may be too late as you said it no longer works.

I don't know if the courtesy system is part of the security system or standalone. Somebody may know.

Konrad

[raz5652]

i have found 2 fuse boxes, one behind glovebox and one near the Battery under bonnet,

[Konrad C]

Hi Khalid,

The fuse box covers should have labels which describe the fuses position, rating and what they are protecting. If you have the handbook, then that will all have the fuse box information.

The problem is that if you put an LED bulb on the courtesy light, there is a danger that it may damage the courtesy auto off system and stop it from working. That means the doors open but no light. The courtesy interior light will work manually if the fuse has not blown. If the fuse has blown then a fix may be simple.

As I stated in my earlier reply, I am not sure how the courtesy delay system is set up at this time, and what the components are.

Hopefully somebody with experience of T25 electrics may be able to assist.

The real point is not to put these LED lights in, when they have not been tested for that application. The suppliers may not be helpful as they want to make a sale.

Konrad

[raz5652]

Ok, just spent 4/5 hours checking everything. searched on internet and found that if i take off the negative wire off the Battery it will rest the alarm, so i did, up till now no alarm problem but ill keep an eye for whole day today. While it was off i changed all the interior bulbs to normal. but the Battery back on but no joy. than i started to check fuses again.

Found three fuse boxes one behind glove box and 2 under bonnet, there is a spot cover with the fuse diagram under the steering wheel but no fuse box. Searching on net i found out its a Dome fuse that needs replacing and its marked under steering wheel but no fuses.

I have noticed something else, my time clock on car resets to 12.00 pm when ever i turn the ignition off, i have reset the time few times, but goes back to 12 again once ignition is off.

Its a taxi so last night while working alarm was going off every 15 to 20 mins, stay on for 5 mins and than again back on. Asking round one of my friend said he had the same problem and according to him it was a fuse under the bonnet, he thought it was a red one, He was sure that alarm fuse also disable central locking with the key. so we tired but no joy with red fuse, after taking a green one out alarm went low and than stopped and didn't came back on all night. That fuse was marked as DCC. i have changed the fuse now, lets see if it goes off again after resetting it through Battery terminal.

[raz5652]

here are the pics

[raz5652]

empty space under steering wheel

[BigMo82]

I must admit I also think the courtesy circuit has been damaged by the led light. I did think about sorting it out but it just looks like a crazy task.

Mo

[raz5652]

yea.. but i want to get if sorted.. any one with a knowledge.. any one who can help

[raz5652]

Found the fuse box under the steering wheel,

• need to do is move the driver seat all the way back.
• from the driver door get you head in adjacent to pedals while kneeling on the floor (this is not a joke)
• and look up towards the steering column (towards the right) maybe with a torch
• the fuse panel is located under the steering column by the pedals.

Now i have found Dome fuse and it was broke so just replaced it, light not came on, may be because the alarm set off again today so i took the DCC fuse under the bonnet out, Its 2 am here cant risk putting it back at this time in case alarm goes off again, ill try in the morning and see it the interior lights come back on. if they do than ill still have alarm issue. fingers cross

[Konrad C]

Most Avensis interior fuse box are located under dash, by the drivers knee. On Mk1 the is a small storage box that needs to be removed. The fuses are behind the storage box.

As you said, you need to get right down and look up a little to find it. Even on the Mk2.

I am glad that it was only the fuse and no other circuits.

The 'Dome' circuit tends to be connected to other systems - on my car I lost the central locking, the trip counter reset every time the car was switched off. I had a faulty dome light holder which kept shorting (got a replacement which was better designed, yet looked the same). There are two designs of the dome light fitting, one with a minimal amount of metal bits and flimsy bulb holder, the second has more metal and strong single sprung bulb holder. The first one the 2 parts holding the bulb moved around possibly shorting out, blowing the dome fuse. Every bit of metal in the dome light is either live or earth. It is easy to short.

I was surprised that nobody responded, but then I realised that most people may have never tried to put a LED bulb in the dome light. Also not everybody comes on the forum every time.

If the alarm is faulty since the dome light problem, then the damage may have been done.

As I said before, it is best to make sure the LED light has a suitable resister pack and has been tested for the application, like auto delay and fade before purchasing. Check with the supplier if at all possible.

Konrad

[raz5652]

all lights working fine now, after changing the dome fuse. on these avensis fuse box is not behind storage, its no where near that cover, its right under the steering wheel near the pedals.

Now all i have to do is keep an eye out for alarm, i hope it was cause of dome fuse, but lets see.

[raz5652]

Everything is ok now

[waqar_lionheart]

typical dome fuse syndrom.

typical dome fuse syndromeE. I cannn spellll :)

[Doddydunbar]

My dome fuse (under the steering wheel) keeps blowing and I cant work out why. Once the dome fuse blows the alarm eventually starts going off. When this all started a few months back I replaced the fuse and everything was okay for about two months or so but more recently its only lasting a couple of weeks. 

[Konrad C]

It is best to check for shorting and the interior light housing. I am not sure what model Avensis you have, but I assume it is a Mk2. 

A few years back , I had to get a secondhand interior light housing due to the dome fuse blowing. It was because the original housing was short circuiting. The secondhand housing was a different design - the metal circuits were more robust and the bulb holder had only one spring tab at one end, instead of one at each end. The fitting and connections were identical, so it was a simple swap. 

The door switches could be faulty too.

What I would do is switch the dome light off then see if the fuse blows. If it does blow, then remove the whole dome light fixing, then put in another fuse. If the fuse still blows, then the dome light is not the culprit. That is when you need to go through further elimination process with the door switches. You may go through a lot of fuses. If you have a electrical tester, that may help instead of wasting the fuses. Don't forget the bonnet and boot switches.