Car Alarm Problems

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Hi guys,

For some reason my key fob will not unlock my Avensis (07 year). I thought it may be the Battery at first, although the little red light is illuminating when i press the un-lock button, and i have no problems locking the car. So, i have to use the key to unlock the car, which in turn triggers the alarm. Once the alarm is sounding, again my fob is no use. I click the unlock button in an effort to de-activate the alarm, and again, the light on the fob illuminates but the alarm will not de-activate - hugely embarrassing and very annoying!

The only  think i can think that may have caused this is that i recently had my car Battery changed.

Does anyone have any suggestions??

Thanks

[Heidfirst]

Hi Matthew, welcome to TOC 

It sounds like there is a problem with the lock or more likely something like a solenoid connected to it.

The alarm should silence once you start the car. Also, if you lock the car with the mechanical key it won't set the alarm so you can avoid upsetting the neighbours meantime.

[Heidfirst]

Btw, did you try a new fob Battery?

[Konrad C]

I have a couple of questions, and first - do you have a second remote key, and secondly, how do you lock the car - key in lock or remote? The OP stated he can lock the car but did not say how!

A lot of owners seem to only have one key, and I made sure I had a working spare with my cars. 

I have been very fortunate with my ownership of both my old Mk1 and current Mk3. With the Mk1 ('98), I had all the working keys when I sold over 2 years ago. I did have a key sync problem, and used a procedure described in the owners handbook to re-sync the keys. Apparently Mk2 onwards does not have this feature. I was careful to rotate the keys so that wear was reduced. I actually lost the keys twice, and had them found. Both times the keys fell out the pocket, once on a train, and once in a park covered in snow. A friend found the one in the park by accident, because I had a photo fob on the keys, the very next day. I got a surprise phone call from a worker at the lost property - I reported it to him and gave an accurate description of the key set. Both times I was not using the car. I make a rule of not carrying the keys if not needing the car. Keys are hidden! Replacement keys are very expensive from the dealer! 

I may be wrong with later cars, but the the alarm can only be controlled via the remote fob, not the central locking system, unless the dome fuse is not working. But then I could be wrong. Speaking of dome fuse, that was a problem with my Mk1. The fuse degraded but not blow, disabling the central locking, but the alarm could still be armed/disarmed via the fob. 

I mention all these things to cover all aspects and remind owners to learn from my experience.