Help! Alarm Problem

[IOM Jim]

HELPPPP please.

The alarm on my '03 T3-X has just started playing up..

Car has been fine all day. Drove it home, parked it on the drive and locked it on the key fob/blipper. 10-15 mins later it has suddenly activated - totally deafening the immediate neighbourhood with both the alarm siren (rear of vehicle?) and the horn. Went out with the keys but it refused to acknowledge my desperate (and embarrassed) pressing of either the lock or unlock buttons.

I took drastic action, and as soon as the horn stopped, used the key to gain entry to the car. Vehicle will happily start !!! (wot no immobiliser?) but horn repeatedly kicks in again, so having hoisted up the bonnet have disconnected the + terminal on the Battery. This stopped the horn, but the alarm siren still went on for at least another 2 rounds.

Have run the AA, but being based on the Isle of Man, it will be one of their representatives that will come out (got a 2 hour wait!! - make that days knowing how the Manx view time :o)

I did notice when I got into the car that some of the dash warning lights were lit up, namely the oil warning light, and possibly the TC/ABS light!!! does this look like a general electrical fault or just a case of water ingress? (it did lash it down earlier).

Alright the car is just about to hit its 5th anniversary, but generally has been very reliable and apart from only covering low miles since moving across to IOM 2 months ago, it has done 55K in total.

Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated!!!

Ta

Jim

[IOM Jim]

UPDATE

Manx Assistance has just left. After finally silencing the alarm and getting access to the car, he decided to check all the fuses due to "back feed around the ignition" The culprit appears to be circuit 41 - HTR (a 10A fuse that covers the heated seats (don't have) and the climate control (do have)).

So I'm left with a secure car but no a/c or any air movement system. Looks like a visit to an Auto Leccy (car is 5 yrs old next week or so, so not prepared to pay Mr T's prices!!!) for a full diagnosis and a hefty bill.

If anyone has suggestions on whats caused this rogue leccy feed I'd be interested to know, otherwise hope this is of use to anyone else who suffers similar symptoms.

Jim

[Q.S.]

UPDATE

Manx Assistance has just left. After finally silencing the alarm and getting access to the car, he decided to check all the fuses due to "back feed around the ignition" The culprit appears to be circuit 41 - HTR (a 10A fuse that covers the heated seats (don't have) and the climate control (do have)).

So I'm left with a secure car but no a/c or any air movement system. Looks like a visit to an Auto Leccy (car is 5 yrs old next week or so, so not prepared to pay Mr T's prices!!!) for a full diagnosis and a hefty bill.

If anyone has suggestions on whats caused this rogue leccy feed I'd be interested to know, otherwise hope this is of use to anyone else who suffers similar symptoms.

Jim

Siren and horn going off? sounds to me like you have also got an aftermarket alarm fitted to the car as well as the factory fit one. Hence starting with the key as Mr T's system was turned off. I suspect the fault is with the aftermarket one and is possibly fed via the fuse that has been removed.

Don't know of anyone who uses both siren and horn as alarm sounders, usually one or the other.

[gazzaull22]

Hi this is not an aftermarket alarm it is a toyota fitted factory fitted one,

As for the remote key have you got it to work via pressing the buttons?

[IOM Jim]

Hi this is not an aftermarket alarm it is a toyota fitted factory fitted one,

As for the remote key have you got it to work via pressing the buttons?

Gazzaull22 - correct. The car only has the genuine factory fit system - alarm siren buired somewhere near the rear of the car and also wired into the dual tone horns (standard). Blipper works correctly now!!!!!

Took it to Mr T yesterday - atitude of the Manx is so helpful and friendly. I agreed to a single hour's labour (£65 + VAT) for them to carry out a full diagnostics and report back. OBDII came back with codes C1241 and C0371.

Car Battery (original) was tested and passed so not about to die on me. Apart from checking over the various fuses, they replaced the fuse and stuck it on charge for 2-3 hours. Pleased to see they also carried out a full visual check of the vehicle before handing it back at the end of the day.

Coz the car is now only doing 6 miles a day round trip to work & back (used to be 40) I do wonder if the Battery is just not getting enough charge and over time the levels have droppped to a point where its triggered the system - is this possible? If it is, I may invest in a charger just to top it up once a month or 2.

Jim

[Q.S.]

Hi this is not an aftermarket alarm it is a toyota fitted factory fitted one,

As for the remote key have you got it to work via pressing the buttons?

Right, so the factory fit system fires up on both siren and horns, that's unusual. Never actually set mine off so that's news to me. We have vehicles in our fleet (not Toyota) fitted with both factory and aftermarket alarms on the same vehicle and they can cause all sorts of problems and confusion.

Glad you've got sorted anyway.