Help Alarm Going Off

[Trafficman]

55 reg T-spirit. Alarm goes off for 30 seconds after vehicle parked for 20-25 minutes. It does this even if internal sensor is disabled by pressing button under stearing wheel on single or double lock and even if key used in the door. All doors, tailgate and bonnet seem fully closed. After 2 or 3 resets it settles down for the day or evening. Started doing this last Friday and getting worse. Does it quiet car park ata work and at home (out in te country). No sungalsses in holder (in any event have disabled internal sensor).

Getting on mine and neighbours wick, probably at present p,,sing folk of in Term 3 car park at Birmingham airport. Worried that I will have a flat Battery on my return!

Westlands Toyota not being particularly helpful except "leave it with us for a couple of days... in the mean time remove the earth on the Battery in the boot!"

Anyone any ideas? OR is there a series of clever keystrokes to disable the alarm altogether before my neighbours lynch me?

Many thanks

[timberwolf]

My guess (a stab in the dark) would be the 12V supply i.e.

Age of the 12V Battery (is the Battery the original factory fitted one).

A weak 12V Battery can apparantly cause weird electrical faults.

Corroded earthing points.

Loose 12V battery connections.

[Trafficman]

My guess (a stab in the dark) would be the 12V supply i.e.

Age of the 12V battery (is the battery the original factory fitted one).

A weak 12V battery can apparantly cause weird electrical faults.

Corroded earthing points.

Loose 12V battery connections.

Thanks Timberwolf. Battery original but only 3 and a half years old.

It could be apossibility that it sudenly loses a bit of charge it gained whist moving and then therer is a significant drop which the alarm detects a intruder doing something with the electrics...... hmmmmmm

Trafficman

[ticktockmac]

Make sure you don't have anything metallic - coins or even sunglasses with metal rims or metal in the arms - in the small compartment in the roof near the mirror. Several people have reported this as the cause of alarm problems and in my T Spirit there is a small label inside warning against leaving metal objects in it.

[Trafficman]

Thanks Ticktocmac....

No sunglasses or coins and in any event disabled the internal sensor with the button under the steering wheel.

I am off to Westlands Toyota this afternoon and will wait and work until they provide a solution!

However i think Timberwolf probably has it right. If I leave the car for an hour unlocked having driven it, and then lock it the alarm does not go off! I think the Battery is losing a volt or two after half an hour and the alrm is picking this up as an intruder.

I will post Westlands' findings!

[mike aker]

55 reg T-spirit. Alarm goes off for 30 seconds after vehicle parked for 20-25 minutes. It does this even if internal sensor is disabled by pressing button under stearing wheel on single or double lock and even if key used in the door. All doors, tailgate and bonnet seem fully closed. After 2 or 3 resets it settles down for the day or evening. Started doing this last Friday and getting worse. Does it quiet car park ata work and at home (out in te country). No sungalsses in holder (in any event have disabled internal sensor).

Getting on mine and neighbours wick, probably at present p,,sing folk of in Term 3 car park at Birmingham airport. Worried that I will have a flat battery on my return!

Westlands Toyota not being particularly helpful except "leave it with us for a couple of days... in the mean time remove the earth on the battery in the boot!"

Anyone any ideas? OR is there a series of clever keystrokes to disable the alarm altogether before my neighbours lynch me?

Many thanks

i have a problem where my alarm goes off when it feels like it, has got worse last week or so even if i only lock doors by key and not remote. last 2 days has gone off while driving. i found a bonnet switch i think may be problem. i left bonnet open for a while and it did not alarm. now shut bonnet hard and now waiting to see if ok. ( i am only guessing this switch is for alarm)

[Trafficman]

Alarm fault apparently a faulty sensor in "the headlining" guess they mean the ultra-sonic by the interior lights - find this strange as it false alarmed even if I disabled it using the push button below the steering wheel. Apparently Mt T technical reckoned that theer were a batch of faulty sensors which cause problems and the fault code displayed.........

Not convinced, but at least I get my beloved Prius back and can return the Vectra estate black heubik that my co hired for me!

Trafficman

[timberwolf]

I wouldn't have guessed that outcome.

Thanks for the update.

[Chris Dance]

Glad you have it sorted; must have been worrying and annoying for you. I did not know there was a sensor in the headlining. We learn all the time. Thanks for letting us know the outcome.

[Trafficman]

Sadly alarm still going off but at longer intervals!

Not convinced that the stated repair process was actually followed....... ie trips and economy screen all set to zero (presumably after the last time the Battery was reconnected, which I think points to a lack of road testing or soak testing..... also time on clock infers that the Battery was only reconnected 10 minutes before I was told the vehicle was "fixed". But of course maybe I am being unfair, after all the experts know best.

By the way "headlining" seemed to be the sensors by the sunglass holder and interior light! Alsthough they have done a magnificent job to change components without any real sign of disruption/marks.

Back to square one but with an even poorer relationship between me and the dealer.......!

:(

[Chris Dance]

Sorry to hear that Trafficman.

Please keep us informed of what happens next. I do hope you get it sorted.

Regards Chris.

[Trafficman]

After going off randomly twince in the first two days after the "repair", it now seems to have settled down for the last two weeks.... not the most satisfactory of soltions!

Trafficman :o

[Chris Dance]

One of those weird faults. I hope it stays fixed for you. I still think the Prius is the best car I have ever owned.

Chris.

[Highlander12345]

I had this problem with my Toyota Highlander 2008. Never had this problem before, alarm would go off randomly at work or worse yet, Sunday mass or dinner date. It was frustrating/embarassing.

I removed all cups, glasses, loose change, bottles and still no avail.

I thought it might be electrical and took it into the toyota shop.

I had them park it outside the bay so that the could check it out once it started.

They check out the electrical and all was fine.

I told them to keep the car outside the bay and just wait.

Sure enough, the alarm went off.

Technician recognized that there are sensors in the doors and hood was able to determine that the pressure sensor calibration was off after checking each one. It was in the hood. This is what they said and since the time it was adjusted, I have had ZERO recurrences in 1.5 years so I have to believe he was right. I hope this help any future toyota owners.

Highlander12345

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Quite a few posts of similiar problems on the US Prius site and most of those have been traced back to the boot not being shut 100% true.

Never had the alarm go off on mine but I have had a few occasions where I thought I'd shut the boot lid only to have the open door light flicker on after about 2 mins.

Guess it's worth a look?