Problems With Factory Alarm

[Guest Pads]

Hi All,

Picked up the T on Tuesday and could not be happier except for some minor cosmetic things... The car runs great, and goes when it is supposed to.

However the alarm goes off for no reason (that I can determine) EXACTLY 15 minutes after being activated, and continues to do this after it resets itself, or if I reset it. It's a real pain in the a$$ and worries me that it will pi$$ someone off and they will do something to it.

The alarm seems to be in the front guard somewhere, and I can see no way to turn it off . The obvious solution would be to take it to the dealer, but being Christmas and all, it may be a while before either I, or the dealer can do it.

Anybody got any ideas, on A. how to turn the alarm of completely (till I get it fixed), or B. what the problem actually is?

The fact that it happens at 15 minutes everytime means there is some regulated thing causing it. I read somewhere that the computer goes into a sleep mode and may be causing a voltage fluctuation that triggers it?

Anyway any help appreciated.

Ford factory alarm by the way..

Pads.

Edited 26/12/03 12:00 PM by Pads

[Cobra]

pads ... it sounds like you have already figured out your problem ...

I'd lock by the key ... with my dog inside :lol:

off to your dealer mate

congrats on getting your XRT and welcome to the forum !!

[GlennAUII]

I have an idea. go park it outside the dealer principals house at 3am :lol:

[Cashie]

Is it a Ford alarm or an upgrade alarm (non-Ford)?

If it's a non-Ford upgrade alarm and it goes off always 15 minutes after being set, the problem is the boot light circuit.

The boot light circuit goes inactive (in case the boot is open the light goes off after 15 minutes to save the battery) and causes the alarm to sound.

Easily fixed by placing a diode on the line to the boot light. Alarm company should know about this.

[crisso]

I'd lock by the key ... with my dog inside :lol:

yup, lock it with the key until you can get it fixed...

it took me a while to find the key 'ole, but found it in the engine bay up near the brake fluid <see attached>

they may get installed in different places, not sure???

[Guest Pads]

Hmmm.. I did not get a key with the alarm, and I assume it does not use the car keys. Every alarm I have had before has a key, maybe they forgot to give it to me. I will go looking for the key hole now.

If I lock the door with the key (which for some stupid reason I never thought of doing?!) won't the alarm auto arm after 30 seconds anyway?

The boot light does sound like it might be the culprit, but my alarm is supposed to be a factory one, which I assume should be a Ford one.

Off to check now. Thanks for the help.

Pads

[xrdreaming]

Hi Pads and welcome,

Ford don't have a factory alarm, they use third party installers and use third party products and warranty those.

For example some Melbourne dealers use a company in the northern suburbs that install an alarm called a Zennon.

Check your owners manual and you should have some additional paperwork for your alarm in there.

As crisso said the alarm siren module is usually installed in the top left of the engine bay as looking at it from the front of the car, there should be a small key on your key ring that you insert into the back of the siren and turned a half turn to isolate the alarm.

Hope this helps, :banghead:

[XR6TK1W1]

Sorry XRdreaming Ford have a factory alarm. Its a BEM ( Body electronics module ) replacement. If this is what you have Pads, then they do seem to have alot of probs with voltage fluctuations. First open the fuse cover ( the one by the drivers right leg ) and check that the earth wire is tight. Its on a brass looking nut at the bottom right of the board. If it is tight check the fluid levels in your battery are correct as an underfull battery will change its voltage output when it cools, this is unlikely but could cause the prob. And also as has been said earlier it could be the boot light circuit but this would only cause the prob if your battery was underperforming. Hope this helps.

Dave.

Ps the BEM replacement alarm in my car has the siren hidden in the front left panel.

Edited 27/12/03 12:33 AM by XR6TK1W1

[BlueXR6Turbo]

The Ford alarm doesn't have a key to disable it. Very annoying when you are getting something installed that requires disconnecting battery power (because it DOES have battery backup).

[Turbo6man]

Sorry to hear another problem with the factory alarm. It is crap isn't it? My suggestion is to call Ford Customer Assist (roadside assist) and they will send a tech (maybe NRMA) to fix it temporarily.

Other than that just try locking the car with the key - first, to disable the auto arm function of the alarm refer to your owners manual. I think the auto arm can be disabled without a trip to the dealer but not absolutely certain on this.