Alarm Trouble

[SoniaC]

I recently purchased a used 2006 Prius. It runs great and even though it has only been three weeks I love my little blue prius however several times while the car was parked at work the alarm has randomly gone off. This has only happened while I am parked at work. I work in a prison so i have to leave my cell phones in the car and there is a large electric fence. I took the car to the Toyota dealership where I purchased it on Friday. They had two techs look it over who found nothing wrong. They dont believe the cell phones could be as issue but had no exxplanations as to what might be causing this. I love the car but it is a ten minute walk from my office to the parking lot and I have to go through several checkpoints. Twice when the problem occured I was still close enough to see the car so I know nobody was anywhere near it when the alram went off. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks

Sonia

[timberwolf]

Aynthing left in the overhead storage above the rear view mirror (e.g. sunglasses)?
Ultrasonic sensor going bad?
Weak 12v battery?

[SoniaC]

Yes sunglasses in the little holder. They are always there though. No indication of any issues wit the battery accrding to what I have read on this site seems like battery is functioning properly. I will ask the dealership about the sensor you mentioned.

Thanks

[SoniaC]

Yes sunglasses in the little holder. They are always there though. No indication of any issues wit the battery accrding to what I have read on this site seems like battery is functioning properly. I will ask the dealership about the sensor you mentioned.

Thanks

[richard schumacher]

You mean, you measured the 12V battery voltage with a voltmeter, or by using the self test procedure given here:
Checking 12v Battery Health - Hybrid Car Forums

[SoniaC]

[quote=richard schumacher;851429]You mean, you measured the 12V battery voltage with a voltmeter, or by using the self test procedure given here:


Honestly I am making an assumption based on lights etc all functioning as fully expected. I do know this is part of what the techs checked but didn't ask for the specific voltage because it really wouldn't have meant anything to me. My car knowledge is limited to driving - everthing else I leave to someone else.

I did shut off the cell phones today and parked farther away from the electric fence. No occurances of the alarm going off today I am happy to report.

[richard schumacher]

Interesting. There have been a few reports of apparent interference from outside sources; yours may be another.

If it has not been already while you've owned it I advise checking the 12V battery, either yourself as above (it's easy) or ask the service writer to load test it the next time the car gets regular maintenance. The battery may have been drained in the past, which can damage it. Better safe than stranded somewhere.

[Mike Dimmick]

I once had the alarm on my car start wailing when the temperature dropped quite rapidly one evening in January.

I've also had a situation where the car would not respond to the remote unlock on the fob. On that occasion I opened the car with the key, which set the alarm off. Oddly making the car READY doesn't turn the alarm off! Once it was READY, though, it responded to the unlock button again. It was in quite a noisy RF environment which may have confused the alarm.

My car has the alarm and glass-break sensors fitted as standard, but no smart key. We're a lot more concerned about having our cars stolen in this country. That said, the 3G car is coming with smart key on all grades (base only has driver's door).