Shoot me now!! My car alarm is going berserk again!!

[msnancy61]

For those of you who have been so kind to lend a hand in my trials and tribulations with my '06... The alarm had gone off a few times at night.. battery dead as a doornail when left while I was on vacation.. then jumped and started going totally whakko (gee, how do you spell that?).. and went off every hour on the hour one night and pissed off the neighborhood.. Well the battery was indeed bad.. and was replaced.. the 12V I mean.. and guess what ??? As you probably gathered by the thread title, my car is up to its dirty tricks again. Two nights ago the alarm went off in my garage.. and now again this morning... UGHHHHHHHHHHH!! Ok.. you Prius technical wizards with loads of miles of experience.. LEND ME YOUR BEST GUESSES!!

NOTE.. no interior lights have been left on and I do put the car in park before I turn it off.. power off.. I know the drill. Car had 5600 miles on it.

Thanks

[Tom_06]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(msnancy61 @ Nov 13 2006, 08:52 AM) [snapback]348126[/snapback]</div>

For those of you who have been so kind to lend a hand in my trials and tribulations with my '06... The alarm had gone off a few times at night.. battery dead as a doornail when left while I was on vacation.. then jumped and started going totally whakko (gee, how do you spell that?).. and went off every hour on the hour one night and pissed off the neighborhood.. Well the battery was indeed bad.. and was replaced.. the 12V I mean.. and guess what ??? As you probably gathered by the thread title, my car is up to its dirty tricks again. Two nights ago the alarm went off in my garage.. and now again this morning... UGHHHHHHHHHHH!! Ok.. you Prius technical wizards with loads of miles of experience.. LEND ME YOUR BEST GUESSES!!

NOTE.. no interior lights have been left on and I do put the car in park before I turn it off.. power off.. I know the drill. Car had 5600 miles on it.

Thanks
[/b]

At this point I'd guess that the "bad" battery was a side effect of another fault that has not yet been found. I expect the replacement battery will now turn out to be bad as well. At this point I'd want to put a ammeter on the 12V battery and see what kind of current drain is going on when it the car is supposed to be off.

I assume when the alarm kept going off, the battery wasn't down to the dead-as-a-doornail condition. There had to be some power available to make all that noise. Sorry to hear that the problem remains.

- Tom

[Frank Hudon]

as the Prius alarm system is tied into the pin switches for the interior lights it could possibly be that one of them is not adjusted right. That is about the only way to trigger the alarm, if they are properly adjusted the only other thing is the alarm module in the body computer. This could be a tough one to figure out so you best make friends with the Prius tech as the two of you will be in contact till your "Wacko" car is not doing it any more.

[mrbigh]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon @ Nov 13 2006, 10:30 AM) [snapback]348172[/snapback]</div>

as the Prius alarm system is tied into the pin switches for the interior lights it could possibly be that one of them is not adjusted right. That is about the only way to trigger the alarm, if they are properly adjusted the only other thing is the alarm module in the body computer. This could be a tough one to figure out so you best make friends with the Prius tech as the two of you will be in contact till your "Wacko" car is not doing it any more. [/b]

We are assuming that you have the OEM car alarm activated, ....don't worry. Is Toyota's policy to correct ANY malfunction through its warranty period. Could be a hood pin mis adjusted or dirty as Frank mentioned before.

If you had a third party alarm installed by "others" including the dealer's recommendation equipment/installer the problem gets a tilt more involved, tilt/shock sensors mis adjusted or a bad CPU; anyway is beyond your control and take it to the dealer for corrections.

[msnancy61]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon @ Nov 13 2006, 10:30 AM) [snapback]348172[/snapback]</div>

as the Prius alarm system is tied into the pin switches for the interior lights it could possibly be that one of them is not adjusted right. That is about the only way to trigger the alarm, if they are properly adjusted the only other thing is the alarm module in the body computer. This could be a tough one to figure out so you best make friends with the Prius tech as the two of you will be in contact till your "Wacko" car is not doing it any more.
[/b]

Thanks everyone for ideas.. I am taking the car over tonight and they are putting a meter on the battery to see if they can find out where the draw is coming from. I did notice that the interior lights above the visors don't work.. maybe there is a short that is screwing it up. As it is now, I can't lock the car because it arms the alarm.. Can't wait to get this resolved. has been very frustrating because so far, except for the dead battery, they haven't been able to recreate the horn honking at the dealer.

[richard schumacher]

Were you in the habit of locking the car EVERY time you parked it? (I mean, back when you *could* lock it, before the battery/alarm went nuts.)

[msnancy61]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(msnancy61 @ Nov 14 2006, 10:11 AM) [snapback]348679[/snapback]</div>

Thanks everyone for ideas.. I am taking the car over tonight and they are putting a meter on the battery to see if they can find out where the draw is coming from. I did notice that the interior lights above the visors don't work.. maybe there is a short that is screwing it up. As it is now, I can't lock the car because it arms the alarm.. Can't wait to get this resolved. has been very frustrating because so far, except for the dead battery, they haven't been able to recreate the horn honking at the dealer.
[/b]

Yes, it is pretty much a habit to lock the car when I leave it. Why? Do you have a theory that might shed some light on this? The car is at the dealer now.. They REALLY dislike my hunches, but I would certainly pass anything you think might make sense along.. Thanks
Nancy

[galaxee]

the visor lights are picky. they have to be switched on, and the visor has to be at a certain angle. kinda freaked me out at first too

[msnancy61]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(msnancy61 @ Nov 14 2006, 08:46 PM) [snapback]349236[/snapback]</div>

Yes, it is pretty much a habit to lock the car when I leave it. Why? Do you have a theory that might shed some light on this? The car is at the dealer now.. They REALLY dislike my hunches, but I would certainly pass anything you think might make sense along.. Thanks
Nancy
[/b]

Update on my quirky car..
Well, the dealer is stumped.. after putting the car through every imaginable test (according to them) advised by the factory experts (?) they are not able to find a darn thing wrong with my car. They don't doubt that the alarm is going off.. they just can't figure out why. Factory says no way to some kind of electical interference around my house.. no strange draw on 12v battery, no shorts.. so no fix...

Do you think the car is calling me?? Is it ALIVE??? Does it mss the warmth of my hands on the steering wheel?? Or...

Is my ex-husband trying to drive me mad???

Thoughts???

[narf]

According to the service manual, here are the items that will set off the alarm once it is armed:

Performing any of following will cause system
to "Alarm sounding state"
• Open any door and allow entry delay
time to elapse
• Open engine hood
• Reconnect battery
• Directly connect power switch without key
(or push power switch ON without key)



The last two seem particularly interesting in your situation. If there is an intermittent battery connection or flakey battery and the voltage drops for a short time while the alarm is armed, when the voltage comes back the alarm will go off.

Also, if there is an intermittent short in the power switch or power switch circuit and the power circuit is triggered with the alarm armed, that will also set off the alarm.

Of course, if any of the door or hood switches close it will also trigger the alarm, and in addition, if you have the optional glass breakage sensor it could be set too sensitive and be getting false triggers.

This is the hardest type of fault to trace because it is clearly very intermittent. If you've noticed any other symptoms, it might be easier to diagnose. Have you ever noticed a dome light coming on for no reason? How about the open door warning light coming on while driving?

Best of luck on this one.