Hi guys,

sorry to butt in like this - I noticed the general chat was about my part of the world - I'm near Alton in Hants. I have "inherited" an R-reg 2.0 turbo and have for a few mopnths been bewildered by the alarm system, The other day, somehow, the immobiliser kicked in and that has now drained the battery. I had a guy from Autoentry in Guildford say he'd come and see it but he was taken ill and is now on holiday. I have all the three keys (including also a small key on the same ring as the main key - which soemone has told me turns off the alarm) but no code card (something the manual mentions) - I have tried to charge the battery but the alrm comes on and I don't seem to be able to turn it off....

any tips gratefully received, or any idea who might be in the area who could help. Tony at TJMS near Fleet has moved to Camberley (he has a Coupe) but doesn't seem to be picking up the phone for soem reason....

thanks in advance

Welcome to the forum

The ring key that you've got turns of the siren but not the alarm itself, the siren is on the front right of the engine bay.

There were two types of alarms fitted on coupes, from the age of your car you probably have a Scorpion alarm - can you confirm this? As for the key card, most UK cars didn't come with one so you're not alone in that respect...

It's worth remembering that unless the alarm has been modified in some way then the alarm and the immobiliser are not linked in any way - if the alarm is going off you can still start and drive the car.

It's possible that something else is draining the battery and then the low battery is setting the alarm off, it may not be the alarm itself at fault. There are lots of causes for draining batteries on these cars, chief amongst them probably being that the power to the radio is not cut when the ignition is turned off. Lots of radio head units do not account for this, so even when the head unit it turned off it may be pulling power from the battery.

Gareth

thanks Gareth - appreciate that.

I'm going to try and charge the battery and turn off the alarm and then (my understanding is) that I need to identify the ECU (any idea where that is? - I was told it was under the bonnet on the drivers side but I can't seem to see it - it has an IAF number on it apparently - this is what AutoEntry need to get the imobiliser released) so that the car can be mobilised again.

I'm not the most techincioal mided of posters on this forum I'm afraid...

Do you have a rectangular key fob with 2 buttons, a red LED top right and a little slider switch on the right? (should also have a FIAT logo) - if so you have a Scorpion 918U upgrade like me. I fitted a new siren to mine a while ago but still have the old one, not sure if the keys were different. One thing to bear in mind is that if the siren unit gets water in it, it can trigger the alarm, so if you've been driving through a lot of puddles recently that could be it. (cure, remove siren from brackets and give it a shake, better still open it up and dry it) Also when you go to start the engine, the red LED in the car (next to the gear stick) should flash a number of times if the alarm has gone off, and this can help diagnose problems.

You're welcome to pop up near the M3 Junc 3 and see me if you want, I might be able to help?

Thanks for that Dave - I do have the same fob as you, and I'll try what you suggest - the other issue is the the car is immobilised and I'm trying to discover what I need to do to get the car going again. I have been told its all down to the ECU unit (wherever that is - not the most techncially minded me....) - I have all three keys - I would have through there would just be a simple procedure to get it going again rather than the £400-£500 someone has told me after a visit from Fiat...?

any tips gratefully received.....yours, not very mechanically minded...

Is the car definitely immobilised? If you use one of the non-red keys does the CODE light stay lit on the dash?

The CODE light can sometimes stay on if the battery has been disconnected or has previously been very low on power. Try removing the IGN and EFI fuses for ten minutes and replacing them. Those fuses are found at the back right of the engine bay under a black cover with IGN and EFI written on them, take the cover off and you'll see two big fuses.

Gareth

There are different places where the ECU can live. I'm summing some of them up, but the place differs from country to country AND if the importer had them fitted or they were fitted in the factory.

True factory fit: on/off keyhole lives in the glovebox behind a plastic / rubber cap. ECU is integrated with the actual car's wiring loom and lives behind the left front wing. Easiest is to remove the two screws at the top that hold the wing and 'bend' it outwards a bit. The sirene and ECU are rolled into one and are Meta branded. They are actually Meta M99T modules with custom connectors and up to now I've not known of anyone who is able to reprogram these.

Importer fit - most UK cars: Meta M99T or M99T2 (square M100 or round M2500 remote with one button). Can be 8-digit or 16-digit coded with rotating codes. ECU lives ABOVE the fuse box - pull it down as far as it goes and then have a peak around up there, it should be between the wires. Siren can live in the engine bay clearly visible or again behind the front wing. There is no immobiliser system integrated into the alarm. So it only is noise and operates the central door locking (central unit under front seat). Alarm can be reprogrammed www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk even if no key fob is working anymore.

Importer fit - Belgium: cars were fitted with M99T2 alarm with M2500 remotes and an extra immobiliser system M36 by Meta which lives in the central console (handbrake) and uses an extra little electronic key (in case of trouble) RK36S. Sirene just sits in the engine bay, ECU should be right next to it or beneath the wing.

regards your first paragraph - before the battery went flat that was the case (ie - the red light stayed lit using non-red keys) - now the battery's flat obviously the red light's not on - I'll charge the battery and then do what you suggest with the two fuses - many thanks Gamu...

Aha, if the battery went flat, the CODE system may have got screwed up, but if so the CODE light will stay on (orange). Once the battery is charged and connected up, you might find it has cured itself, if not, perhaps the CODE box ECU needs to be reprogrammed (I had mine done by GrahamL but luckily I had the CODE card so I could use the emergency start procedure before it was fixed)

Does the little red LED on the dashboard stay on continously? (The one to the right of the clock).

Have you had the battery capacity tested recently?

I had some similar problems recently which appear to have been resolved with a new battery.

Great sum-up. Have been wondering where my alarm ECU is located...

Got the factory installation and found no way of locating it. This is my story regarding the alarm: Went to the workshop to have some work done to it (think it was a exhaust manifold swap), went out to the car to unlock it but it wouldn't open with the remote. The technician said he locked the car a few hours before. I tried to swap batteries but no luck. Went to pick up spare remote but didn't work.

Finally opened car, disabled the alarm with the switch. Went home, fiddled with the remotes but no luck. Lived without the alarm for a while, gave it another go after a while. And yes! the alarm worked. Tried both remotes and suddenly got the second remote to work as well. After this, the alarm worked quite good. For a while... Gradually, more and more button pushes where needed to open the car. Finally it gave up all together. Alarm action is functioning fully (if I use the switch, the alarm works the way it should). The problem is that the remotes don't work. Judging by the way my problems emerged, I believe that the problem lies in the receiving end, either the sensor or ECU itself... And since I got everyting working again after a while for no apparent reason, it sounds like a ground issue or some faulty connections somewhere...

Any idea where to start looking?

Might be the microswitches on the remotes that are worn out and working sporadically. Open them up and try bridging the contacts with just a piece of electric wire. If it works, either get new switches soldered on or replace the remotes. But... Better act soon as you need a working remote to programme a new one. Procedure to add remotes is in the meta alarm faq in the how to section.

The odd thing is that both remotes are acting the same, and my second remote was essentially unused when I started using it (and still is pretty much unused)... Seems odd for two remotes to die at the same time.

If I only had one remote and it started acting up, I'd be inclined to think I have the above problem. But now, I'm not sure.

Try spraying the contacts for the module. Module lives above the glovebox in yours.