Car has been into the garage for a week to have a power steering pipe replaced. When I went to pick it up the alarm doesnt work, I have to unlock with the key.

The car unlocks fine and the alarm doesnt activate at any point.

First thing I will do is change the battery in the fob - does the fob just split in two?

If that doesnt help then what is the next step?

Is the alarm light on? If not, there might be a small keyhole in the glove compartment.

The fob however does just split in two. Use one of those tiny screwdrivers if you have the square fob (made of soft plastic), but be more careful with the round box.

If you have another fob, try that one. If one stopped functioning, you still have the option of re-programming the other using the working one (procedure in how-to's) or sending in your alarm ECU to have it reprogrammed with new fobs.

Thanks for that Kayjey. Alarm light is still on, only have one fob, a square one. So will start by changing the battery before I move to the next steps.

Microswitches also can wear out. Try and bridge the contact points to find out.

Well £7 later and there are new batteries in the fob, didnt make any difference. Which contacts need bridging?

Which alarm do you have? Scorpion (rectangular fob with two buttons and slider switch on the right) or Meta (square/round fob)

Does the LED light on the fob when you press the button?

Do you have an alarm LED on the dash (eg: on the spare push button) or next to the gear stick? Is that "on" or "off"?

Make sure the locks aren't out of phase, lock both doors with the key, then use the fob, if it doesnn't work, then unlock both doors and try again.

When you say the "alarm doesn't work" do you mean the alarm siren doesn't go off, indicators don't flash, or simply that the remote locking fob doesn;t seem to work?

If you have a Scorpion alarm, there is a key switch on the siren to silence it, maybe that has been used?

Did the workshop disconnect the battery to work on the car? Have you talked to them about it?

Meta alarm with rectangular fob, no LED on the fob. Alarm LED in the spare push button is on. Checked locks, not out of phase. Remote central locking doesnt work, no siren, no indicator flash, no alarm operation whatsoever. Workshop claims that the battery has not been disconnected and that the alarm and remote central locking did not work from the very first time they tried to unlock the car.

I left the car with the alarm working on Monday night, they claim it did not work on Tuesday morning.

try standing next to the drivers door look at the led in the car point the fob under your right ear and press, try it a few times at 10 second intervals .if it works the bat is on it way out in fob.

As above post, fob had brand new batteries in yesterday

Really freakishly close to my story, scroll down to check it out: http://www.fiatcoupeclub.org/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1099554&page=2

No answers though... And the only difference is that my alarm was indeed activated when the system gave up the first time.

Thanks for that, I have read it through.

I have tried bridging all contacts in the remote with no differencce, nothing seems to be working, bizarre

Then it's possibly gone out of sync. Talk to these guys:

http://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk

They can reprogramme the ECU at a fraction of the cost of installing even a non-alarm central locking system (which I had to resort to). They'll also confirm if it's at all working as they'll do a full check.

Yeah I think that may be the next step, though there has been a little development today. When I started the car this afternoon the dash LED went off and has stayed off.

So does it make a difference to everyones diagnosis if the LED is now OFF instead of ON?

Dodgy wiring now killed it off completely?



Do you have a little keyhole in the glove compartment? And do you still have the little key?

I don't think any UK cars ever came with any alarms using keyholes in the glove box, there were only the two systems, Scorpion and Meta (maybe several variations of Meta) but cars in Europe used something else AFAIK

From what I understand it is only certain scorpions that have the keyswitch in the glovebox, mine is a meta

Mine is a meta and has a keyswitch.

In the UK on early Coupes the Scorpion system was 918U with a key switch on the siren mounted just behind the nearside side/fog/indicator light, not in the glovebox. Apart from in the owner's handbook I've never seen a glovebox keyswitch, but we're going a bit off topic I guess...

Bin it and buy a new one

That would involve spending money, something that I dont want to do right now, though ultimately that would be the solution

alarm not working = car being nicked? cost of car? cost of new alarm?

I live in the 2nd safest town in the country, no car has been stolen in the 13 years that I have lived here and at the end of the day the alarm is just a loud noise, the immobiliser is totally seperate and remains unaffected by this problem. Car cost me £440 an alarm would cost me well over half the cars value.

as ag says spot on mate, hey mollymoo well you have answered your own question rip it out and dont bother with one. even better solution.problem solved

I hoped that there would be a relatively simple solution so that I could retain remote central locking, clearly if that solution does exist it isnt to be found in this thread.

Thanks Kayjey, when I have the spare time and cash I will get in touch with Abacus

As long as it is not bothering you, I would just leave it alone for now. I´ll get someone tech savy to have a look at my stuff eventually. Maybe we'll find a solution and I'll let everyone know...

By the way, any idea where the reciever for the alarm is located? I have full alarm functionality with the switch in my glove box, and the second time my alarm gave up on me it got gradually worse with both remotes. Indicating that there might be some issues at the recieving end, bad wiring/ground connection etc?

Good to know where to start looking. I guess the fault should be somewhere inbetween the full functioning ECU and the Reciever in case it is located in another place.

Also Kayjey, I switch for the alarm is above the glove box but you also stated that the ECU is located in the fender on your car. When I routed the cables for my amp I only remember seeing the actual horn. Are you saying that the ECU is located above the glove box as well? I've got a German spec car with a factory installed alarm by the way...

Rask, your alarm sits here...



If you would find anyone who could reprogramme the alarm, let me know. It's not possible in the UK for one reason or another. Personally I've fitted an after-market remote control system and disabled the standard alarm (glovebox key).

Bought of a new-in-box stock alarm complete with everything from Ante. Will try to hook it up to see if it will solves my problems.

Progress!

Planning on installing the alarm tonight. Thought I found a installation manual for the Meta Alarm earlier on but seems to be unable to find it today.

Could anyone help please?