1992 Explorer. What's with this flashing light? Did my car grow an alarm?

[julieann]

I haven't been driving much lately, and forgot to go out to give her a weekly start for... several weeks. Last night we went to jump her, lights came on but no start, no noise, nothin'. And a light I'd never seen before came on, in the padded part of the dash, not with the idiot lights, below the check engine light. It's small, round, red, flashes 3 times, then pauses. Continues after key's removed.
My sister insists it's an auto theft light, but I'm fairly certain it didn't grow one over night.
Help me. Don't make me pull the "I'm just a girl" card. I will if I have to, but it's been a long day, and that takes energy.
Thanks.
J.

 

[1Aauto]

Welcome to the site.:wavey:

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread into the stock 91-94 section. Could you take a picture of the area with the flashing light?

 

[DENZILH]

my cousins car did nearly the same thing.unhook the battery for a few minutes and then put it back-it cleaned her ones mind and it acted as normal after that.an auto electrician diagnosed a worn out starter cylinder9where the key goes in for starting) on hers, but I have not been in contact with her again since she told me that.hope it helps.

 

[Maniak]

I haven't been driving much lately, and forgot to go out to give her a weekly start for... several weeks. Last night we went to jump her, lights came on but no start, no noise, nothin'. And a light I'd never seen before came on, in the padded part of the dash, not with the idiot lights, below the check engine light. It's small, round, red, flashes 3 times, then pauses. Continues after key's removed.
My sister insists it's an auto theft light, but I'm fairly certain it didn't grow one over night.
Help me. Don't make me pull the "I'm just a girl" card. I will if I have to, but it's been a long day, and that takes energy.
Thanks.
J.

That sure sounds like an aftermarket alarm type thing. There isn't anything like that in a first gen X from the factory.

Our X came with a clifford alarm type thing. The kind you had to put in a funky key type thing in otherwise nothing would happen when you turned the key.

My Inlaws have some funky aftermarket thing that came with their car. Theirs doesn't have a key type thing But if you let the battery get too low in their car and you open the door and do not try to start the car within about 30 seconds it wont start (nothing happens when you turn to start). If you wait past the 30 seconds you get a flashing red light under the dash. There is a button next to it and on their car you hold the button with the key in the 'on' position and now you can start the car.

No idea if either is what you have, but it definitely sounds like someone put something in there and you just managed to trip it.

~Mark

 

[Mudboy]

aftermarket alarm blues. I just got over that disease. I had a little red flashing light on my dash as well. One day my vehicle wouldn't start unless I had teh key on the on postion and jumped the solenoid on the fender. My hazards also wouldn't go off. I took about 20 minutes of my life and ripped all of the aftermarket crap out of tehre and used butt connectors to hook the factory harness back to stock specs. After I got my vehicle starting properly I ran over the control unit of the aftermarket box breaking it into peices. This is my second vehicle with an aftermarket alarm for now on I will rip them out of any vehicle that I buy and also any vehicles that come to me that won't start. theyre junk.

 

[julieann]

Aftermarket? Would that be built into the foam of the dash? I'm in the middle of moving and I'm not sure where my camera is.
My mechanic towed it off today. I was exhausted from beating on it. Hopefully he'll find the problem so I can sell the silly thing.
Henceforth I drive nothing built past '80. I miss lifting the hood and being able to recognize/fix everything myself. Can't afford gas anyway, might as well.
Thanks, guys, I'll let you know what happens.
J.

 

[Mudboy]

Let me know I'm curious. I hear ya on the newer vehicles they are a pain if youre not used to them. As far as being in the foam of the dash, you'd be surprised what some installers do.

 

[westfield]

Oh no ! sounds like bad ju ju...your ex is cursed. You need to give it to me !

 

[Maniak]

Aftermarket? Would that be built into the foam of the dash? I'm in the middle of moving and I'm not sure where my camera is.
My mechanic towed it off today. I was exhausted from beating on it. Hopefully he'll find the problem so I can sell the silly thing.
Henceforth I drive nothing built past '80. I miss lifting the hood and being able to recognize/fix everything myself. Can't afford gas anyway, might as well.
Thanks, guys, I'll let you know what happens.
J.

Eeek.. you like what was built in the 80's with all those vacuum lines and funky emissions equipment that didn't really work or stay working?

I like the 60's and 70's for simplicity, but of course they weren't the most efficient or powerful (for the size engines they were). But there is something said for an ODB-II system and a real scanner that can not only read codes but also test sensors/solenoids itself.

As for the light being on the padded part, I've seen the LED for aftermarket (read, someone else put it in) alarm/ignition interlocks place in all kinds of places. I've seen them put into the top of the dash(padded part), into the instrument cluster, front of the dash and even places in the defrost vent so all you saw was the glow of the LED on the windshield.

Almost forgot. You can install an alarm/ignition interlock system into a 60's and 70's vehicle too in which case you could have the same issue you have now.. The difference would be there would be much less wiring under the dash to dig through to rip out what someone else put in.

~Mark

 

[mhallack]

Thank the big Explorer gods I don't have ANY kind of alarm system in my truck. I had an aftermarket alarm in an old 90 Toyota pick up truck years ago. Was put in by the dealership for free as part of the sale. Nothing but trouble. I don't even know why I had it on that truck since it was an EXTREME base model. Didn't even come with a radio or rear bumper!!

If it's being serviced now and you have the $$$$ have them either remove the system or permanently disable it. And it's not like car alarms are theft deterrents anyway.

 

[Mudboy]

Mine was a rather simple removal.
two wires on the far drivers side were cut and spliced into 4 different wires going to the control box. about 4 wires were spliced into over there as well. Closer to the steering column, a little to the right was were the ignition wire was tapped into going to 2 wires going back to the box also one or two wires were spliced into over there as well. 2 small wires went to the flashing light. two wires went to a dingling button hidden under the dash and 2 wires went to the horn under the hood. It took about 30 minutes to find everything and put togetehr a game plan, it took about 20 minutes to rip it all out and tape over were the factory wires were stripped and also to crimp connectors onto the few wires that were cut in half. All together I had less than 1 hour invested into removing a useless peice of electronics that was alrfready failed to an extent and bound to fail again if repaired or replaced.

 

[julieann]

Eeek.. you like what was built in the 80's with all those vacuum lines and funky emissions equipment that didn't really work or stay working?

I said past '80. I like looking under the hood and saying, oh, look, I know what and where everything is. Not - there's a massive water leak coming from somewhere, and dammed if I know from where. Sigh. A nice '76 muscle car.

Anyway, thanks. Apparently my guy can't fix it, though I'm printing up the 'simple removal' 2-wire instructions.

Thanks, guys.

J.