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alarm goes off by itself
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wernst
Member
- Joined
- November 24, 2001
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 2
- City, State
- Fullerton, CA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 98 Limited 4X4
Mine too! It just started last night.
At first, I thought someone was just screwing around with my Explorer, but last night it happened, then I clicked the alarm off and on with the fob, and then it happened again as I was still walking towards it. No one was around.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
-Warr
At first, I thought someone was just screwing around with my Explorer, but last night it happened, then I clicked the alarm off and on with the fob, and then it happened again as I was still walking towards it. No one was around.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
-Warr
wernst
Member
- Joined
- November 24, 2001
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 2
- City, State
- Fullerton, CA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 98 Limited 4X4
OK, here's the deal so far.
I serached the archive for "alarm itself" and came up with a mere 18 pages of hits.
The "honking" aspect of the alarm is controlled by a few simple things. There are at least 6 "door switches" and the computer itself. Basically, the alarm will only go off if the comptuer detects that a door has been opened.
On my Explorer, the alarm would go off. I'd click the "unlock" button on the FOB, and there would be silence. I'd click lock, and the alarm would arm. It would be silent for between 2 minutes and two hours. During this time, the interior dome light was not on.
This tells me that 5 of the 6 door switches are OK. Assuming that the computer is not the probem.
That leaves the last door switch. What door, you ask? It's the freaking HOOD! There is a pushbutton switch that is pressed closed when the hood is closed. My reading through the archives here indicates that this switch can fail prematurely. This would set off the alarm.
It looks like an inexpensive part to replace, but you can also just remove the two wires from the bottom of the switch and strip them and twist them together, which defeats the switch and makes the alarm think the hood is always closed. If this solves the problem, then the hood switch is the culprit.
I just sprayed some contact cleaner in the switch now, and I'll see if this solves it. If not, I'll connect the wires together. If that works, I'll get a new switch.
Finally, the red "panic" button on the fob will disarm the honking (until you drive it again) if you press it WHILE THE ALARM IS HONKING. That should get you some quiet for the nigt.
Well, I hope this is all accurate, and it helps. If I find out more, I'll post back.
-Warr
I serached the archive for "alarm itself" and came up with a mere 18 pages of hits.
The "honking" aspect of the alarm is controlled by a few simple things. There are at least 6 "door switches" and the computer itself. Basically, the alarm will only go off if the comptuer detects that a door has been opened.
On my Explorer, the alarm would go off. I'd click the "unlock" button on the FOB, and there would be silence. I'd click lock, and the alarm would arm. It would be silent for between 2 minutes and two hours. During this time, the interior dome light was not on.
This tells me that 5 of the 6 door switches are OK. Assuming that the computer is not the probem.
That leaves the last door switch. What door, you ask? It's the freaking HOOD! There is a pushbutton switch that is pressed closed when the hood is closed. My reading through the archives here indicates that this switch can fail prematurely. This would set off the alarm.
It looks like an inexpensive part to replace, but you can also just remove the two wires from the bottom of the switch and strip them and twist them together, which defeats the switch and makes the alarm think the hood is always closed. If this solves the problem, then the hood switch is the culprit.
I just sprayed some contact cleaner in the switch now, and I'll see if this solves it. If not, I'll connect the wires together. If that works, I'll get a new switch.
Finally, the red "panic" button on the fob will disarm the honking (until you drive it again) if you press it WHILE THE ALARM IS HONKING. That should get you some quiet for the nigt.
Well, I hope this is all accurate, and it helps. If I find out more, I'll post back.
-Warr
Lemondrop
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- August 28, 2001
- Messages
- 245
- Reaction score
- 2
- City, State
- Cocoa , Florida
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1995 Sport , 1996 XLT 5.0
My rear door is real touchy on my 95 , If I dont slam it real hard it will turn the door open light on when I go around corners and such .
alex
Member
- Joined
- September 2, 1999
- Messages
- 19
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Minneapolis, MN
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '97 XLT
me too!
I have no idea if my problems are related to yours but...
I have a '97 XLT. I recently had an aftermarket alarm installed at Best Buy (Black Widow brand) I had to take it back to the best buy install shop 4 times before it finally worked correctly. It kept randomly going off for no reason!! after the 4th trip back, the installer finally hooked up a bunch of diagnostic stuff and said the reason it's going off is because every 15-30 minutes, the "door voltage" would drop suddenly for a second or two and that would trigger the alarm. really weird! He did some trick to the alarm relay switches that prevented it from happening, and now my alarm works fine. But I was definitely pulling my hair out for a while. I wonder if this is just an explorer specific thing...?
I have no idea if my problems are related to yours but...
I have a '97 XLT. I recently had an aftermarket alarm installed at Best Buy (Black Widow brand) I had to take it back to the best buy install shop 4 times before it finally worked correctly. It kept randomly going off for no reason!! after the 4th trip back, the installer finally hooked up a bunch of diagnostic stuff and said the reason it's going off is because every 15-30 minutes, the "door voltage" would drop suddenly for a second or two and that would trigger the alarm. really weird! He did some trick to the alarm relay switches that prevented it from happening, and now my alarm works fine. But I was definitely pulling my hair out for a while. I wonder if this is just an explorer specific thing...?
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