Register member Peter recounts his recent alarm experience:
“I've owned my 3.2 for 14 years and have always taken the alarm for granted. Unusually, one morning the alarm went off. Pressing the button on the key fob silenced the siren, and I thought no more about it. A few days later I went to move the car, pressed the button on the fob, and nothing - no central locking, no flashing indicators and no beeps from the alarm. A fresh battery in the fob had no effect. The driver's door unlocked with the key, but the alarm remained silent and the car wouldn't start.
“In the documentation that came with the car was a receipt and user manual from 2009 for the installation of a Cobra 4138 alarm. My knowledge of alarms at this point was very limited - no idea how many components, how they connected to the wiring or where they are located within the car, other than the siren under the engine cover. Fortunately, Google quickly found an installation manual for a later version on cobracartech.co.uk which proved to be very helpful. The Cobra setup consists of the siren, a control module, cabin LED/control button, ultrasonic sensors and a bundle of wires, plus the remotes of course, I assume other alarms are similar.
“Armed with my new knowledge, a torch and my multimeter, I headed into the garage. Luck was on my side, as the problem was very quickly traced to the control module power feed from the fuse box. Re-terminating a link wire, cleaning the fuse box contacts and replacing the fuse for good measure, resulted in a fully operational alarm.
Peter says "Sorry, the control module is camera shy as it's tucked behind a substantial piece of loom and difficult to capture”
“The control module was found located high in the passenger footwell but the wiring to the central locking, the indicators and the starter motor circuit is not easy to follow, so a bit more investigation still required on my part. The immobiliser function simply routes the starter motor relay circuit via two green wires into the alarm control module. So, if the 17-year-old alarm suffers a catastrophic failure away from home, I now have the knowledge to unplug the siren and bypass the immobiliser by linking the two green wires.
“I was very lucky my car was at home, and was a simple fix, but I recommend you all spend a bit of time getting to know your alarm, even if it's just knowing the make/model and where the control module is located.”
Thank you, Peter, useful information and thanks for thinking of the Register.
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