funny alarm symptom I can't puzzle out..

[bvk]

I know alarm issues aren't generally discussed here, and I'm happy to take any advice in pm's, but I'm stumped with something here!

I have a '98 GTS (pics included at the end!) with 15K miles, pretty much stock other than penske coilovers, exhaust, K&N's, tubes and brake ducts. I also have the service manual and body diag book.

typically when I lock the car I get a triple chirp (note NOT when I unlock the car), and while it locks the doors, it does not actually activate the alarm - I can unlock the trunk, and even start the car without pressing the unlock button. The red light flashes once when it triple chirps, but not after that.

when I press the unlock button, everything is fine - indicators flash twice and the doors are activated.

Now, I've been through some extensive troubleshooting of my own, and I even thought I fixed it - and here's where it gets interesting.

I've re-synced the remote with the car, and I've reset the module with that special little procedure described in the service manual. At first that worked and I thought I had fixed it (a single chirp, alarm is on and activates, red light flashes etc etc). But typically after a drive or a few hours it seems to go back to the triple chirp, door lock only mode. Resetting the module only sometimes causes the system to fix itself, which is the random part im having trouble with.

Couple of misc facts:
- the car has a new battery (not the remote, that's next, but it works from a good distance)
- the car is on a battery tender when in the garage, and starts/operates flawlessly in every other respect.

Despite reading the manual, I can't quite figure this out, so my questions are as follows:
- what does a triple chirp on locking mean?
- why would the alarm seem to only partly work? The remote still locks/unlocks the car, just doesnt activate the alarm. When it does work after a reset, it works 100%.
- Should I reprogram the remote through the grounding procedure (I don't have the reader)? That is a next step but i didnt want to do it unless necessary.

Any help appreciated! As you can imagine I'm much prefer to have the car fully armed when I'm not in it And again I'd be happy with PM's if this isn't an appropriate topic for the full forum audience.

Oh, so here's some pics just to ensure the thread is not worthless

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[01ACR/VIPER]

The triple chirp is only when the car was tampered with and it set the alarm off.Lets say someone opened the hood while the alarm was on....it would trigger the alarm for a min. or so and then reset itself.When you get to your car and hit the unlock,the alarm will chirp three times tellin you that something happened.If I where you,I would check your hood and trunk alarm swithces.Make sure they are working.Sounds to me like one of your switches is messing up causing it to not set the alarm correctly...intead telling you something is wrong?

 

[bvk]

Yes I had a look at that - the weird thing is it gives me the triple chirp when I lock the car, not when it unlocks, so I'm not really sure what it means with a triple chirp on lock.

When I got the actual alarm working I tested both doors, the trunk and the hood, the sensors all work fine.

 

[01ACR/VIPER]

Yes I had a look at that - the weird thing is it gives me the triple chirp when I lock the car, not when it unlocks, so I'm not really sure what it means with a triple chirp on lock.

When I got the actual alarm working I tested both doors, the trunk and the hood, the sensors all work fine.

try spraying and working the switches in and out with some pb blaster or some good penetrating lube.make double sure the switches are working.It should only give one chirp when set,three when tampered with.

Oh yea....try cleaning your door latch assy as well.they to are an alarm switch.

 

[V10 ACR]

I had the same problem. Took it to the dealer, took it to the dealer again, took it to the dealer for the third time and they still could not figure it out. I decided to live with it and a few months later when I was installing audio components, I found that the connection for the glove box override switch had come lose and was shorting out. I reconnected it and all has been fine. I would check that connection and the switch itself.

 

[01ACR/VIPER]

I had the same problem. Took it to the dealer, took it to the dealer again, took it to the dealer for the third time and they still could not figure it out. I decided to live with it and a few months later when I was installing audio components, I found that the connection for the glove box override switch had come lose and was shorting out. I reconnected it and all has been fine. I would check that connection and the switch itself.

Good one...i did not think of that switch.

 

[Steve-Indy]

I'm with V10 ACR...red 01 nearby had same symptoms after working to install harnesses...fixed by properly re-connecting wires to VTSS key switch.

 

[bvk]

great thanks, i'll definately take a look, that would explain the intermittent nature of it if the wiring has come loose

 

[0260in3]

I had the same triple-chirp after I installed my racing harnesses. Apparently, when I reconnected the glove box switch the connection wasn't quite being made between the switch and the wire. There is a little c-clip that needs to be completely engaged. Good Luck.

 

[agentf1]

I am having the same issue and was told to take it to the dealer so they could put it on the BDR and see which switch is bad. I fixed the triple beep by resetting the rear hatch switch but my led's on the doors are still staying on and the alarm is still not arming. I figured I would take it to the dealer once the weather gets nice.

How do you clean the door switches? Aren't they inside the door?

How do I check the wires on the glove box switch?

 

[dave6666]

I am having the same issue and was told to take it to the dealer so they could put it on the BDR and see which switch is bad. I fixed the triple beep by resetting the rear hatch switch but my led's on the doors are still staying on and the alarm is still not arming. I figured I would take it to the dealer once the weather gets nice.

How do you clean the door switches? Aren't they inside the door?

How do I check the wires on the glove box switch?

The contacts of the door switches are likely sealed to an extent, as are most switches. Its not hard to get the door panels off if you've never done that. I just had my panels off to Dynamat everything, but honestly don't remember if that latch switch is on the bottom or side. Put one of those red straws on a can of WD40 and clean them latch mechanisms from the outside real good.

The wiring diagram on my '01 GTS shows the disarm switch to operate between the fuse block and the entry module. There is a time delay relay in there too at the fuse block. From the looks of the diagram, the switch is normally open, meaning if the wires weren't connected correctly, everything would be fine until you tried to use the disarm switch. Someone else get their wiring diagrams out and chime in on that.

It looks like however, that with the pin-outs on the entry module, you could check the operation of everything right there where the plate meets the potatoes.