Alarm Issue

[USMCViper]

I own a 97 GTS. Other other night I went out into the garage and noticed that alarm light was not blinking like it normally does. So I thought mabe I left it unlocked. That wasnt the case. Then I thought to myself well the battery is probably dead. After grabbing the keys and hitting the FOB, to my suprise the car beeped and unlocked. What the Hell? So like I normally do I took the the forum. I found a few things, like check the hood plunger, doors, and rear window latch. I manually pressed down on the plunger under the hood and locked the car but still no little red light on the dash. Any idea on how to check the other three myself? I heard something about bad wiring in doors, possibly? If i end up having to take it to the dealership to get it scanned what should I expect to pay for diagnostics? Is there any way I my have accidently turned off the alarm by excessively turning the ignition on and off. You know for the weak fuel check valve problem... Anyways... Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Ryan
Semper Fi

 

[Venomiss]

There are two different locations for the fuses. Under the dash and under the left rear side of the engine compartment for the 97. Have you checked them?

Check your PM's and should be helpful to you since you are close to St.Louis.

 

[Steve-Indy]

Have tried to give this some thought...have a few other questions. Be aware that the 96 and 97 Vipers' EEM have a history of "more than one" failing. While fuse 14 in the fuse Block "under the hood" supplies the VTSS LED via F35, I'm not smart enough to know if the LED alone would be the sole loss with this fuse out...worth checking, though.

I suppose the LED could be out itself, or the wiring to it a problem.

Yes, the wiring to the doors could be failing, but I would think you'd see other symptoms.

DRB III would be handy to check various component switches of the alarm arming process...hood, hatch doors.

Does your car beep twice upon arming with key fob??

Can you uses door switches to lock car?

Hopefully, Wizard, Sessions or Dan Cragin will lend a hand here.

Sorry for rambling...trying to think as I type.

 

[USMCViper]

First, thanks for the help guys. I just got done checking the fuses and they all appear to be fine. The car does beep twice uppon unlocking it. The next thing I checked was manually unlocking the doors. That does NOT work for either door. The lights on the buttons come on and of when I push the button but thats it. Does this sound like an EEM problem?

Thanks again,
Semper Fi

 

[Steve-Indy]

Wish that I knew more!!!

You might think about a visit to Roanoke given your location.

 

[Jerry Dobson]

I have found SEVERAL GEN2 Vipers with cut wires in the door boot. How? No clue. They look like clean cuts. Pull back the rubber boot between the door and the body. The window and door wires are in this boot. Look for a cut wire. Here is what gets most people, if one side is bad, neither side will work. The (EEM) Electronic Entry Module is under the dash above the driver side right leg held on by a rubber strap. It is made by Directed Electronics. (same company that makes generic Viper alarms).

Jerry

 

[Viper Wizard]

I have found SEVERAL GEN2 Vipers with cut wires in the door boot. How? No clue. They look like clean cuts.

There are Trolls everywhere! They sneak into your garage at night and cut your door wires?



http://forums.viperclub.org/new-owner-questions/624587-driver-door.html


That is how the wires break! Think about it, every time you open & close the doors, you are folding the wires back and forth. It time they will all break. Pull your door harness out and do a good repair on the harness. Tech line: 914-763-3136

 

[USMCViper]

Thanks for all the great info. I will take a look at the wires in the door boot and let you know what I find.

Ryan,
Semper Fi

 

[USMCViper]

Did a preliminary check of the wires going into the door by pulling off the rubber boot from the door side only (on both doors). Didn’t see anything obviously wrong with the wires. When I have time this weekend I will finish the job.

Today I took out the snake for transportation day at a local school and something kind of weird happened on the way home. I was sitting in the car with it running while my wife was in the gas station. When she came out I pulled the car around and she went to get in and the door was locked. That was interesting because I didn’t lock the door and if I had tried it wouldn’t have worked because of the issue I have been experiencing. So I clicked the unlock button on the door and it unlocked? Once she got in I tried locking the doors with the same switch on nothing just like before. Interesting... Hopefully I can chase this problem down soon.

Thanks again for all the help,
Ryan
Semper Fi

 

[Steve-Indy]

Doors automatically lock at 5 mph.

 

[Viper Wizard]

Ryan when you get back to the door wiring, remove the harness and then bend the wires [at the boot location] in the opposite direction and if any are bad, you'll find them.

 

[Steve-Indy]

Follow the way of the Wizard!!! How ver, I personally really hate checking wis...especially blind. If you don't have a service manual, it might be good to have someone send you a f of the applicable diagrams and pinouts.

Off topic: you guys still operate C-9 Nightengales out of Scott??

 

[USMCViper]

No more C9's out of Scott from what I can tell.

It turns out that the micro switch on the rear window air shock was out of adjustment so that solved the alarm issue. However, the doors do not lock from the switches on either door. They do lock from the keyless entry. The lights on the switches come on and off when you click them but thats it. Any ideas?


Thanks
Ryan

Semper Fi!

 

[Bird325]

The above advice about checking the switches solved my alarm not activating problem on my GTS. I had replaced the struts and the switch was placed too far down when I installed it on the new strut. Such a SIMPLE solution ... glad I read about it here instead of taking it to the tech.