Alarm problem...seeking wisdom

[Galileo]

Greetings all,

I'm a long time lurker, first time poster, and I come seeking counsel. I own a red 98 RT, which I enjoy immensely, but ran into a strange problem this weekend that has my car stranded in the garage. I was washing the car exterior with the alarm engaged, and after finishing up noticed that the red alarm light had stopped flashing. I hadn't opened the hood, trunk, or doors, and the alarm never fired in any audible way, but the car was completely shutdown. The fobs do not work, the engine will not even try to turn over, and it hasn't a trace of electrical power; no lights, no horn, no ac, dashboard lights, not even the tiny door ajar light.

I've tried turning the keyslot between the seats, disconnecting the battery, retraining the fobs, nothing has any effect, not even an alarm chirp. My car went from fully functioning to braindead in a 30 minute span. Am I offbase in thinking this is an alarm issue? The symptoms sound electrical, but the battery is fine, the wires have been checked. I drove the car the same morning.

I appreciate your insights,

Galileo

 

[Ulysses]

How did you check your battery? Could be reading fine unloaded, but turn on the ignition switch and load it and it can't produce enough to start the car.

I was in a similar situation where I started her up, drove down to the gas station and filled her up. Got back in and click...click...click. Soon it was nothing at all, no radio no dash lights. Battery was on the hairy edge and then drained in that short drive.

If you had the radio on while washing, it could have done the same.

 

[Andy 98 RT/10]

The same thing happened to me about two weeks ago, then I popped the hood and disconnected the wires from the battery's positive terminal, let it sit apart for 30 sec, and reconnected it. It seemed to work after that.

 

[Ron]

If the alarm is armed the engine would still crank, just not start.

 

[AviP]

If the alarm is armed the engine would still crank, just not start.

Yup, that's the fuel shutoff circuit.

 

[MoparMan]

Sounds like it could be a dead PCM.

 

[Batboy]

Double check the terminals and contacts of the battery. Even clean looking ones can get corroded and not make good enough contact. This has happened to me before. Open a door and wiggle the terminals. You should get a little spark and the inside light should come on. If not, measure the voltage under a load. The problem sounds more at the source (i.e. battery) than the alarm unless something is comletely short circuiting the battery. In that case hook up a charger or different battery with nothing turned on. If you see sparks or something melts something is draining the power when the car is off (like the alarm). Of course, this may be normal, but at least it gives you an idea what's going on with the electrical system.