alarm lesson

[herm]

Learned something about the pathy alarm system today..... after work the truck wouldn't start. Key is dead...Hmmm, pop hood, check battery terminals, check fuses.... grab a co-worker to get a jump.

 

As soon as I hook up the jumper cables the alarm is triggerred, horns blaring, lights flashing.... still I try to carry on with the jump but no-go. I unplug the horns (all 3) and try again, still dead - won't take a jump. Obviously I have no idea how to properly disable the alarm....and of course the owners manual is not in the glovebox today.

 

This confuses me, I've never had an alarm system triggered by a jump......luckily my mechanic is a few blocks from my office, he tells me the alarm system overides the ignition, since it assumes the jumper cables is actually someone jacking the truck. Once i do the "unlock drivers door with the key" to disable the alarm it accepts a jump.

 

It didn't occur to me to do that, since I had "unlocked drivers door with the key" in the first place to get in it. I'm still a little vague as to where I set myself up to trigger the alarm.

 

Now I need to figure out why it died in the first place. I may have accidentaly hit the switch to the Hellas on my way out, but that would be a first... we'll run the snap-on computer on it today.

 

m.

[deej]

I think its if you arm the system, any electrical "interruption" will set the alarm off.I.E. unlocking the doors with a key then opening the door turns the interior light on. I had this happen when I fell asleep in the Pathy and then unlocked the door manually from inside and then openned the door only to get rudely awoke :o your jumper connection was an electrical interruption.

[squam1]

although you unlocked the door - the battery was dead so the alarm brain didn't get the signal that you were disabling it. The alarm automatically arms 30 seconds after you lock the doors (keyless or otherwise). It is disarmed by unlocking... Since your batter was dead, you kicked the alarm on when you went to jump it - again, the brain didn't know you unlocked/disarmed the alarm - so it went off...

 

unlocking after hooking up power would cure that. If ever you alarm goes off - unlocking the truck with the key in the driver's door will disable every time...