Intermittent alarm fault?

[John_K]

Hi All

Took the Nismo out on the School run last Tuesday and Thursday pm, gives the car a 30 min warm up run for only 3 miles on the clock! (Bex does normally walk to/from but has had a poorly ankle). Anyway, on returning on Thursday, the alarm went off a couple of times shortly after, but then all settled down...

Did the same run today, and the same has happened...

Solution stage 1? Window reset? Yes/No? Anything else recommended or to watch out for?...steering lock!?...

Any help/thoughts appreciated please

 

[blobbish]

How often are you driving as funky things can happen if the battery gets low.

I would get the battery tested as well.

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[John_K]

3 minutes ago, blobbish said:

How often are you driving as funky things can happen if the battery gets low.

I would get the battery tested as well.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk


 

Thanks for the reply. Battery dial is showing its normal reading, but worth a check, thanks.

Really not driving a lot, but I try and run the engine for 30 mins, to warm everything up, at least once a week (usually whilst washing it). So if anything, i've used it more recently last week and this!

Has been peaceful again this evening, once settled. Both times i've adjusted the handbrake from 'on', to 'on hard', and that's when it goes quiet. Coincidence? Driveway is flat, but maybe it's rocking whilst cooling down, setting off the alarm?

[milanored]

Is your Z in the garage all week apart from when you go out

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[John_K]

13 minutes ago, milanored said:

Is your Z in the garage all week apart from when you go out

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not at the moment, no. Hopefully it will be again soon. Why?

[milanored]

not at the moment, no. Hopefully it will be again soon. Why?

Every year when my z comes of sorn and comes out of the garage to the outside the alarm randomly goes off a few times then settles down. No idea why but it does it every year I just wondered if yours was garaged if it was similar

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[John_K]

4 minutes ago, milanored said:

Every year when my z comes of sorn and comes out of the garage to the outside the alarm randomly goes off a few times then settles down. No idea why but it does it every year I just wondered if yours was garaged if it was similar

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Interesting & bizarre!

Still all quiet, so will continue to monitor.

Thanks for the reply.

[blobbish]

Also. Shut the air vents, this has been know to set off the alarm.

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[John_K]

9 hours ago, blobbish said:

Also. Shut the air vents, this has been know to set off the alarm.

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top tip, thanks

i'm pleased to report no overnight noise!

[1FHL]

Oddly enough I had this also, in the end a new battery was required, but one of the "faults" causing it to go off was the boot latch was loose.

 

Oh and a cat that thinks sleeping on the warm cloth roof is a good idea!

[John_K]

23 minutes ago, 1FHL said:

Oddly enough I had this also, in the end a new battery was required, but one of the "faults" causing it to go off was the boot latch was loose.

 

Oh and a cat that thinks sleeping on the warm cloth roof is a good idea!

again, thanks for the reply

I'm less panicky now!

stage 1 appears to be monitor...

stage 2 try a new battery if necessary

i can live with that

Thank you all

[Jeff-W]

John, Qwik Fit (and most likely other tyre and battery retailers) offer a free battery check where their clever machine gives you a "health report" in about 5 secs. Worth doing so you can exclude, or otherwise, the battery from your fault analysis.

Two years ago they did this on the Juke for me (AGM battery) and proved it would only accept 66% of full charge. That bit was free - the wretched battery then cost a small fortune.

[John_K]

1 minute ago, Jeff-W said:

John, Qwik Fit (and most likely other tyre and battery retailers) offer a free battery check where their clever machine gives you a "health report" in about 5 secs. Worth doing so you can exclude, or otherwise, the battery from your fault analysis.

Two years ago they did this on the Juke for me (AGM battery) and proved it would only accept 66% of full charge. That bit was free - the wretched battery then cost a small fortune.

Thanks Jeff

I'd been contemplating a visit anyway as Herts police advise they offer free catalytic converter marking to deter theft - although they also advise my neighbours Toyota Prius is more likely to be targeted (along with Honda Jazz and Toyota Arius).

So i may be able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

[Paul_S]

I think the battery is a good shout.

I guess you've checked for spiders, etc. in the car?  I had an issue with my alarm a long time ago and that stopped after evicting unwanted wildlife.

[Dave G]

Hey John

If it makes you feel any better, my alarm goes off randomly quite a bit. Seems to happen more at night (!) and when it's damp/raining for some reason. I've checked all of the usual culprits (as mentioned above) apart from getting the battery tested. I'm not driving much but to be honest, it has gone off in the past when I've been using it daily so I'm still none the wiser. Please keep us posted if you find out any more... Its like having a newborn all over again when you get woken up multiple times in the night!

Dave 

[John_K]

Thanks for the reply Dave

I'm still in the stage 1 monitor phase. All was going well, until i ran her whilst i washed her yesterday, then 10 seconds after locking her, the alarm went off. All peaceful since though.

She seems to not like just ticking over/very short journeys, even if she's running for over 30 minutes.

tbc...

[JohnFK]

Wakes the spiders up....

[Dave G]

So, here's a random theory (stick with me...). I took my car for a drive last night as I noticed the battery was very low when I moved my car on the driveway the previous weekend. Indeed it was very low as it only just started the car. Anyway, after a 30 min drive (just in time before Boris locked us down again!) I pulled up, locked up, went inside. 30s later the alarm was going off 😫 It proceeded to go off 3 more times in the next 10 minutes. Getting rather annoyed to say the least, I went outside to see if I could see anything obvious (a spider running about inside, cat on the car, etc) but found nothing. What I'd did see was that the windows were all covered in condensation. I opened the doors and boot and let it air for 5 minutes. Locked up and not a peep since. So whilst the alarm going off seems to be random, mine definitely goes off more when it's raining and at night (when moisture can condenses on a cold surface). So getting the point:

John, does your alarm go off more in damp/humid conditions? You mentioned straight after a wash (the car, not you)... 

Does excess moisture in a car setting the alarm off make any logical sense at all?

My MOT is due in a couple of weeks so I'll get the aircon regassed to see if it helps dehumidify the cabin more efficiently. Even if it doesn't solve the alarm issue, it's overdue anyway.

[John_K]

interesting theory Dave, i will add it to the monitoring...

I've had to move her on/off the drive four times in the last 2 days, literally turning on/off in less than a minute each time (i know, not good, but had to be done), and all has been quiet!

[1FHL]

On 1/5/2021 at 12:25 PM, Dave G said:

...What I'd did see was that the windows were all covered in condensation. I opened the doors and boot and let it air for 5 minutes. Locked up and not a peep since. So whilst the alarm going off seems to be random, mine definitely goes off more when it's raining and at night (when moisture can condenses on a cold surface). So getting the point:

John, does your alarm go off more in damp/humid conditions? You mentioned straight after a wash (the car, not you)... 

Does excess moisture in a car setting the alarm off make any logical sense at all?

 

I conjure. I had mine under a cover in a garage, and the inside of the car "sweated" so much so that I needed to get the alarm module reset as the car would not unlock or start, as it had disabled the electronics. RAC and New battery later and keeping the car aired seems to remove the issue. Just annoying to live on a highest point of the county (hence damp conditions), even had 4 inches of snow this week! 

[Dave G]

On 1/5/2021 at 5:31 PM, John_K said:

interesting theory Dave, i will add it to the monitoring...

I've had to move her on/off the drive four times in the last 2 days, literally turning on/off in less than a minute each time (i know, not good, but had to be done), and all has been quiet!

I hope for your sanity sake it stays quiet...

1 hour ago, 1FHL said:

I conjure. I had mine under a cover in a garage, and the inside of the car "sweated" so much so that I needed to get the alarm module reset as the car would not unlock or start, as it had disabled the electronics. RAC and New battery later and keeping the car aired seems to remove the issue. Just annoying to live on a highest point of the county (hence damp conditions), even had 4 inches of snow this week! 

That's very interesting to hear.  So, there was so much moisture, the electronics module stopped working...? Have you had the alarm go off randomly though?

Hope you own a snow shovel!

[1FHL]

22 hours ago, Dave G said:

I hope for your sanity sake it stays quiet...

That's very interesting to hear.  So, there was so much moisture, the electronics module stopped working...? Have you had the alarm go off randomly though?

Hope you own a snow shovel!

Yes random alarm ...

[John_K]

thanks all, this is beginning to make sense

possibly not a battery issue

but a mildly moist issue 🤣

[Dave G]

Just to add to this thread, my alarm still continued to go off randomly so I bought a new battery hoping for silence. I was still on the original battery (it's 7 years old) and even after a charge and condition cycle from my new battery charger it was still sounding sluggish on start up. So, hoping to kill two birds with one stone... Sadly, only one bird was terminated. The car springs in to life but the alarm still went off... So for me, a new battery didn't solve it. 

However, I think I might have found the problem... More soon when I'm more confident and have have something useful to share! Fingers crossed... 🤞

[Zulu Nation]

Just now, Dave G said:

Just to add to this thread, my alarm still continued to go off randomly so I bought a new battery hoping for silence. I was still on the original battery (it's 7 years old) and even after a charge and condition cycle from my new battery charger it was still sounding sluggish on start up. So, hoping to kill two birds with one stone... Sadly, only one bird was terminated. The car springs in to life but the alarm still went off... So for me, a new battery didn't solve it. 

However, I think I might have found the problem... More soon when I'm more confident and have have something useful to share! Fingers crossed... 🤞

What brand and ampere battery did you install Dave? Physically the battery looks tiny and I think mine is 50 something amperes - doesn't seem a lot considering the big lump of a V6 it pushes into life. The one in my 540 (4.4 V8, granted) is about 96 amperes.

The battery in mine is original, so only three and a bit years old, but I may change it at four/five years as preventative maintenence seeing as a significant portion of outings in the Z are short-ish runs, so lots of starts.