Volvo S40 Alarm Problem

Triangla

Hi, I have a 2005 Volvo S40.

The alarm is going off most nights now and draining the battery so that the car is dead in the morning.

I have used the manual and set the car to reduced alarm settings to reduce the chance of the alarm being set off.

I got this looked at in the main dealer when it went for a service. They couldn't find anything wrong with it.

I went to the forecourt to collect my car after the service, turned the key, the dash read Alarm System Service Required and the car died.

I left it with the dealer for a week and they replaced the mass movement sensor. I got the car back and the same thing happened again.

The dealer is useless, I always have to go back to them again and again whenever I get things fixed so before I go to another dealer I'm looking for advice.

Has anyone had a similar problem?

I'm getting suspicious about the bluetooth car kit as I heard the alarm one night when I was on the phone and when I went to the car to turn it off the bluetooth speaker was making noise like it had picked up a baby monitor or something.

biko

I suppose you've tried triggering the alarm yourself without success?
Sometime the sensors needs a clean or are not working right.

Try disconnecting the bonnet and boot sensors and see if that works, they are often the first to go an alarm guy told when I had a similar issue.

Triangla

Thanks, I've not tried triggering the alarm myself.

I'll try that and check those alarm points.

It's a head wrecker getting into in the morning and after work, it's got to the point where I can't rely on it at all.

biko

Tbh, I'd take it to an alarm guy at this point and not the dealer. It could be a bad earth or something small and cheap. The experts will know for sure.

Triangla

Cheers, will try that.

Sobanek

I had a similar problem with a 2006 Volvo V50 (i.e. alarm going off by itself), it was simply fixed by plugging it into VIDA and deleting all the errors.

Triangla

Sobanek wrote: »

I had a similar problem with a 2006 Volvo V50 (i.e. alarm going off by itself), it was simply fixed by plugging it into VIDA and deleting all the errors.

Thanks for the suggestion, the dealer did that, still persisted though.

I have it booked in for Monday so will disconnect the battery at night until then. Pain in the hole way to start the day worrying about it not starting.

R.O.R

I take it that it's an aftermarket phone kit? Does it mute the speakers, or do you have to do that manually?

The radio's in the Volvo's are very sensitive to what mute leads are used. If you have the upgraded radio but using mute leads for the standard radio, it can cause all sorts of issues.

Worth checking if no other faults can be found.

monkeybutter

Triangla wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestion, the dealer did that, still persisted though.

I have it booked in for Monday so will disconnect the battery at night until then. Pain in the hole way to start the day worrying about it not starting.

The alarm has its own backup battery, these can fail and leak over the circuit board ruining it. In that case you need a new unit. Only the dealer can replace this as far as I know and it's a common enough issue.

You would need to drill off the safety bolts on the shield as obviously they make it someway difficult to remove.

It'll cost a few bob if they need to replace it.

Triangla

Two main dealers and almost €1,000.00 between them later and the problem was still persisting.

I took it to an independent when I was in Cork at the weekend who has traced it to the driver door lock not registering the car is locked and the battery being drained as a result.

I'll see how it goes over the next few weeks.