Technical Alarm Problem

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Technical Alarm Problem

BrianMcL

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Dec 20, 2009
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Croma's been problem free for a while now but I guess it was too good to last.

The alarm's started going off today for no readily apparent reason. It goes for a few seconds and then switches off.

I've tried the doors, bonnet and tailgate and all are locked.

However when I set the alarm with the fob it's not beeping and doesn't beep when I unset it either.

When I set it the doors lock, the driver's door Led flashes red for a second or so, the indicators flash once, pause for a second until the led has gone out and then flash another twice.

I think it's trying to tell me something but I don't know what. Does anyone have any ideas?

I'll plug ecuscan into it shortly and see if there are any messages.
 
Brian - do you have the handbook? Only ask as the handbook refers to a few warning messages that may be displayed that would relate to alarm failure/attempted breaking - do you see any such messages or does the keylock indicator remain lit?

I had something similar once, but found that it was nothing more than I had soft-closed the hatch and not engaged the lock :eek: - probably thought I still had my old W124s autolock :D

Do you get a prolonged beep when locking the car - again the handbook refers to this as an indicator of an alarm fault..Of course, the handbook advises in each case to take a trip to the Dealer rather than a hint as to probable cause or solution - so your ecuscan should hopefully tell you more.

Let us know how you get on.
 
Hi Evo,
multiecuscan reported no fault codes but the dash display says that the vehcile protection system is unavailable.

When I lock the car there's no beep, the door led stays lit for a second or two and then the indicators flash twice. The led then starts to flash and the alarm certainly looks as though it's set. I haven't tried to set it off yet to test it but clearly there's something not right.

In the past when I've tried to lock the car with a door still open it beeped but flashed 3 times quite rapidly so I'm quite sure that the 2 flash thing I've got just now is a message of some kind.
 
Just bumping this, as I'm experiencing something similar to Brian here.

Would hazard a guess the alarm batteries are failing.

9 times out of 10, the car locks without the alarm beep. It actuallys locks the doors though, so i'm fine with that.

The extra one time, it enables the alarm, and it'll go off within 10 seconds.

I have to disconnect the main battery in order to silence it.

Caused quite a stir when it happened outside a chipshop full of coppers the other night.

I'm now not locking the car. Just in case
 
You could try locking with the metal key, on mine I think the drivers side locks all.

Keith
 
Hi all!
I also have been experiencing similar problem with alarm. It does beep when I lock the door with remote controller. It does enable the alarm, but alarm itself sets off now end then, mainly overnight of which I found out from my Neighbour... Everytime I started engine, first message on dashboard was detected attempt of break in. It's been 2/3 weeks now and I am looking the door manually now to let my neighbours have some sleep. I do have to lock each door individually and I don't know how to lock the tailgate.
 
Hi s130, do you mean them two switches just above the rearview mirror, which they supposed to switch tilting alarm and inside the cabin alarm sensors off? I have tried this before. Did not help in my case.
 
Hi s130, do you mean them two switches just above the rearview mirror, which they supposed to switch tilting alarm and inside the cabin alarm sensors off? I have tried this before. Did not help in my case.

Hi,
With this and your engine issue I think It's time you got an OBD interface and a copy of Multiecuscan or AlfaOBD. I'd recomend a wired (not blurtooth) ELM 327 type interface and Multiecuscan. You will also need a "adaptor 1" green adaptor cable to access all modules. Or if you are near Cambridge you can come across and use mine.

Robert.
 
Thanks for advice Robert.
I just would not have a clue what's OBD, adaptor cable and where to plug it in, not even mention how to read results and where to apply actions.
 
Ah,
There's not much point in buying one then. Unless you know someone who can help you, you will have trust a garage. This is not the best with a Croma as so few garages know anything about them. Lot' of problems are down to poor connections and the like which can be fixed by hobbists, but take time to track down and that means mony at a garage. You need to find a good local independant garage.

Robert.
 
Hi Paulski,
I was the same as you when I got the car but with the help of the guys on here quickly picked up the essentials.

It probably sounds complicated but if you're comfortable downloading and installing software on a laptop and plugging cables into it there's not that much more to it.

There's a lot of info around cables and stuff on many of the threads and I think on my ABS sensor failure thread in particular.

You don't need to know how OBD works to access the car's computer any more than you need to know how USB works to use a mouse.

In terms of cables, connectors and so on they are all colour coded and the names mean more to google / ebay than they do to me so just type them in and see what you get.

But FWIW I've had various diag tools from cheap readers and Multi Ecu Scan (MES) through to proper garage kit and nothing's reported the alarm fault, only the dashboard so how know whether it would help here anyway.

But note that you can't tell the car that you've changed the oil (which is very, very important) without MES and a cable.
 
Hi Paulski

As brian says, you can learn. The 1.9 and 2.3 both need the service oil change mileage and the oil degradation mileage electronically updated. It seem very few service garages know this.

The oil degradation will stop the regens when reaching 22,000 miles on the assumption that the oil is not good enough to stand the extra temperature, which heats the exhaust to 600 centigrade. So clog up the DPF.

If you get a local oil change you must prove that they know this.
In right hand drive the socket is in front of the drivers right knee, behind a small panel held by one screw.

Keith
 
Thank you guys.
It looks like something I might need to take a look at and consider getting it.
I read somewhere that after nine services you no longer need to reset the service light, would that apply to engine oil changes too? Mine shows in the menu 0 miles to next service, but no info on dashboard and no service light on.
 
The Croma comes with 10 Service Coupons. After the last service coupon has been used the cars service computer will no longer prompt for a Service.

The Service Coupons HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OIL CHANGE. At *every* oil change the oil change counter must be reset. Even when the service coupons have all been used the oil must still be changed and the reset performed otherwise you will damage the DPF and/or engine.
 
Alright then :
I Have changed battery from 60Ah to 90Ah made by british Lucas. Now battery can coop with alarm and all Croma's devices and alarm does not set off without reason any longer.
 
Reset BOTH counters with laptop and software plugged in to ECU.
Oil service and oil degradation (most important but very few garages know or are able) with FES and cable, full info on here.

Keith
 
here we go, alarm trouble back again. Same thing - going off without a reason (or maybe some animals have it as a home at night - but no sign of chewing on wires or bonnet underlining) and that's is 3 days after I change battery to 90Ah which supposed to be recommended for alarm equipped Croma...
Really don't know anymore what to think nor do.
 
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