Alarm won't arm with remote, no beeps to show system is armed. After around 5-10 secs, after trying to lock and activate alarm with remote, the flashers will flash twice with no audible sounds and the alarm LED in the drivers door stabilises with regular flashes. If my neighbours are lucky the alarm will go off early hours of the morning and I am unable to stop it , even if I disconnect the battery the siren still works for a while.
Despite all the above when I start the engine (after the alarm does not arm) the dash shows Alarm Unavailable and will flash this around 3 times as well as showing the dash warning of the car and padlock. Engine runs OK and no other issues, any ideas on the problem ?

Suggestions

1) check remote battery
2) try second remote
3) open and close ALL doors, boot and bonnet
4) try again
5) repeat 3)
6) use emergency mechanical key (in fob) and lock & unlock car from both driver's and passenger sides

I seem to recall having had this problem once myself a long time ago, after the fob battery went flat and/or the mechanical locking solenoids got out of sync with the alarm arm disarm.

That was quick, thought I would be waiting for a day at least !!


Many thanks for the info. I had this problem first around 1 week ago, suspected the remote battery so tried spare remote and other with a new battery, but no joy, alarm went off early hours, eventually it stopped after many and various attempts and system returned to normal operation until now when it has started playing up again, but will try your suggestions and let you know results.


Probably be tomorrow as is a touch wet outside at present.


Thanks S130 and I will try, watch this space.

OK s130, curiosity got the better of me, so have tried your suggestions despite the weather. Tried your suggested sequences both with original key with new battery and with spare key with original battery, both ways no joy, situation exactly same as before.
Have also tried opening and leaving open all doors, bonnet and boot all at one time and closed all one at a time with doors first then bonnet and boot, no difference.
Also tried with the same sequence with 'Ign off' and also with 'Ign on' opening all at one time and then closing all as above with doors followed by bonnet then boot. Still no slightest change in any way


Starting to look like a garage visit so they can use their diagnostic equipment ........... unless any other ideas ?

Well I'm upset as you!

It may be time for a dealer/other diagnostic visit.

If you are near Southampton I'm willing to have a go with MultiECUScan to see if there are any obvious/recorded errors that may shed some light on your problem.

Something to bear in mind for all Fiat owners is that many Alarm systems use predefined "skipping codes". This means that every lock/unlock command uses a different code. Under normal circumstances the alarm ECU can keep track of missed/skipped expected codes and can self re-synchronise however this "depth/range" of self re-sync can be exceeded if the system is swamped by legitimate code attempts but these attempts are sufficiently out of sync/phase with what the alarm ECU is expecting.

It would not be the first time a guy/gal has unwittingly sent (due to tight pockets/clothing...etc) numerous xmit codes that are not received by the cars alarm system and thus the trusted pairing/expectation of code sequence is lost.

Many thanks s130 for the offer but I am in Nottinghamshire, just a tad to far me thinks, well for a quick visit anyway. Not so keen to visit my local Fiat garage following their performance on my last two main services, but is looking as if I must bite the bullet.


On a slight deviation, do you happen to know where the alarm siren is located on a Croma, I have a sneaky feeling it is up behind the dashboard on the R/H side as have had a good delve around under the bonnet and no sign. I appreciate it will not be somewhere easily accessible and is there a back-up battery for the alarm system (as after battery was disconnected the siren continued, unless there is something like a capacitor as system should be able to report battery cable cutting according to Ops manual) and again any idea where it is located.


Sorry about all the questions, but you know what they say 'if you don't ask you will never know or don't want to know'

You might be better finding an independent garage specialising in Alfas, Fiat dealers have very little experience on Cromas, and charge enormous fes for a 5 minute job connecting diagnostics.

Keith

You could try JCS in Kegworth.

A bit closer than sunny Hampshire

Thanks guys, all suggestions considered although my location is on the Lincolnshire side of Nottinghamshire. So I would like to get a little closer than Kegworth if I can, have been given the name of a guy near Sheffield who specialises with electrics and does a fair bit of work on Fiats by all accounts, will have a chat and see from there.
In the mean time if anyone can add further related help/advice it would be appreciated as many are possibilities at this time.


Does appear though that many Fiat garages are not so keen or geared up for electrics/electronics or like the larger models.

the only thing i can add is that maybe its the battery in the alarm siren, i had the same problem on a stilo about 2 years ago, i never really investigated it but was told the re-chargeable battery in the siren is normally the culprit

OK rat20v, you may have answered an earlier question I had about a back-up battery and location, would make sense for it to be either at the siren or at the Multi-control board if there is one. As how this system is currently working with alarm not stopping directly when the battery is disconnected, indicates either a back-up battery or some kind of capacitor holding enough to activate the siren. I think I now know where the siren is located, so next step, weather and daylight permitting will be to have a good look see, as wherever it is, it has never been changed from new back in 07 and many miles ago.


Any other light bulb moments like that for my alarm problem would be much appreciated

old edge said:

I think I now know where the siren is located,

Click to expand...

where is it?

on the stilo the alarm is near the wiper motor under the scuttle but on my old marea it was in the wheel well on the passenger side behind the wheel arch liner

On the Croma the alarm siren is under the O/S (RHS) front wing.

Disconnect main vehicle battery negative terminal
Remove wheel
Remove wheel arch liner

Siren has single electrical connector. Well worth unplugging this a checking for damage, corrosion, moisture etc. Might be tilting, shaking, etc the unit to see if any water drops out or you can hear and water sloshing around or other unexpected noises.

Refitting is a the reverse of removal PLUS going through the window anti-pinch resetting procedure.

Additional suggestions.

1) wear ear defenders or put cotton in your ears
2) have an old coat/blanket/towel to smother the siren in just in case it goes off. If this happens you will have to wait till it resets itself or the internal battery goes flat

s130 said:

On the Croma the alarm siren is under the O/S (RHS) front wing.

Disconnect main vehicle battery negative terminal
Remove wheel
Remove wheel arch liner

Siren has single electrical connector. Well worth unplugging this a checking for damage, corrosion, moisture etc. Might be tilting, shaking, etc the unit to see if any water drops out or you can hear and water sloshing around or other unexpected noises.

Refitting is a the reverse of removal PLUS going through the window anti-pinch resetting procedure.

Additional suggestions.

1) wear ear defenders or put cotton in your ears
2) have an old coat/blanket/towel to smother the siren in just in case it goes off. If this happens you will have to wait till it resets itself or the internal battery goes flat

Click to expand...

Large lump hammer and crow bar much more permanent fix. ;-)

Radlet6 said:

Large lump hammer and crow bar much more permanent fix. ;-)

Click to expand...

PLUS a big "guard dog" to take over - woof woof

Trying to avoid using the heavy gear as would like to keep the it working and roadworthy. Mind you it can make you feel that way sometimes.


Anyone out there familiar with the battery pack of the siren, is a 7.2volt battery pack (so batteries are 1.2v each) but I can only read 6.34v when I check it out, so not sure if one or more of the batteries is on it's way out or that is about right for a low state of charge or fully discharged condition.
Otherwise all is nice and dry, but did find a little granules of electrical corrosion kicking around inside and looks like a discoloured pin from the connector which should clean up. But would be good to have some info for the battery pack before I move on further into the system if anyone can help ?

Assuming they are NiMH batteries then the following cell data applies:

Rated Voltage = 1.25V (Fully charged cell OFF charger)
Mid discharge voltage = 1.2V
Knee voltage = 1.1V
Discharged voltage = 1.0V

Now if you pack is 7.2V you will have 6 cells.

Assuming 5 cells are good and one bad/shorted then you could expect 6V
Assuming 6 discharged cells then also 6V

So not that easy to determine overall state.

You have 3 options:

1) put pack on charge for 24Hours and monitor pack voltage. Does is get near the 7.2V (measure with charger turned off!)

2) the pack is probably just a plastic, heat shrunk assembly that you could open to expose the individual cells. They will most probably "tab" spot weld in series together. You should be able to measure the voltage of the individual cells. If they are all 1V then the pack is not getting charged due to either a charging fault or the cells have reached end of life. If one cell is very low compared to the others then this is the duff cell

3) See if you can identify the make, part number of the battery pack, and/or post a picture here and look for a replacement. Often these packs are of generic size/shape/design so although it is not available as a spare from Fiat it could be sourced elsewhere or you will have to make your own pack up