Dean_Fuller

I have had an on going issue with my security system not disengaging on my 1989 S4. 50% of the time ( more if the car has sat for awhile ) when I try to start you can tell its just spinning with no fire. Then try again and the alarm goes off. Have to reset alarm and disengage and try again. This can go on 3 or 4 more cycles before the car will fire. I have noticed the hood security switch has been broken since day one of my ownership. Could this be the source of my problem? Can the switch be bypassed? If so how? Is it available as a new part for reasonable cost?

Thanks...any help is much appreciated as this is very aggravating. There has been a time or 2 the reset and restart has ran the bat down to where I am stranded.

Alan

I believe the switch is still available, the alarm can disable the ignition - however this should only be the case if the alarm is already alerting - so this does not match your symptoms.

You can easily test this by unplugging the hood switch (thats it - just unplug - it will think the hood is always closed).

This disables the electric fan safety feature so don't leave it like this and be careful - with a hot engine the fans could possibly run unexpectedly even with the ignition off.

I suspect you actually have some other issue causing your starting problems.

Alan

Dean_Fuller

Will try that thanks Alan. It just left me stranded at the post office.

When this happens the digital part of the dash lights up is horizontal lines. The says..."type 04 "and second line says "1988".

It does have aftermarket key less entry. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. I am more than willing remove it if thats the case...but I don't know what all to remove.

Dean_Fuller

Video added. Note the volt gauge does not work so please ignore.

Leon Speed

Dean, your battery is (near) empty. The lines and TYP indicate this. The alarm going off might be the low voltage. It might be that the alarm is programmed to go off if the battery is disconnected and low voltage triggers the same reaction.

Edit: the volt gauge does work, you can see it drop when cranking.

Alan

Agree - this is a low voltage issue, may be a charging issue, a dead cell issue or a poor connectivity issue.

Have the battery checked on a load tester (not a handheld unit - these are not real load testers).

If the battery is bad - replace it, if discharged - charge it, or else you may need to clean connections at the battery, ground points (possibly replace battery and/or engine ground strap) and starter, alternator and front jump post connections.

Alan

Fontana

Mine was just doing this too. Battery was low and might have been the culprit, so I thought. I fully charged it and the factory alarm was still going off at random.
After further inspection when I removed the glovebox (as that is where the factory alarm unit/wiring goes), some of the wiring had fused together. I rewired what was needed so I could have had two culprits, who knows.

I am going to bypass the factory alarm all together as I do not want to be left stranded. There are posts here on how do do this properly.

If I truly needed comparible security, I would just pull the fuel pump relay when the car is not in my sights, takes 2 seconds...

Barry Chan

yes your battery is low or near dead because battery don't die after 3 cranks so i would look at a new battery, then find out if the alternator charges....then go from there

Dean_Fuller

Took the battery back to Auto Zone. Was down to 26%. They charged it to 100% and said the battery was good. Put it back in the car. I checked for drains one fuse at a time. All was good until fuse 24. It is drawing .75 amps. If I remove it I loose all the digital dash and instuments....is that correct? My chart says fuse 24 is "Diagnostic connector, corrent pulse-tailgate, interior lights". That is with all the interior lights turned OFF and the red door jamb bulbs REMOVED.

Alternator is new and charging at 13.4 Volts at idle.

Starter is only a couple weeks old as well.

DR

Yes, removing the interior light fuse will kill your instrument cluster..IIRC the Oil Pressure and Volt gauge will still work. This has freaked out many people(including me the first time) thinking their cluster died when it was a short in the interior lights that took out that fuse. In the excitement of seeing a dead (very expensive) cluster they never notice they have no interior lights.

Pop out and check all the interior lights to make sure no one has piggybacked to the 12+ power for a Radar Detector etc....this could be your drain on that circuit..

76FJ55

What fuse is the aftermarket keyless hooked to? 24? It could gave a drain associated with it.

Alan

Are you sure your glove box light goes off?

Mighe be best to remove the XXI interior light relay also - it will still consume current if it think the lights should be on (~ 150mA).

Alan