911Dave

Hi. Does anybody know if the alarm microswitch can be detached from the lower hood latch mechanism and replaced? Or do the latch and microswitch have to be replaced as a unit? A new lower latch piece is about $175, but I'm not sure if that includes an integrated alarm microswitch.

NC TRACKRAT

It would appear to be part of the assembly and not listed separately in the parts diagrams. The microswitch used has a long, spring-like arm which is actuated by the lower latch. I'd suggest going to your local electronics supply store to see if something similar could be used. $175 begs for a solution! I have a bunch of microswitches with a roller arm at the end of the metal rocker. If you'd like a "freebie" to play with and possibly adapt, just send me a PM with your address and I'll send it to you.

911Dave

NC Trackrat, thanks for your generous offer. Before I prevail on your kindness, I think I'll poke it with a screwdriver and hit it with a hammer to see if I can get it working again. It might just be stuck in the open position.

You may recall replying to my thread about my alarm troubles from a couple weeks back. I recently bought the Durametric kit and hooked it up to the car to see what fault codes have been thrown for the alarm system....4 of them are registered:

14: Position of the drive elements implausible
17: Luggage Comp. open during activation
23: Pos. switch on drive element closed during activation
24: Pos. switch on drive element open during activation

I cleared them, and then attempted to activate the alarm again. The same 4 codes were reported again.

#17 isn't hard to guess, but the other 3 don't make any sense so I figure there's something wrong with the microswitch. The latch hasn't been moved and the adjustment is still perfect. I may just disconnect the switch and jumper the wires to see if that fools the alarm system. First I'll see if the trunk light goes out when I close the latch manually.

Thanks for the help!

NC TRACKRAT

Dave, you're on the right track. The metal tab of the microswitch may just require bending so that it'll turn the light out when the latch is closed. While the hood is open, just push down on the latch with your thumb and see if the light goes out. If it doesn't, take off the black trim to access the microswitch and adjust the tab. Let me know how it goes.
Stan

911Dave

I'm getting results that are baffling. I've spent the last hour fiddling with the latch and the microswitch. 9 times out of 10, closing the latch with my thumb doesn't make the trunk light go out. 1 time out of 10, it does. However, whether the light goes out or not, the alarm won't arm itself. I just hear a click and a beep (as before).

I disconnected the microswitch, and the light immediately went out. I rigged up a jumper and plugged it into the harness, and the light immediately came back on as did the interior lights, and none of them would go off after the customary 30 seconds or so. So I closed the hood and all the lights stayed on. Opened the hood, disconnected the jumper, and all lights went out. Reconnected the microswitch and the trunk light came on again. During all of this testing, I tried arming the alarm after each change of configuration. There is no scenario in which the system will arm itself.

At this point I'm suspecting a malfunction in the alarm module. Looks like a trip to the shop is in my future unless anyone has any more ideas about what to check.

NC TRACKRAT

Dave, try adjusting the metal actuating arm of the microswitch so that, when you depress the latch, the trunk light goes out every time. If, after that, the alarm won't arm, you may have something else in the alarm circuitry that isn't turning off which keeps the alarm from setting. To determine that, rig up a VOM to measure amp draw by putting the ammeter in series with the battery. Just disconnect the neg. lead, attach one meter lead to the neg. battery terminal and the other to the neg. cable clamp. Carefully, close the hood and wait about 15 sec. The trunk light should go out and you should only have a total draw on the system of about 35-50 ma. If it's higher, something is still on. You may have a faulty door switch, faulty engine bay switch, glove compartment light, etc.

911Dave

Well, I think I figured it out but I'm not 100% sure yet.

I finally got more time to mess with this today. I checked the trunk alarm switch for continuity, and found it's working fine. When the trunk is closed, the switch is open, breaking the ground connection. When the trunk pops open, the switch closes and completes the ground connection to the control module.

After spending hours reading the workshop manual diagnostic procedures and the wiring diagrams (and being very confused), I slowly started to understand what I was reading. I sat in the car and tried locking the doors with the central locking button in the dash. Whoops - the passenger door will lock/unlock, but the driver side will not. OK, I'm on to something. I tried locking and arming with the key in the driver's door, and sure enough, both doors locked and the alarm armed itself properly. Unlocking/disarming with the key works great too. BUT - I can neither lock nor unlock the driver's side door with the remote button. When I push it, I can hear the passenger side door lock (and then rapidly unlock), so I know the alarm control module is sending the lock signal, but the driver's side actuator is refusing to comply.

Thus I conclude that the problem is the driver's side lock actuator is faulty. Which is what you, NC Trackrat, told me was likely the problem 2 weeks ago. I shoulda listened. But code 17 made me focus on the trunk switch instead.

The 3 fault codes now make sense. codes 23 and 24 are thrown because one door locks but the other doesn't. Code 14 is thrown because having the passenger door locked and the driver's unlocked is an implausible scenario. I don't understand why it thought the trunk lid was open, but I'll ignore that for now. I'll open up the door this weekend and apply 12V to the actuator and see what happens.

NC TRACKRAT

Anxiously waiting to see how this plays out...Good Luck!

911Dave

Yeah baby! Problem solved....it was the door lock actuator. I removed it and bench tested it. It was dead. Ordered a new one and just installed it today, and everything's back to normal. Thanks for the advice Trackrat.

I'm still really puzzled why it would throw a code indicating a problem at the trunk latch, but my concern about that just went down a notch or two.

6 beers to diagnose the problem and about half a beer to solve it!

txhokie4life

delete me

nine9six

I see the light is going on for you, 911Dave! Pun intended...

The glove box light, door micro switches, interior lights, clutch micro switch, frunk micro switch and light, engine bay light, and the alarm and immobilizer are all on the same circuit.

An open in the ground circuit will cause issues with the alarm and immobilizer unit.

Consider yourself lucky or talented, to have found the issue so quickly.

I found myself doing the same thing a couple of years ago...Only my issue was behind not being able to program another remote keyfob. The ready state light for the immobilizer did not illuminate, and it wound up being a ground short in the engine bay light.

txhokie4life

I'm working on the same thing......
14
Position of the drive elements implausible

16
Engine comp. open during activation

18
Glove comp. open during activation



Car will ARM with remote, and do a single LED pulse and 2 sec interval.

However the remote will not disarm the alarm. Only way in is with key and
that triggers the alarm.

Wait for the entire sequence and I can turn key and fire car up by depressing remote.

If I never ARM the alarm -- no apparent issues.

Anyone know where the engine trunk micro-switch is? I pulled a critters nest out of there last weekend,
there might be residual damage -- would like to test. Is there a test point on the alarm module?

I down loaded the factory manuals but have not looked at them yet.

thanks,
Mike

nine9six

Critters tend to chew wires, and that would create opens in the ground circuit.

As a suggestion, you could pull the bulbs in the glove and eng compartment, test the circuit for issues as you replacethe bulbs one at a time

p.s. do u get a ready state light display for the alarm handshake, on the speedo?

txhokie4life

Not sure I know what a ready state handshake light in the speedo looks like

I'll have to see if I can find a diagram to explain that.

Mike