96 SSE Alarm System HELP!
 

Parked the Bonnie at the mall, locked the doors with the power lock button on the door and went to a movie. Came out and opened the car and the alarm went off. Never had that happen. I don't have the keychain remote. I just bought the car and the used car dealer did not have it. (I didn't even know to ask about it.)

Anyway... I read the manual about how the alarm is supposed to work, and it does not seem to be behaving like it should. (I've taken out the horn fuse so I can work on it without disturbing the neighbors.....)

When I get out of the car, the security light never comes on. I lock the door with the door lock button, close the door.... no security light. When I open the door with the key, it is supposed to deactivate the alarm. It goes off instead. The manual says to turn of an accidental alarm, unlock any door with the key. Just keeps on honkin' and flashin'. I've checked all the fuses and they're all good. By the way.... I can start and drive the car while the alarm is going off.

Any ideas on this one? She's pretty much undrivable as is!

Also.... there's a noise in the supercharger (I think) but I'm starting a separate thread on that one. See it if you think you can help! (I'm hoping I havn't got a big ole' lemon on my hands) I really like the way this car runs and drives....
--Mike

Did you try unlocking the passenger side door?

Pulling my hair out.....
 

Okay... ran down to the car and tried the passenger side.... it did not set off the alarm. Went back to driver's side. Still didn't set off the alarm. Retried all of my previous tests and could not make the alarm go off.

But then... I noticed when I started the car, that the top button on the row of buttons beside the shifter was not lit.... it think it's performance shift..... anyway, the button was dark.... for about 10 seconds, and then it came on.

This seems like a really odd set of electrical issues...... do you think it's possible I've got some kind of electrical gremlin here? I just bought the car Sunday.... maybe it's a flood car or something. I hate to think the worst, but what would make the alarm malfuction and then fix itself? Not to mention the whine in the engine and the rattling SC......

We traded advertising in a magazine we publish for the car, so even though we're giving $5,000 in ads, we've only got about $1000 in true money in the car. So we've got some playing room for repairs....

--Mike

If you're having more than one electrical problem at the same time you should clean the ground busses on both sides of the car.

I agree..check the busses. You have one on each side of the car.

Attachment 62527

<Odd..I posted the picture of the ground bus, above, but no picture is showing up :? ....Hey, Boosty....did you forget to pay for the premium photobucket account again>

hhhmmmmmm..... When I got the car, the seller told me he had caught his foot on the plastic trim part along the rail that I see in the pic.... and he had not put it back on yet. Perhaps he damaged something in there.

Are the "busses" the electric connector that I see in the pic? Sorry for the stupid newbie questions... but how do I clean them? Any special cleaner?

Thanks!

Mike

Okay... I think this one is solved. After reading the posts about electrical problems others have had and actually looking at what these Ground Busses are.... I'm pretty sure they were the problem. The man who sold me the car had kicked the plastic and rubber trim piece off the rail, exposing the bus area on the driver's side. We had dry weather for the next week until I bought the car. Drove it for a day and half, went to the movies and it rained. Pretty sure the bus on that side got damp and set off the electrical Gremlins I experienced. It's all put back together and sealed up now....
just wanted to put a conclusion onto this thread. It's always annoying when the last entry in a thread is "hey, yeah... I'll try that!"

Thanks to all for the input!

--Mike

Thanks for letting us know how things turned out. The previous owner might have been kicking at the connector whenever he had trouble. Adding some dielectric grease after cleaning may help prevent the corrosion from returning.