Cayman alarm going off; when it's not supposed to
Discussion
My 2008 Cayman alarm is going off for no reason.
It first did this last May when car was 3 1/2 years old. It is a daily driver and does about 20 to 30 miles a day; took it to OPC last year but they could find no errors being flagged. Then, it worked fine until a couple of days ago.
If I unlock the car and then lock it again, after about 2 minutes the alarm goes off again. The only way to stop it is to unlock car, leave it unlocked for about 30 minutes, then lock it again. Doing it this way seems to work fine.
I don't think it is the movement sensors inside failing; if I turn them off by locking the car with the key it still goes off after about 2 minutes.
As the car is now 4 1/2 years and 38k miles I wonder if it is the battery. But, there are no other problems with car; starts first time on the button, no warning lights have come on.
So, before I spend huge amount on new battery (I have extended warranty), anybody got any other suggestions?
It first did this last May when car was 3 1/2 years old. It is a daily driver and does about 20 to 30 miles a day; took it to OPC last year but they could find no errors being flagged. Then, it worked fine until a couple of days ago.
If I unlock the car and then lock it again, after about 2 minutes the alarm goes off again. The only way to stop it is to unlock car, leave it unlocked for about 30 minutes, then lock it again. Doing it this way seems to work fine.
I don't think it is the movement sensors inside failing; if I turn them off by locking the car with the key it still goes off after about 2 minutes.
As the car is now 4 1/2 years and 38k miles I wonder if it is the battery. But, there are no other problems with car; starts first time on the button, no warning lights have come on.
So, before I spend huge amount on new battery (I have extended warranty), anybody got any other suggestions?
uknick said:
My 2008 Cayman alarm is going off for no reason.
It first did this last May when car was 3 1/2 years old. It is a daily driver and does about 20 to 30 miles a day; took it to OPC last year but they could find no errors being flagged. Then, it worked fine until a couple of days ago.
If I unlock the car and then lock it again, after about 2 minutes the alarm goes off again. The only way to stop it is to unlock car, leave it unlocked for about 30 minutes, then lock it again. Doing it this way seems to work fine.
I don't think it is the movement sensors inside failing; if I turn them off by locking the car with the key it still goes off after about 2 minutes.
As the car is now 4 1/2 years and 38k miles I wonder if it is the battery. But, there are no other problems with car; starts first time on the button, no warning lights have come on.
So, before I spend huge amount on new battery (I have extended warranty), anybody got any other suggestions?
The battery decides when you spend money on a new one, not you.It first did this last May when car was 3 1/2 years old. It is a daily driver and does about 20 to 30 miles a day; took it to OPC last year but they could find no errors being flagged. Then, it worked fine until a couple of days ago.
If I unlock the car and then lock it again, after about 2 minutes the alarm goes off again. The only way to stop it is to unlock car, leave it unlocked for about 30 minutes, then lock it again. Doing it this way seems to work fine.
I don't think it is the movement sensors inside failing; if I turn them off by locking the car with the key it still goes off after about 2 minutes.
As the car is now 4 1/2 years and 38k miles I wonder if it is the battery. But, there are no other problems with car; starts first time on the button, no warning lights have come on.
So, before I spend huge amount on new battery (I have extended warranty), anybody got any other suggestions?
A battery can go bad start to go bad at any time. You need to be sure the battery is ok.
Assuming you find the battery ok another source of electrical gremlins is water in the cabin either on the floor or in the doors.
The body water drains must be kept free of trash/debris that can cause water to collect, back up and overflow into the cabin.
The door/window seals can let in water which can collect in the door and causes all kinds of weird electrical gremlins.
Give the doors a shake listening for any water sounds.
Grope the carpet of the cabin for any signs of dampness.
Last but not least, in the past I have experienced with my car inexplicable alarm events and traced the cause down to flying insects in the cabin. In one case it was a small moth, a long lived sucker too for this alarm event business went on for months, that finally showed itself one day while I was in the car. Sorry to say, well, not that sorry, I smashed it against the windshield glass rather than risk it diving back into the dash vent again before I could herd the moth to an open window and freedom.
Since this episode, I never leave my cars parked with the windows down, the sun/moon roof open or even tilted up, or in the case of my Boxster with top down.
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