300 quid bill for a 20p switch

[entwisi]

Grrr, extolling the virtues of the reliability of the honda and you guessed it, something's broken....


Alarm started going off at random times and then kept going off.

Turns out the switch in the tailgate that tells if its open or closed has gone dicky so the alarm thinks someones opening the tailgate. and in the best efforts of Honda designers its no longer a simple push switch that is closed when the tailgate pushes it in, Oh no, its a microswitch embedded in the complex electronic controlled locking mechanism!, replacement cost from Honda 300 quid plus fitting!!!! I've tried disconnecting teh lock to see if it is set to assume closed but no, its set to assume its open unless told its closed so no options there.

Oh and you can't actually lock the car in any way without the alarm. so I no either have to leave it unlocked or I've found if you let it go off about 6 times it seems to disable itself, so that means ~ 30 minutes of noise every time I use it or leaving it unlocked....


Why oh Why do they do such stupid things, what was ever so wrong with a separate, simple push switch.

[Matt UK]

Have you tried locking the car manually using the key/door lock?
In most cars this will activate the central locking but not the alarm.

[Stoatman]

Jeez , what a pain in the rear (literally , see what I did there !). You want to get yourself a 10yr old honda , like me. No real electronical stuff at all.

[carl carlson]

I feel your pain. I had issues with my lights which turned out to be a small plastic swith pack underneath the dashboard and a front bulb out. Bulb required wheel off, wheel arch liner out and a bit of reaching around (phwanarr phwanaar) and swtich pack involved removing parts of the dash! Back in the day it would have just been either a fuse or relay not a whole load of electronic junk!

[ian_touring]

Thats a familiar frustration, I had an aircon pusher fan fall off its motor spindle on my E36. The washer had a very particular shape, I asked Bmw about this part. Their response? "Can't buy just the washer. Can't buy just the motor with washer attached. You [b]can[/] buy the motor and cowl/frame/assembly for £250 ish."
For a bust washer.

Next stop eBay, fan and motor bought, washer removed.
While fixing the fan to motor with my shiny new-ish washer, I found a rusty, odd-shaped washer in the depths of the plastic lining in the bodywork...

[entwisi]

yes, I have tried the key in the lock approach, it still alarms, you can turn off the Ultrasound by pushing the door lock down on the drivers door but the door sensors are still active. I even asked Honda if it can be disabled and they said it takes an hour to do it as its buried deep in teh guts of teh car ( probably sensible in some ways to stop thieves knocking it off quickly.

There should be a way surely of locking but not alarming it but clearly honda say not.

Bit of light at the tunnel side, found a accident damaged car ( frontal smash ) in a breakers with one. 55 quid delivered.....

[HellDiver]

Could be worse, the alarm could go off randomly when driving along the road, randomly if a fly farts near your car, or at any time if it rains. I'm looking at you, Mitsubishi UK and your crap retrofit alarms.

[john_p]

Get an electronics expert to replace the switch. Must work out cheaper

[entwisi]

bks. Breakers just called to say the one they had is faulty..
.. grrrrrrrr

[8400rpm]

Which model is it?

[lost in espace]

At the risk of sounding like a simpleton can you disable the alarm by pressing the lock plipper twice? My VAG does this.

[aka_kerrly]

HellDiver said:

Could be worse, the alarm could go off randomly when driving along the road, randomly if a fly farts near your car, or at any time if it rains. I'm looking at you, Mitsubishi UK CLIFFORD and your crap retrofit alarms.

EFA

Unfortunately manufactures seem to enjoy finding ever more interesting/expensive ways of achieving a simple result. Fine when it works but a ball ache when it goes wrong which tends to force people to go back to the dealers to be fleeced.

dave

[odyssey2200]

link the 2 wires together so that the alarm always thinks the boot is closed?

[mrmr96]

odyssey2200 said:

link the 2 wires together so that the alarm always thinks the boot is closed?

Exactly what I was going to say.

[odyssey2200]

mrmr96 said:

odyssey2200 said:

link the 2 wires together so that the alarm always thinks the boot is closed?

Exactly what I was going to say.

cheapskates of the world, unite!!

[Camaro91]

mrmr96 said:

odyssey2200 said:

link the 2 wires together so that the alarm always thinks the boot is closed?

Exactly what I was going to say.

Shorting out a push to make switch would theoretically work, assuming there aren't any other components within the switch itself ie resistors to stop the circuit experiencing short circuit currents when the switch is closed.

But if it's a relatively modern car, the computer probably looks for a lot more than a simple open/closed circuit, as mentioned the original post it sounds like the switch probably has it's own little PCB which creates some kind of output to tell the computer what position the switch is in.

[busta]

The trouble with have a simple alarm system using simple components is that it would be simple to overcome. That's great if you want to stop your alarm from working effectively, but pretty crap if you want it to deter crooks and thieves!

If it was as easy to get around a modern cars alarm as some of you (decent honest people I hope) are suggesting, then what hope would they have stopping someone who isn't quite so honest?

[V6Alfisti]

Can you not just take the unit out and give it to your local friendly electrician?

I took a BMW key to my local one, as the microswitch had fallen off! £10 and about 5 min and it was sorted.

[vxrandy]

If it's a tourer the switch is conected to the gear assembely on the opener we had to replace ours a few months back because it wouldn't open.

[entwisi]

You didn't take any piccys or remember where you got.the switch from I suppose? I pulled the unit out OK and found the two wires ( black and brown with white ) going into the lock portion but couldn't work out how to get inside that bit. I have of course upset of now.so it wont unlock or open any more......

I guess I am climbing over the rear seats soon to try and sort it.


BTW anyone know what happened to thaoc? Eventhe temp site seems to have disappeared. Is there a new home I haven't been told about?