Anyone know about alarms?

[Marc L]

A few questions about the alarm system on a late 1997 vintage Chimaera:
1 Is it relatively safe to leave the car for short periods without the roof on but with windows and fabric hood up, ie will the interior alarm sense someone reaching into the car?
2 If so, is this interior alarm adjustable at all?
3 Again, if so, how and where is the control box situated, is it behind the radio or is it the unit in front of the radiator?
Any help with this will be much appreciated, thanks.

[ATG]

On my 97 Chim the alarm goes off if you reach in when the panel is removed. Best thing is to arm the system and see if it works. I think you'll find the movement sensor system's sensitivity is adjusted on the sensor box itself. Can't remember if this is under the dash or under the central console. Sure I've seen this mentioned on other threads ...

[lateconvert]

On my '99 you just hold in the remote button for a little longer than normal and get three flashes of the indicators instead of two which means that the immobiliser and alarm is switched on but the motion sensor isn't.

[RCA]

I have a 96 and the alarm works fine with the roof completely down. It can still sense someone leaning in and rarely goes off when it shouldn't

[Bob C]

The motion sensor should detect if someone reaches in. It can be adjusted on the alarm control unit which is under the dash, passenger side. The siren is situated infront of the radiator. Never heard of the three flash alarm, must be a later addition.

[rv02oao]

All the alarm information is covered quite well in the car handbook on my car. The alarm does have the 2 settings as previously written i.e. 2 modes one for top off and one for top on. Not sure what year this came into being fitted though as my car is fairly new!

[wwp]

I have a mid-97 Chimaera, and found this information on the alarm specific card that was nicely left in the handbook. As stated, just hold the alarm button until the lights flash again.

I have found the sensors to be pretty good at only setting the alarm off when someone (usually me) reaches in, or puts their bag on the 'parcel shelf'.

Alan

[rivergirrl]

I agree with RCA. I often leave the roof down (in a nice area, mind) and enable the alarm/motion sensor. Mine's a 96-P, and is sensitive enough to sense an arm or shopping bag, etc, but not too much so it sounds when a leaf or bee flies through the "space". I test it from time to time to be sure it's still working. I think the extra flashing is a feature of the later models??

[herbie hammer]

Just to add another turn on this one - we have just got home to 'Sunny!!!' Hampshire from the Chatsworth meet, stopped the engine, got out the car, and the darn alarm goes off - the next thing, is that it wouldn't bloody stop.

Had to start the car and drive it to a quiet place away from the neighbours. It finally stopped but no idea if it was something I did, or what.

Drive back home - shut off the engine, had a dekko under the bonnet - a couple of bleeps from the siren and all is quiet again - any ideas anyone.

Its a 96 Chimaera - key fob is the one button type if that makes any difference.!

Cheers

Herbie!

[tvrheart]

On my Chimaera (98 vintage) it has a Meta alarm, when my alarm developed a mind of its own it turned out to be the siren. Confirmed by the dealer plugging in a new one which cured the problems. Apparantly the alarm units are semi-intelligent, and when they are on their way out start sending duff signals and having a mind of their own.
Chris

[herbie hammer]

Thanks Chris - Called the RAC in the end as it went off again - he unplugged the siren and now it's a trip to Fernhurst for a repair - bugger!

[robkola]

Funny you should mention this topic ..
I have a 98 Chim 4L with a Meta M99T system and it went haywire just when I reached 20K on the odometer and it refused to clock to 20K. (Weird and supposedly unrelated)
In the end I removed it, whilst I waited for a replacement part.
Had to disconnect the indicators from the alarm system )behind the dashboard) as they kept coming on . . it was a problem Meta had never heard of! Very good learning curve on how to remove horns/alarms etc.

[herbie hammer]

Update Time: Having spoken to another Chimaera owner today who recently had the same prob's as me, it's is likely to be something to do with water getting into the connector by the siren - he has had a new one fitted and all is ok.

Seems like they don't like being exposed to the elements, which is great seeing as its only a few inches from the ground at the front of the car, and after all the water we went thru getting to and from Chatsworth, it's not suprising it got a little wet.

HH