Aftermarket Alarm

[Trax]

Somebody put an aftermarket alarm system in my car. A cheap one, at that. It has been giving me all sorts of trouble; every once in a while the thing will actually arm itself and freak out while I'm on the highway. I'm also convinced that there's a short on the steering column where the in-line fuse ties to the ignition; every time I'm in a left-hand accelerating turn the alarm arms.

Up until now, it was just a nuisance- a quick tap of the remote and the little red light goes away. But I've still been stranded when the battery in the remote died, and the transmission and ignition are locked out. Lately, its gotten worse. Now the damn thing doesn't even acknowledge the remote, even with a new battery and cleaned terminals. When and if the alarm does deactivate, it only does so after the alarm has finished its cycle. And it's become completely unstable. Even after removing the battery cables (as I do when I can't shut down the alarm system; I need my quiet to think), I was backing in a truck and the Miata's alarm started chirping. I'm still trying to figure that out.

I'm at the point where I don't want to drive this car a long distance. So my question goes to guys with experience with aftermarket alarm systems- is there any way to disable this system or at least take it out of the loop temporarily, enough to get to a shop that can tear the whole block out? It has to be wired in multiple places; lights, alarm siren, ignition, transmission, starter, whatever. Can I remove the box without disabling the systems of the actual car?

[channelmaniac]

That depends on whether or not they cut the ignition wires and spliced it in there.

On my Spec project car they cut the ignition lead and the alarm had a relay to control it. If they did that on your car you simply need to patch the wire back.

It's not too difficult to uninstall an alarm. Just unplug the wiring harness from the control unit and trace the wires back to find where they were patched in and repair as necessary.

RJ