Alarm system goes off on its own
 

I have an '02 Camry and have had an intermitent problem with the alarm going off. This has been happening for about 3 years, but infrequently enough that I had not bothered to try and resolve it until now. This problem has never occured at home in my driveway and most recently the last four times the alarm has gone off were:

-Weeklypickup at my daughter's soccer practice. Exact same time, exact same location, same parents picking up their kids, one week apart.

- School basketball practice (I help coach my daughter's school team). The alarm went off last week on Wednesday and again yesterday morning. I was parked in the same spot and the alarm went off just as the bulk of the students/teachers were arriving at about 7:45 (we were there since 6:45). It happened both times while I am inside and the key fob was not in my pocket. And with yesterday's alarm, I had not locked the doors with the key fob, but rather I used the power locks inside the door and then closed the door. I was told that this should not arm the alarm.

Here is my theory - someone else has a wireless remote that is setting off the alarm when they go to lock their car. This could be one of the other soccer parents and now someone (a student or a teacher) at the school.

Is this possible? Has anyone ever heard of this? Is there some way to simply disable the alarm?

Thanks

Carey

RE: Alarm system goes off on its own
 

The odds of someone else having a remote that operates your car is slim.

Determine if the alarm was dealer installed or aftermarket. If Toyota installed there may be a light on the left side of the steering wheel below the change holder.

The dealer installed systems should have a sensitivity adjustment that can be set to prevent false alarms. The system can also be turned off. I do not have the info here, a competent dealer can show you how to do this.

There might be a black plastic box under the left side the dash with a knob. If so, the knob would adjust sensitivity.

Also look in the glove box or at any papers that came with the car for instructions on the system. These alarms typically have a model number that starts with the letters "VIP", such as the VIP3200 series. The actual number changes between years and model of car.

The VIP series is dealer installed and programmable by using proceedures such as turning the key to ign, stepping on brake peddle so many times, etc. I do not know the actual proceedure. The dealer should know this and possible be able to furnish a copy of the instructions.

One more thing, if you go to the dealer ask them to show you how to reset the alarm in case of a dead battery or changing out a dead battery. Often either will cause the alarm to set.

And find out if the car has an immobilizer (another optional theft system), this disables the ign system to prevent theft but also will do this in the above cases of dead battery.

I include this as many a owner have found themselves in a situation of having a dead battery or replaced the battery and now has alarm problems or can not start the car.

RE: Alarm system goes off on its own
 

I bought the vehicle used, so I am assuming it is a Toyota alarm system because I was able to make changes per the RS3200 programming guide. I have included a link to the guide if anyone else needs this. I am reluctant to make any changes (e.g. reprogramming the remote controls or clearing the remote controls) for fear of losing the entire functionality. I did set it up to have "passive arming off" (page 9).

There is no light below the coin tray and no black box with a dial.

The alarm is only supposed to go off when you disconnect the battery while it is armed. Unarmed, nothing happens. I checked the battery connection and it is clean (I did some maintenance on itabout a year ago). You did make me wonder if a possible loose battery connection was causing the alarm to go off. That does not appear to be the case.

I am going to Toyota tomorrow so if I have any more insight I will share that with you.

Thanks

http://dutch.northwestmr2.com/Toyota/mr2%20spyder/Accessories/Installation%20Instructions/02%20-%20Toyota%20TVIP%20system%20Programming.pdf

RE: Alarm system goes off on its own
 

Toyota looked at the car checking the "wiring and operating system". It checked out OK. There were "no draws or shorts found". I had them disarm the alarm.On an '02 Camry this actually requires the Electronic Control Module to be removed and some wiring modifiactions are made. The service manager said that in newer model vehciles they can simply plug in a control unit and program the changes. He only charged me for half an hour so it was not that big of a process.

The engine immobilzer still works as it should.

Two questions, please: Can a prankster drive around and set off Camry alarms from a distance? And can mice set off alarms?

Ours is going off in the garage.

We'd appreciate any insights.

What year of car, is this a Toyota alarm or aftermarket?

Have not read about pranksters setting off alarms by remote control, does someone else have the panic button. If the alarm has tilt or glass breakage sensors sit too high the alarm can trigger due to slight vibrations.

Thank you
 

Dear Joey P.

Thank you for your insights. We think the alarm was a Toyota model. After reading your comments, we imagine that our alarm may simply be very sensitive to vibrations.

Best wishes,

Naperville

What are the most common causes for alarms going off?
 

I've been having this problem a couple years since I bought the car. I've taken it in every time they had the free Toyota care checks and told them and they could find NOTHING wrong at 5,10, 15k etc miles. But it still happened. We took it in when the warranty expired, twice. First time they said they could just replace the hood latch as that's the most common issue. We said are you sure it's that? They said no so we didn't do it. The other day I could take it no more when it went off 6x in the day and the wee hours of the morning. So we said replace the latch. It cost 259 bucks; we drove it home and then the seat belt ding went off 16x and the check engine light was flashing all day. AND the alarm went off three times. So WORSE than we started. The refuse to refund the money spent, saying too bad. We took it in again today. Still they could find nothing and said we are lucky they won't charge us! WHAT? You guys are supposed to be the pros and you arbitrarily put in parts when you have no idea if it's that or not (and it wasn't that and I have to pay?). Yet here I am writing this because the alarm went off again and again just now!!! It's so loud I have a headache. I have to hit the key fob lock and unlock twice and it stops. WHY can't they fix the damned thing? What other causes could be checked? Can someone list like the top 3-5 things that would make the alarm go off so we can try something else? Thanks.