Car Alarm Goes Off for No Apparent Reason

This request has to do with my car alarm. The car is a 1999 Volvo S80 and all of a sudden the alarm gets activated most of the time at the end of a trip after I lock the car. Sometimes it starts beeping in the middle of the night and I am sure it disturbs my neighbors, who so far, have not complained, bless their hearts. Thanks in advance to anyone who can give me a clue about how to handle this problem before taking it in for service.

By Carmelinda

Answers: Car Alarm Goes Off for No Apparent Reason

Read answers for this question below.

By 01/31/2011

Hi there,
This might sound silly, but anyway. Check for a fly or any other flying insect that might be locked in the car. That is now if the car is fitted with a movement censor, this happened to me last week.
Regards,
Andries
South-Africa

By 01/24/2011

xintexas, I just want you to know that it doesn't matter how old a car is and what it's value is because there is a huge market out there for stealing cars for parts and especially when they are older models! Volvo's are really good cars and can be on the road for decades if maintained so why not pay some money for an alarm that will make it less likely to be stolen? Why take the chance and have to purchase a new car?

I've had just a little 2000 Hyandai Elantra Wagon since it was new that's only worth a blue book price of a couple thousand dollars now but I've had three different mechanics tell me to hold on to her because she still has a 'minimum' of a decade of major repair free years on the road still. You can bet your bippy that I would pay to have the alarm fixed if I needed to!

Carmelinda, I still say just have it checked out by someone who knows what they are doing. ;-)

By 01/22/2011

I would have it disconneted. It is an older car and not worth stealing any more. The cost might not be worth it to have it repaired or replaced.

By 01/21/2011

You need to take it in to service for a minor adjustment to tweak the calibration of the alarm unless you know someone personally who understands the electronics of today's cars (including a decade ago car like yours and mine) that can do it for free. Have them double check your remote control while you're at it. No big deal and will simply cost some moolah you weren't expecting to spend just like what happens with all sorts of electric/electronic items. :-(

By 01/21/2011

I don't have a solution for your problem, but I think I have ghosts in my apartment. All of sudden my desk chair has started to lower itself, and I have a musical Elvis mug that is supposed to play when picked up, but it doesn't always do that, however, when it is sitting in the china cabinet, it will start playing all by itself.

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Car Alarm Goes Off for No Apparent Reason

I have a car alarm that goes off for seemingly no reason. We have had trouble off and on with the key fobs. Sometimes they work to unlock or lock the truck, and other times, they do not. Now we have had the alarm go off for no reason. My husband wants to leave the truck unlocked because he is afraid it will go off, but I don't like leaving it unlocked. It does not matter if we set the alarm or just lock the doors. Has anyone else had this problem? Could a low battery in the key fobs be causing it?

Joanne from PA

RE: Car Alarm Goes Off for No Apparent Reason

Sometimes all it takes for some car alarms to go off is a loud noise. I used to have a Firebird with a loud motor and it would always set off car alarms when I drove through parking lots. Maybe you could adjust the sensitivity of your alarm. (03/16/2008)

RE: Car Alarm Goes Off for No Apparent Reason

Maybe you need to replace the battery in the key fob or my husband says there could be an electrical problem. (03/16/2008)

RE: Car Alarm Goes Off for No Apparent Reason

There is a sensitivity adjustment; look in the manual or take it to where you bought the car/truck and have them adjust it.

Inside the key fob there is a 12 voly battery, when they get weak that can cause intermittent functioning. It is a pain, but they are easy to replace. Just pop the back off and there it is. (03/17/2008)

By Ted

RE: Car Alarm Goes Off for No Apparent Reason

Mine did that, and I figured it out that when I unlock the car, I have to turn the key and hold it until all the doors unlock. Then, there's no alarm problem at all. It's difficult for me to be patient enough to wait for the doors to unlock. I hate waiting, but, it's better than leaving the doors unlocked. You can't do that any more. Good luck! (03/17/2008)

By Tammy

RE: Car Alarm Goes Off for No Apparent Reason

Call the service department that sells this model and explain the problem. They may have a suggestion for you over the phone. I worked at a car dealership for a long time and sometimes we ran into things like this that can be a common problem that take a simple fix. Or, take your vehicle to the dealer and take both key fobs along. Have the dealer replace the batteries in both fobs at the same time (I know you just replaced them) and synchronize them together. The dealer should be able to perform a diagnostic check of the computer module that actually operates the alarm itself depending on the year/make/model car you have. The dealer should check the setting on your dome light as well as, to see if your doors and trunks are latching properly and if the door jamb switch is working. There may be a service bulletin that pertains to this problem, meaning this could be a common problem with this vehicle and the dealer will know right away what it will take to fix this problem and it might save you a lot of time/money/aggravation. (03/18/2008)

By youngster8

RE: Car Alarm Goes Off for No Apparent Reason

Oh wow, can I relate to your problem! We rented a car to go to Salt Lake City for Thanksgiving 2 years ago. While staying at the motel, the car alarm went off, I jumped up, looked outside to see if the car was getting stolen. Nope. I turned off the alarm and went back to bed, snooze snooze. Then, BEEP BEEP BEEP. The car alarm went off again! This happened every 2 hours. I had to lay awake all night and when the alarm would sound off, I had to go outside and shut the alarm off. I called the 800 # inside the glovebox and the lady talked me through the steps on how to 'disable' the alarm. It didn't work! Needless to say we took that car in and exchanged it for a different model altogether. As we were driving away in the Chrysler 300 we could hear the other rental car alarm beep! Hope you find what the problem is. (03/19/2008)

By SweetCali40