Have you removed an aftermarket car alarm? Did the car start afterward? :)

[Xist]

So, there I was minding my own business, burying business rivals in the dump, when my alarm went off.

I got it to go off, but it started again when I tried to start the car, over and over again, for fifteen minutes.

The best part of being stranded at the dump with a blaring alarm on a car I couldn't start is that I saw a squirrel when I went to replace my temporary plate with a permanent one, so I didn't have one.

The alarm kept going off, I couldn't start the car, I didn't have a plate, and I was stuck at the dump.

This took a while, but I think it looks great!


I noticed this when I bought the car, but the flipper wouldn't have known anything about it:


Not only was I stranded at the dump, but one time my brother asked to go to the store. I said "We're taking Mom's car, but I need to get something out of mine." I unlocked the driver's door and the driver's only--and he sat in the passenger seat.

"How did you get in here?! Whatever, now I need to get something out of Mom's car."

When I turned my back the alarm went off and my brother had his hand on the steering wheel.

I finally got it to turn off, I went to grab the thing again, once more the alarm went off again, and my brother's hand was on the steering wheel again.

I had him get in Mom's car and it went off while we were away.

Everyone said to follow the wires, but I thought that would require removing the dash.

No, just the panel under the steering wheel.

Oh and all of this:


The car only came with one key, it isn't factory, and it was wearing out. It is actually twisted from needing to turn it too hard.

I couldn't see how far the wires went and where the alarm was mounted until I removed the center console and the trim above it.

It turned out it didn't go past the center console at all, so I absolutely didn't need to remove the glovebox, but I found this!


So, some dealership installed a tracker and for some reason hid a key.

These were all of the components that I found:


I didn't find a sensor, but 5 wires coming off of the harness were cut.

The screws were also missing from the steering column.

The first owner bought the car on 08/31/2005 and sold it on 03/05/2007 with 21,000 miles.

Who the heck trades in a car after 16 months and 21,000 miles?!

The second owner traded it in and the dealership auctioned it on 02/01/2021
with 96,379 miles.

It was auctioned again on 05/30/2022 with 104,057 miles--almost 16 months and 8,000 miles.

It sold again on 07/07/2022 with unspecified mileage and I finally bought it on 09-20-2022.

I am the fifth owner and the fourth in 24 months?

I keep wondering if there was some hidden problem which led people to get rid of it after a few months or a year.

I also wonder if it was repossessed.

Perhaps some complication from that resulted in people getting rid of it prematurely.

[Xist]

There are 155M Google results for "removed car alarm car won't start," so it probably would have been a better idea to just disable it.

I have read dozens of pages about it, but most people who ask for help don't report back, so I don't know what actually worked.

Someone said they missed a connector, another person found a 30-amp fuse looked good, but was blown, a third found a kill switch, a fourth found a "Clutch pedal stopper," and a sixth didn't reconnect all of the wires.

I disconnected the battery, disconnected all of the aftermarket wires, and spliced the wire for the starter back together, but just because there is a physical connection doesn't mean there is an electrical one.

I covered the cut insulation on the several small wires that had t-splices.

One person kept saying to test the starter, but that was one of many where they were abducted by aliens or something.

[Piotrsko]

Since I won't necessarily go away..... test the starter, see if it gets powered or grounded.

[Xist]

Did someone indicate they wanted you to go away?



[turn down the volume]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0MCNOppasI

That's just a less interesting version of Kaylee's solution!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00io4VSA6Vw

This guy introduced me to Solder Seal Wire Connectors! Instead of crimping wires together, it releases a little solder, and then heat-shrinks the connection!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMqt5AoWPyI

Unfortunately, I can't get any before Friday and I need my car tomorrow!

[Piotrsko]

So you'd rather goof off searching for and posting odd replies than fix an issue that causes you angst? I see an issue here.

[Xist]

That you never clarified what the heck you meant with?

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Since I won't necessarily go away...

Yes, obviously.

[Xist]

I was trying to make a list of things to check.

Fuses were always among the first things.

Someone told me to check a fuseable link and while I was there I started checking the most likely fuses.

Apparently I blew fuse #17 under the hood, the 30-amp AM2 Starting system, "IGN" and "IG2" fuses. I swapped that with another fuse and she's alive!

I think that I will order the storage compartment from a 2004 and give myself a third cupholder.

Now I have a hole in that piece of trim, so I will start pricing that.

What else could I put there?

[Xist]

and my car sounds like a chandelier!

I finally made an attempt to clean the inside of the windshield and it is better, but I need to do a better job.

There is still a chocolate or something streak.

When I put my car back together I kept getting some kind of residue on my hand.

I think whatever is on my windshield is also on the glovebox.

The car didn't have screws for the steering column, so I needed to order some, and I had difficulty reinstalling the first panel. I removed the screw from Mom's car so I could verify which it was, but apparently it didn't fit because another panel was supposed to overlap it, and the screw goes through both.

[Piotrsko]

If the previous owner was a chain smoker, that could be the residue along with a coolant leak fog. Both have a noticeable odor. Ammonia and or "409" peels it off like onion layers.

[Xist]

The car doesn't smell like smoke, but I think the previous owner was dirty.

I don't know that there was a coolant leak.

In previous cars I have periodically needed to wipe the inside of the windshield. I read the dash outgases over time and leaves a residue.

I am going to try glass cleaner and a microfiber cloth.

I forgot to mention that the power went out when I removed the key, but all of that was fixed when I swapped a fuse from my Accord.

My 1300 mom canceled and my Saturday mom canceled for 3 weeks, but her adult daughter was able to sit in for speech, so I drove out, and I had just enough time to drive to the recycling center half an hour in the other direction.

It is the only place that I know which is supposed to recycle glass, but the webpage lists an address, but says it is next to one thing, and across the street from another.
Those things were a couple of miles away, but they were apparently closed for Veterans' Day, so I wasted an hour, and was late for my last client for nothing.