Vauxhall Corsa C (2000 - 2006) - 2004 1.4 petrol - Intermittent Alarm Fault

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Mon 5 Nov 2007 12:32
2004 1.4 petrol - Intermittent Alarm Fault - ijws15
Daughter has an 04 Corsa exclusiv (1.4 petrol) Standard car including Vauxhall alarm.

Yesterday she unlocked the car, got in and. . . the car was beeping for a few seconds then the alarm went off.

She tried several times and eventually it sorted itself out. She now tells me it did something similar about 18 months ago.

I did not witness events and she thinks it may be the sequence she does things in, she drives with the car locked and may occasionally lock the car before putting the key in the ignition.

Will try to replicate the fault this weekend. Any suggestions on what it may be ???

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 05/11/2007 at 12:59

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Mon 5 Nov 2007 12:55
Intermittent Alarm Fault - Screwloose

Has it got a "Power Sounder." [Label under bonnet if it has.]
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Mon 5 Nov 2007 13:01
Intermittent Alarm Fault - Dynamic Dave
the car was beeping for a few seconds then the alarm went off.


To expand on screwloose's reply, this is the usual warning of the back up batteries in the power sounder starting to fail.
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Mon 5 Nov 2007 13:10
Intermittent Alarm Fault - ijws15
Will have a look at the weekend - if it does is it just a case of changing the battery in the sounder and how easy is it?
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Mon 5 Nov 2007 13:45
Intermittent Alarm Fault - Dynamic Dave
The power sounder is a 'sealed' unit so you will have to cut open (and ensure fully sealed again). The batteries used to be available from www.cellpacksolutions.com (I think)

One thing to remember is to leave the ignition switched on before removing (or changing) the power sounder, otherwise you'll need to have it recoded to the car (with a Tech2 code reader) upon refitting.

A replacement sounder is something like £50 from Vauxhall.

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 05/11/2007 at 13:45

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Tue 6 Nov 2007 17:18
Intermittent Alarm Fault - ijws15
Looked last night and there is a label under the bonnet - pictograms indicate that you should read the manual before disconnecting battery but not mentioned in the book.

Presume the process is :
1. Purchase replacement battery/s
2. Find unit on car
3. turn ignition on
4. remove unit
5. dismantle unit and fit new batteries
6. seal unit (silicon?)
8. re-fit unit
7. turn ignition off.

Is it that simple?

If so not sure how the daughter will react to sitting in car for an hour or so while I try to change the batteries in the unit - Still, if she doesn't like it she can take it to Vauxhall and pay their bill!
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Mon 26 Nov 2007 08:02
Intermittent Alarm Fault - ijws15
Did the job yesterday - thanks for the advice. They could leave a little more slack on the wires!

One warning - when you push the pins out of the wheelarch fastenings two of them fall down inside the car structure, managed to fish one out but one is still in there somewhere.

Need to get a replacement sometime.

ps Did not get batteries as not sure what they are so she bought a new unit from Vauxhall.

Edited by ijws15 on 26/11/2007 at 08:03

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Sun 16 Dec 2007 12:50
Intermittent Alarm Fault - ijws15
Alarm went off on her again this morning, she moved the car, turned it off and went to put her security post in, alarm went off with the car unlocked.

Power sounder changed for a new one back end of November.

Any suggestions?

Is there a user test process as there used to be on the older Fords (push the bonnet switch 6 times . . . . . )
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Sun 16 Dec 2007 13:51
Intermittent Alarm Fault - Dynamic Dave
Is there a user test process


Not that I'm aware of. The alarm unit may well store fault codes, in which case Vauxhall could interogate with a Tech2 code reader.

On some other Vauxhalls, the problem can be traced to a misaligned bonnet pin switch. Might be worth looking at to see if operating properly.

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 16/12/2007 at 13:54

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Mon 17 Dec 2007 07:19
Intermittent Alarm Fault - ijws15
Will have a look when I next see her.
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Mon 17 Dec 2007 22:32
Intermittent Alarm Fault - topbloke
the alarm ecu will hold the details of the last ten times the ecu was triggered, there is no self test on this system and to be honest she would be better off (and the neighbours) getting it into the dealers for a tech 2 test, give them all the details, ie power sounder all ready changed, because the first thing that they will say is,you need a new powersounder !!!!!!!!
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