car alarm goes off at insane times:

when heavy winds, rains etc.
for no apparent reason

I have been having this issue since last fall...quite strangely ever since I returned from getting the car inspected. I have never been able to duplicate it until tonight, I am desperate, its 1.44am and want to sleep than watching over the car from my office conference room(yeah, cdnt think of a better place to watch and wait).


Detailed description of a horrible night:

This evening...as like all others since last fall, pressing lock twice on the keyless entry did not produce the feedback sound to say it is armed. I walk in inside, prolly 845pm...
2 hours later alarm goes off...
unlock and lock again
alarm goes off in less than half hour
strange, unlock and lock again(keyless)
car BEEPS for the 2nd lock...hallelujah(the security system is not dead, no fuses are blown, the world is A-ok!)
2 minutes later alarm goes off like crazy.
head out, open and shut all the doors, pop the hood and find a wire + plastic connector that went into the left horn LOOSE...shove it back in...put the hood down and lock twice, beeps!,
Just to test that it was no freak act of nature, unlock and lock, lock, NO effin Beep...
Rather than to wake neighbors up, take the car to the nearest mall lot, pop the hood, shove the cable(dont know what it is or where to get its diagrams) in and do the unlock/lock/lock and 5 out of 5 times, car beeps and am happy return home...
half hour later, the effin car starts beeping...
so no other choice, drive the car to work and trying to get through the night. I get out of the car, lock twice, it does not arm, does not beep and it has been 1 hour since i am waiting for the event to occur.

conclusion:

So, it appears my problem is not hood related, not fuse related(checked all fuses), checked all door switches, not a busted security system or a busted led light as well...

it has got to do with what comes into the horns(wires plus a plastic connector)...if I pull it out, will I have issues overall? I want the horn to work though. If I have to short, which wires to short to let security system know, everythings cool with the hood? any other options?

as long as the LED stays lit and horns dont go off, I will be happy...any suggestions...

-a weary honda owner, please help

 

Have the battery tested tomorrow. A weak battery can cause all sorts of problems with the security system.

To disable the system, just disconnect the - battery cable.

 

Hi PAHonda,

I got the battery replaced last year at walmart...I will however, get the battery tested.

when you mean disconnect battery, which of the terminals need to be removed? any order to follow? I am a total noob, sorry

thanks

 

Drive the car home.

All you have to do is disconnect the black battery cable. Use a 10mm socket or wrench to loosen the bolt. Remove the black cable from the post. Tuck the black wire away so it will not touch the battery terminal.

When you go to leave tomorrow, reconnect the battery cable, so you can drive the car.

 

The problem is back and multiplied in effect...since last night, the car alarm has been going off incessantly. If you recall, i last reported the issue on feb 25 and tried to get it fixed going to the mechanic with no luck

This is what i did(since feb 25):

-got the battery tested(550Cold start AMP and voltage was nearly 11+v)...the mechanic told me the battery was good.
-I asked him to check the wire going into the horn, he removed it, cleaned it and screwed it back in...I thought I had a sequence to reproduce the issue and when I got to the mechanic shop, it simply stopped happening.
-I tried several unlock/lock/lock sequences and gave up...thinking the problem went away(bad idea in hindsight)
-This morning, I went to the dealership and signed up to give away $115 for diagnosing what is wrong with the car...turns out the mechanic was clueless to begin with and did all the standard stuff and came back to me saying that he couldnt make the alarm go off...good news, even though the car was sitting there for an hour and half, they let me go without charging.

But, the issue still remains...

-folks at the dealership tell me there is no way of deactivating the security system without turning off other electronics in the car(2000 honda accord Special edition, is this true?

-It is 132pm and the horn is blaring away. Earlier, I used the key instead of the keyless to lock at 1050PM. The sound is so defeaning, I couldnt wait 2 minutes to see if it would stop. I also forgot to go see the LED on the alarm system to see if it was ON(when I locked the car early this morning, it did not light up)

Last Friday, the car was parked and as usual, with the keyless remote did NOT make the beeping noise, did NOT ARM the security system when the lock button was pressed on the remote.

What is odd is; last night there was rain and i cannot be sure what and where an issue is - this is causing the car to suddenly wake up, probably arm itself and realize something is amiss and alarms go off.

I just want the damn thing to stop...I wouldnt mind living without the horns(is it possible, will this cause my battery to drain if I were to short a couple of wires?)

Tonight, I will remove the battery terminal...but is there anything that I can do to make the sound go away??? please help

 

The battery should be more than 12V, so hopefully that was a typo.

I do not like security systems for the reason that you are having. The problem is likely with the alarm control unit. Was this an accessory from honda?

 

It was a number close to 12's, probably a tad over 12 then.

Yes, this is from Honda, factory installed security system.

Any ideas other than having to remove the battery terminal each night?

 

You can unplug the horn relay. Not sure if the alarm starts flashing lights. If it does, then it may drain the battery.

 

Thanks, if you dont mind can you describe/help locate the horn relay for me?

Oddly enough, when the horn starts blaring, the lights dont flash. Even more odd is when the car is locked, they dont flash at all(this used to work once upon a time). However, when I unlock the car, the lights flash. Another interesting thing is, if I locked the car with say the drivers side window and opened it, the alarm wont go off...even this used to work...

Probably, there are 2 parts to my issue( i dont know)
1. The security system is not arming when lock tab pressed twice
2. alarm going off at random intervals owing to wind/rain -maybe 2 happens because of 1?

 

The horn relay should be in one of your fuse boxes. If you have your owner's manual, it should be labeled in there. Usually on the plastic cover of the fuse box, you will have a label of the the fuses/relays as well.

It sounds like you have a problem with either the relays for the alarm control unit, or the control unit is bad. I don't know if you have the owners manual for the security unit, but it should show you how troubleshoot.