Starting issues....of course

Were any of these issues apparent before the battery was changed and/or what is the voltage on the main battery ? Also do you have an alternate fob to try & rule in/out ?

I'm five thousand miles away but it feels like there is still a possibility it is not enough power in the battery especially as the the fob won't lock the doors

 

Did you try pinching the fob battery terminals together? They can spread and make only intermittent contact with enough power to make the fob LED blink, but not enough to send a signal strong enough to make anything work. When I change them, I pinch them together, insert the new battery, and then spin the battery while pinching the terminals lightly to clean off any corrosion.

Also sounds like you could have an alarm siren going bad (batteries worn out or leaking), but that will not prevent a start.

 

Based on your post so far your alarm is working right. You turn key get nothing... no clicks (solinoid) except from natural ignition switch noise. If yes then I would put a remote start switch on the starter which is easiest reached from under the car. No turn over means dead starter/solinoid or no power there.

 

Please do. I do not have this problem. Hope I never do. But it scares the bejesus out of me. Is there a way to keep car disarmed at all times! Simply just lock and unlock it?

 

Sean- Nope, immobilizer arms 60 seconds after removing the key and opening the door or 120 seconds after the alarm is disabled and she is not started.

 

That's depressing news.

No way to bypass at all?

 

Sean- Not that anybody is going to post. I do not know how to do it. System is actually very reliable and the problem is usually lost fobs and PIN, plus short life on the siren's rechargeable batteries.

 

Have you checked that the battery connections are on tight - it could be that there is simply not enough current getting to the starter solenoid to turn the engine over.

M

 

I have been told by someone that if you short the open door sensor (it will keep your interior lights on, so you need to do something about that), then the system will not arm.

Definitely worth a try.

 

Likely will still arm after 120 seconds with no start signal.

Who makes up this stuff, at any rate?

 

I would not rule out a short in one of the wires to the immobilizer. I recently had that issue with my 575 after years of being trouble free.

 

No one made it up - there is a post of a forum member who discovered this by accident.

Will try to find it and post it.

 

I have two fobs and the code sheet. Should be good there from what you described.

Tell me more about this siren issue? If the battery goes out on the siren, does that mean the car won't start even if the vehicle is disarmed?

 

Taz, or anyone else, could you please describe how to change the siren battery and where it is, etc (2003 575M)? I suspect my siren isn't working because of dead siren battery or something else - it makes no sounds at all, no beeps or anything else.

Also, my red alarm light on the dash is constantly glowing red after the car is started and running. Any idea what that means? Car starts fine and immobilizer seems to be working fine, and the red light flashes after the car is turned off and the immobilizer is on, but red light is always on when driving...

Thanks,
Alex

 

Do a search both here and in the 355 section for "alarm siren"

Lots of information available

 

Alex- The smart thing to do is just change the siren because a good portion of the rechargable batteries leak and wipe out the siren circuitry. Plus you have to cut the thing open to substitute new internal or external batteries. Pros who have tried it had nearly 100% come-backs, so most now just swap the siren. It is also possible to swap the siren for a GM Corvette model. This works and is much cheaper, but the siren does not sound when the alarm is activated on some Ferraris. All the beeps and LED signals work, though.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/456-550-575-sponsored-bradan/303529-alternate-alarm-siren.html

 

Thanks Taz, really appreciate your help.
If I just leave it as is (wasting away with dead leaking batteries and glowing red light on the dash, will there be any other consequences? Will I not be able to start the car at some point or some other malady may befall me? I don't really care about having a working alarm, so if there is no other problem associated with it being inoperable and, especially if the immobilizer is separate (mine seems to be working fine right now), then I may as well leave it as is(?).
Thanks again,
Alex

 

You can leave it alone forever, the only thing is you will have the constant red LED all the time. I ran my 355 that way for years before putting a Corvette siren in.

 

Thanks!

 

Alex- It may also prevents you from starting her with PIN and key alone because you may get no LED indications of what you are doing. Otherwise, like Dave said, operation is unaffected.