Help needed...348 US Seat belt chime???

Hey all you 348 US model owners out there....I need your auditory help….I live in Canada but have a US model 348 TS

Ok, for the last 2 weeks I have been having battery issues with my car. She kept going dead on me even when plugged on my Battery Tender and the times were 3 days, then 2 days, then overnight then 2 hours after being fully charged.

First thing I was going to do was…..I knew I had an alarm system from the 90’s on it that I never used but figured it could be the cause of the drain (Clifford junk). So I ripped it out of the car and reattached all the wires where they need to be (another long story). But once in a while from the first time I bought it last year, I would get a chime of some sorts like a beep, beep, beep, beep 4 or 5 times then would cut.

Now this only happened when the key was in the on position and sometimes when the car was on immediately after starting it or shutting it off but still in the accessory contact mode. I originally thought it was a confirmation on or off chime/beep for the alarm because it was intermittent. The reason I thought this was because a few years ago I bought an alarm that had an auto start on it for a manual car and I had to do a special sequence to engage the auto start while the car was running to fully ensure the car was in neutral, close the door while the car was running and then the car would shut off by itself knowing there was nobody inside and the car was actually in neutral (a good system by the way) but once the sequence activated before exiting the car, she beeped.

Anyways, I removed the alarm from the car, but the problem was and still is, she sometimes beeps……urghhh. Now I’m not talking about the annoying buzzer of the “Door is open and your key is in the ignition” sound.

Now the beep happens when I start the car SOMETIMES, and sometimes when the car is on when I take my seatbelt off, placed the hand brake on then open the door (car is still running) and in no specific order for when I exit the car to open the garage door, or run back in the house because I forgot something.

My 90 348 has the passive seat belts and it doesn’t work on my side (thank god because it’s annoying as hell) but the mouse is back at the safe position to actually clip my seatbelt and I’m thinking, is this the seat belt chime **** and the beep is only intermittent because my mouse doesn't work or is this another hidden part of the alarm that I have to go digging up into the dash even further to find? I would have looked higher into the dash but cant figure how to remove it and all the alarm components were in the center console down at my feet. Because if this is part of the car then I’m ok with it.


One last thing, I did replace my battery since it would no longer hold a charge for more than 2 hours.



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Mario

 

Hey Mario, I have a 93 US 348. I do recall hearing that beep each time I start the car, but I think it's the same pattern each time (haven't paid that much attention to notice a difference)

Tomorrow I will experiment for you, I will fire it up with the seatbelt off, with the sealtbelt on, and then again with the doors open to see if the beeps change their pattern at all.

I will post back here what I find.

 

Mike......THAT'S FANTASTIC......thanks...

Im thinking there must be a patern to it and since I haven't paid attention to it before except thinking it was part of a specific thing for the alarm that it would go away....but it didn't.

Now I'm also thinking if my mouse doesn't work at all that maybe sometimes the beep will not be 100% even if I get "the patern" right....if that makes any sense.


Let me know....now I'm excited that I'm not nuts....LOL, well I am but thats another story....hehehe!!!!!



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Mario

 

Mario, here is what I found:


1) Door open, seat belt off - key set to on position only, engine not fired up yet, no beeps....turn key back to off position and I hear five soft beeps.

2) Door open, seat belt on - key set to on position only, engine not fired up yet, no beeps (same result as scenario # 1)

3) Door closed, seat belt off - key set to on position only, seven louder beeps than the five soft ones as described.

4) Door closed, seat belt off - fired up engine, seven loud beeps (same result as scenario # 3)

5) Door closed, seat belt on - fired up engine, NO BEEPS


It looks like the seven beeps are a "fasten your seat belt" reminder, and only beep when the door is closed and seat belt is off.


The five "softer" beeps come on after shut-off no matter what the situation.

Hope this helps.

 

Mike.....thats amazing.....I will go check tonight when the little ones are in bed because as soon as I open the garage, my 5 and 3 year old daughters argue and cry to have rides then I can never get them to sleep.....hehehe!!!!!

Now I never noticed a louder chime but thats probably because I am usualy getting out of the car like I said....forgetting something in the house or closing the garage. And I usually have the radio playing in the background.

And seven, damn, not I have to go count....hehehe!!!!!

Thats really cool of you to reply.....I thought I was nuts and had to rip the dash apart and being 6' 220, I had to remove the seat to rewire the cut wires from the Clifford retard installer.

As well, I saw a Bosch relay that was plugged to the main white harness on the right of the sterring column when you are sitting in the drivers seat. I cut it because the wire colors didn't match the large white wire (I think its the starter) and the relay was attached to it then going to the alarm. I tried starting the car with the harness unplugged (thank god I can start the car with just the key and not have to depress the clutch when lying down on the floor on your back) and the car did nothing. So when I plugged it it started. So I was able to test removing the relay and everything still worked the same

So after that I put everything back together...well.....crap, I broke the ash tray part that connects to the center shift gate panel, so now I have a gap of about 1 cm......DAMN....I looked on Ruthland, table 125A part 40 # 62146600 and it was over $244.17.....(enter swear words here). I'm sooo upset about breaking the ashtray contour.....



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Mario

 

No problem, my pleasure.

It's funny because I have never heard the seven beeps because I always put my seatbelt on before I fire it up, but after this experiment for you that is when I found out about those seven beeps..

I should note that the seven beeps are slightly louder/stronger than the five...you will know what I mean when you check it tonight.

 

It's funny that you say that not noticing the chimes.....hehehe....

I had a similar conversation with a friend, Roberto....Night life, he had a 348 Spider.

When I bought my car last year, a week or so later I gave a huge write up about driving impression. I explained how things were ahead of its time like when you shut the car off all the lights turn off and the headlamps go down too.

He replied damn....all those years I always shut them off and turn the headlamps down before shutting the car down and never knew or else I would have just shut the car.....he thought it was hilarious.....so did I.....

Wife should be here in about 10 mins.....I will let you know.




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Mario

 

I took some pictures.....

1st one is the alram....check this junk....to make matters worst, the alarm box, all the plug terminals on the box were named, power, sensor, lights, horn....etc...hahaha.....amateur alarm.

2nd one is the harness....the two white wires with the red stripes were in between the big white wire on the main plug on the right of the column.

3rd picture (enter swear words again) you can see the broken gap between the ashtray and gate plate. Now there are two holes as well, the top one was for the alarm confirmation light that wasn't even plugged and the second largest hole was a box with a dial, I guess a manual control because maybe remote technology was not up to par for Clifford, or they didn't have the technology yet....HAHAHA.

Either way, I'm left with a broken gap....im so upset, I look there all the time and I see it all the time....urghhhh....


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Mario
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Wow, that is a mess....as for Berto/Nightlife, he's good chit...he's moved on to a Lambo (as you likely already know)...but that Spider he had (nicknamed "Dolce") was badass.

Let us know what you find out with those beeps

 

Yeah Roberto told me he was having issues bringing his Lambo back....some sort of Canadian Law on that specific year because previous and post were ok to be let into Canada. Poor guy, he sells his 348 only to be left with an empty bank account and an empty garage until he can bring it into Canada in a few months.....

Ok, I went for a drive to the local Timmies because my neighbours would go nuts me starting the car on and off trying to get it to beep....hahaha....and with a Stebro exhaust....even worst.

So I get to timmies, open the rear hatch, turn the power switch off (I have the on/off switch from a front battery car in the rear). I guess the original owner had it installed because in the parts list it only shows it for the front batt setup.

Anyways, I went inside, got a coffee, came out and switched it back on, started the car and let the computers reset because I have been playing with it for the last week in regards to the battery, disconnect, reconnect etc.... (another long story).

I tested every scenario twice and got nothing.....CRAP.....now the only thing I saw different was your 3rd Test. When all was done, the seatbelt light was not as bright like a third less bright and was flickering fast, when I started the car it went away, when I took the seatbelt off with the car running, it was full lit and not flickering.

Now, Im thinking maybe 3 things, in the door there are 2 switches, one for the mouse and another for the light. Maybe the switch has gone south for the mouse or the track is not working causing some sort of intermitten problem or both. But in all situations....no beep tonight. sometimes I dont hear it for a week or 2 then all the time for 3-4 runs then nothing.

Well at least I know I'm not crazy (could be another long story or topic hehehe) but I now know it's not part of the alarm. So in either case, I'm ok with that but.....is it causing a battery drain trying to move the mouse??? But one great thing I notice about Ferrari's even with the gremlins in the electrical system is when the car is off, everything shuts off but maybe this glitch is preventing it to shut off????? Damn, who knows...and since I bought a 1000CCAmp battery, I would probably never find out unless I dont drive it for a week or more.....and I cant do that, I try to drive her every day if not every 2 days even if it's for a quick run with one of my little girls. Crap....this car is move addictive than Heroin....LOL



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Mario