Alarm siren blues.

OK, VERY disappointed in Ferrari. Have owned my 360 cpe for about a month. Have had a couple problems already due to piss poor engineering and piss poor quality. Now the red alarm LED is staying on, and the alarm siren make no sounds, never did since I bought it, did not notice the constant-on red LED at first. Yes, guys, I've searched and read every post I could find on the subject. Here's my deal - I assumed the battery in the siren unit was bad, took off the siren, replaced the batteries even though the ones soldered on the board were showing about 7.5V on my volt meter. I bought new original VARTA batteries on-line and soldered them onto the board. Cost $22. Still have red light, and no sounds at all from the siren. However the alarm functions all work, just no sounds from the siren. Have tried ordering the C6 vette siren, part number 15213135, four times, from four different chevy dealers, and have received 4 refunds after they figured out that they don't really have the part available. The f-car Stealers best price is a little over $300 if you shop around. I can't justify that on principle. So WTF?

 

Stop whining. Its a 14 year old car. It's NOT a Honda or a Camry. I don't know what you're expecting... suspension parts and sirens go bad in other cars as well. Remember that even Porsche 911's in sweeping corners have had their engines implode on the track because of oil starvation... in a supposed dry sump engine. There is no perfect car. If its that bad sell it and buy something else. Ferrari's used to be the car for car connoisseurs. Now every poser buys one and expects it to be like a Kia. It's like whining about a Patek loosing a few seconds a month.

You can replace the battery and the stoopid alarm board can still be fried. If its not on ebay, and not in the new parts suppliers.. you can always try the used corvette parts guys like Corvette Salvage | Used Corvette Parts C3 C4 C5 C6. Might have a siren from a c6 nice and cheap... hold you over and get rid of the red light.

 

The red light only indicates there is a fault with the alarm system. It isn't there to tell you the batteries are dead.

A proper diagnosis is required to know why it is on.


Have you read the owners manual?


Looking at your other posts it seems you want to keep an exotic running and reliable using the free information you can get on the internet which is worth every penny you pay for it and then relying on that advice in conjunction with used parts to keep the car running. That is not a recipe for a long and happy ownership experience.

I have a prediction to make. Within a year you will no longer be an owner and will ***** about what a piss poor car a Ferrari is for the rest of your life. Well you are going about this all wrong. But I waste my breath.

Good luck.

 

I accept your feedback guys, although not a very welcoming response to a new guy. FYI this is the fifth Ferrari I have owned, and it probably won't be the last, and yes our 14 year old GS400 and new LS460 have spoiled us on reliability and quality. Ferraris do have their share of piss-poor engineering and quality, sorry to hurt your tender feelings on that. Yes, I've read the owners manual thoroughly, including the alarm system booklet. I can solve my problems, easily, seriously, don't need your help or advice, unless it's constructive.

 

Take it to a competent Ferrari mechanic or a dealership and call it a day. Yes, it's that easy.

 

I hate to say it but if I had to guess you are probably in for a $300 alarm module. Most 360's need to have the alarm module replaced by now (if the owner wants it to work properly). There are some problems you should expect that are common with this car:
- alarm module
- wheel center caps deteriorate
- sticky buttons
- ball joints (on higher mileage cars)
- oil pressure sending units
- F1 pump or relay issues (especially on pre-2004)
and possibly a bad gas cap (seal falls off), but can easily be epoxied back on, and sometimes motor and transmission mounts as well.
Other than those, these cars seem to be very stout.

I purchased my 2004 with only 3,500 miles and here is my list:
- alarm module ($255)
- oil pressure sending unit ($155)
- gas cap ($0)
- head liner needed regluing ($500)
- tighten sway bar end link ($0)
- Wheel center caps ($120)

These cars are Italian and can be finicky at times. I don't like that part of owning a Ferrari either, but these cars are such a joy to drive, that I make excuses and forgive it. All things considered, I've doubled the mileage on the car and had it for 2 years and the car cost me a total of $1,030 for these finicky problems. Not too bad for a low production exotic car. It's a classic example of if you want to play you gotta pay! I would tell you to not let this sour your experience with your new car, but apparently you've already owned Ferraris, so you have more experience than me with Ferraris. I'm not in a position to give you advice on that.
Good luck with your car!
Sorry for your trouble with the car. I hope the alarm module is the extent of your problems for a while.

 

My red light has been on since owning the car for nearly 3 years. I'm happy with it. I fear if I fix it I will have to contend with a god awful chirp every time I push the button.

 

I like the chirps because I know that when I hear a double chirp, the immobilizer is disabled and I can start the car. It drove me nuts trying to watch the signal lights flash to let me know that it is unarmed. In all fairness, I was new to the car at the time, I probably would be more comfortable with not having the chirp now than I was back then.

 

rifledriver - You're wrong about me. In fact the problem with the acceleration sensor was not that big of a deal. I bought a used sensor for $35 on the probability that it was the problem due to heat in the engine area. It worked, suspension malfunction light off. Saved 200+ mile trip to the dealer, two cars needed because they did not have a loaner car, and $165 diagnostic fee, plus they wanted me to leave the car for two days. So then I bought a new acceleration sensor from a dealer for $205, and replaced the used one, because I like to have only the best parts on my car. So, the good used sensor is available if anyone wants it for troubleshooting, just let me know and I will send it to them and they can troubleshoot with it, and send it back to me, free. Fixing the alarm siren issue is now more like a game that I want to win. ha ha Yes, I can diagnose it with a simple volt meter, there are only three wires, a return (ground), one wire for charging the battery in the unit, and one wire to tell it when to chirp. If those circuits check out, then the siren unit is kaput. No big deal...I'm already in contact with the vette junk yards, and chevy dealers, and will get the part soon enough.

 

I would appreciate a chirp or two, as well. Because the siren is out, sometimes when I get in the car and go to start it, of course it just runs the starter. Was embarrassing one time a crowd of high school girls had gathered around my car, and when I went to start it, I forgot to kill the immobilizer, and it just cranked. HA! They had a chuckle, until I finally did take off and bust their eardrums. HA!

 

I would have to advise against using a GM module from the junk yard. I feel like if the alarm module was used for a few years and then sat in a junk yard for a while chances are that the battery is either dead, or about to die. Another issue with the GM module is that while it appears to work "normally", it will not sound if the alarm is tripped by an intrusion. That may or may not matter to you, I just figured I would throw it out there.
I also tried to replace the battery in mine, but the board was so damaged that I had to buy a new unit. I had to decide GM vs. Ferrari also. I went with Ferrari because I wanted it to work like new OEM.

 

Ha, I knew it would start damn chirping if I fixed it.
I push the button, the light stops flashing, it starts and drives perfectly.
Without any chirping or beeping that would belittle my Ferrari. Perfect.

 

As you guys know.. my philosophy is that if they want to steal your FCar.. they're going to use a tow truck and it'll be gone in 60 seconds if not less.

The other alternative that I have not tried is a volvo alarm siren.
Volvo Alarm Siren Module 8637399 Fits V70 XC70 S60 01 09 | eBay

Supposedly it works but the cost is like $120.. so the GM always wins on cost. You might be able to find an S70 or V70 in a local junk yard and try it. Interestingly, my euro doesn't even crank unless I press the button.

 

rifledriver and vrsurgeon - I've owned ferraris for over 33 years and have done 100% of the wrenching including building a Colombo motor from a box of old parts, for my 250. Nobody else has ever wrenched on my cars, including the tire stores, I still always take the wheels off and take them in. If I had room for a tire changer, I wouldn't even do that. So it stinks geting old, and when the day comes that I can't work on my ferraris, that is when I won't own them anymore.

 

I work on mine as well and I'm equally distrustful of others. I also don't come onto a site and in the third sentence call the problems "piss poor engineering and piss poor quality".
It makes me wonder about a persons perspective. Compared to what? A 2003 911? Yeah if the IMs bearing goes, you're out and engine. Mass product GM and Toyota.. yeah they've had problems too. My Porsche? My Mini? Alot of plastic that I've replaced on those with mass produced fittings.

The 360 isn't like older ferrari's. It employs alot of newfangled electronics... the kind of which you've had trouble with. You need to change the paradigm with the 360. There's alot of electronics in it. You're not going to fix it with a phillips head screwdriver and a lead mallet. It's designed for the electronic diagnosis to be be "guided" by an SD2 scanner and then component replacement. You can trace it down without the SD2 on occasion and get the right part.. other times the cause is more elusive and the SD2 or leonardo helps find the issue.

I'm sorry if my comments stung. But I find the 360 refreshing to work on. You can disassemble it and reassemble it and the parts aren't designed to break in the process. For a modern car its surprisingly easy to work on. And I've actually found it to be pretty reliable. Meaning, I fix the issue and I don't revisit it.

 

wouldn't it be nice if we could take out the alarm altogether ? I don't know anyone who actually uses it myself and it would remove that immobilizer breaking down fear.

Sure if I lock my car, I guess the alarm is on but coming from 40 years of driving with the top down, I hardly ever lock my cars, I take the key with me.

 

You can thank your elected government officials.

 

I'm posting on the chance this info might help someone else. OK, finally got around to fixing my alarm siren problem. Purchased a GM 15213135 siren from England, paid $220 US, waited a month for delivery. Installed in car, did not work. No sounds from siren no matter what, and the red light was stuck on. So, downloaded a wiring diagram for the car from a website, which gives a pretty good idea of how the siren is wired. Suspected a problem with the ground wire on the siren. Checked for voltage at the siren connector pins with the key off and discovered 12V on the black (should be ground) wire. AhHa! There is a ground wire that starts at the siren connector and goes thru the car and eventually is supposed to connect to the car main battery negative terminal. That ground wire was connected to the positive terminal! It was connected that way (wrong) when I bought the car. Moved the wire to the negative terminal, and the siren started working and now the red light goes out. So, there was nothing wrong with my original siren after all. As noted about a thousand times in the forum, the corvette siren GM 15213135 chirps with the key button, and the red light goes out, BUT, THE ALARM SIREN DOES NOT SOUND WHEN THE ALARM IS ACTUALLY TRIGGERED. So I have an extra "new" GM 15213135 siren available if anybody needs it. I put my original siren back on the car. Works perfectly.

 

Glad you solved your issues.

Just in terms of the comments about poor quality engineering I wanted to throw this out into the air....

Actually the majority of the electronics fitted to a 360 are German, not designed by Ferrari or made by Italians and are shared with a large number of (millions of) cars from the same period/era. Sadly the Alarm Siren was 'designed to fail' and had no user serviceable parts inside (like replacement batteries).

The majority of these electronic parts being designed and produced by electronics giant Bosch, including the Ignition ECU's, the Alarm siren & Immobilizer, the coil packs, the fuel pumps, the air flow meters, the throttle bodies, the "digital" accelerator pedal, the abs unit, the abs magnetic ring sensors, brake master cylinder/servo, o2 sensors, numerous engine sensors, etc. The list goes on and on and on...

From reading between the lines what your main gripe is more to do with is being ripped off for having to pay "Ferrari" listed prices for regular mainstream parts. I guess like the 'F1 Pump' which is the exact same as fitted on Alfa's of the same vintage (yet a fraction of the price if you buy with the Alfa part number). Its a bit of a hard pill to swallow when they are identical but then Ferrari 'can' so they 'do'....

Actually the majority of these mainstream parts are indeed available (if your canny and shop around) from various other non Ferrari cars. If your handy with a simple volt meter or more preferably an oscilloscope you can trace so many of these issues of compatibility and fix many of the electrical gremlins yourself, which can also be fun in itself.

 

Thanks Henry. You're exactly right.