somean49

Thanks Warrior. My problem is less disconnecting the battery clamps than getting the bloody great plastic block away. I need to recharge/replace the battery. No amount of fiddling will separate that block and its hidden connections.

The connections attached to the positive connector are unwilling to separate. This makes removing the battery impossible. Is anyone aware of a YouTube or similar video to help an old man with a very bad back?

Thanks Alasdair. Two broken wrists, healing pretty well we're told. This old bloke not used to all that housework!

Fear not. I shall do my best to be sensible with it, however daunting I find tech. And I should have thanked you for putting me onto it. I expect my trusty autosparks will back me up too. Cheers, Richard

And I expect to be able to report back on the usefulness of OBDeleven. This forum relies on unbiased input to large extent which I shall happily contribute to.

This is very helpful Alasdair1. Thank you. As I hope this will be my last car (I am more than happy with it and don't expect to live to need another) I have bought OBDeleven to support me through this problem and to provide for my wife's Citigo too. It looks more manageable than VCDS and hopefully within my capabilities to use it. I don't think the car offers much of target to thieves. I have a Krooklok 2 which should deter joy riders. So the lack of an alarm is not a frightening prospect (fingers firmly crossed of course) Nevertheless I need to stop or at least bypass whatever is setting it off. *everything delayed here by visits to local hospital with the missus, itself a great distraction.

My autosparks pulled the fuse on the siren yesterday. But unhappily that left the hazards running. He doesn't have equipment to check out the entire system so bypassing that siren-hazards circuit couldn't be achieved. Given the age of the car and of this driver I am reluctant to fork out for a new siren unit. Does anyone on this Forum have any suggestions for stopping the alarm related hazards flashing without compromising their safety/MOT use?

Thanks for that. Quite encouraging because, although I live in S London, I suspect most vehicles which are 'alf-inched' for joyriding are BMW or the like

👍

I abbreviated the sequence of events as the greatest problem arose when the alarm siren went off during the night. But other glitches had occurred. For some weeks fob#1 had been showing reluctance to open the doors cleanly, needing a second press sometimes. One one occasion all four windows opened as if I had kept constant pressure on the unlock button. I had not. I got into the habit of unlocking the doors at night by fob#1 then relocking with the key in the driver's door. This was mostly successful at keeping the alarm silent. Leaving the vehicle unlocked also kept the alarm silent (of course?). These things had led me to blame the fob#1. During these weeks I had checked the fob#1 battery, good at 2.9V. And I did not know that the alarm had its own power source. My auto sparks disconnected the interior alarm to establish whether that might have been the source of my neighbours' and my misery. The continuing siren soundings showed it had not been implicated. It is now reconnected. The 12v battery had been disconnected until just before the autospark's last visit. As soon as I reconnected it, the siren sounded. It continued with the key in the ignition. It remained sounding when the engine was started. The use of fob#2 appeared to stop the phantom siren soundings. But these have occurred once since the change-over.

That is quite true and alarming (no pun intended)

Thanks to all the correspondents so far. I think I shall follow-up on Alasdair's suggestion first before engaging in slightly bizarre tests on the alarm battery itself, mainly because that unit is 'hidden' somewhere in a wheel arch amid 16 years of filth.

Thank you Warrior183.

Octy 2 1.4TSI ESTATE CAXA Quite uncertain where to enter this question. The keyfob#1 has started to cause serious problems with the car alarm system. So far keyfob#2 is working with no problem. Car alarm starting randomly and only disconnecting the battery helped. Yesterday the alarm kept sounding/flashing even when the engine was running - undrivable. Is there a home cure whereby I can remap/reset the key fob? My very helpful auto sparks is unable to help

thanks Alasdair, I shall scout around