Screamager

Aaaah, thank you. I didn't know that.

When I was searching for info on the Rapid alarm siren module I found a document that listed two, so I assume they used both on this generation of Rapid. My advice would be to remove your siren module and open it up before buying a battery, unlike me who now has the wrong batt. sitting on my desk. It's located under the scuttle cover, I've circled the bracket it's in, in the first pic. Pop the caps off the wiper hubs and remove the nuts. IIRC they're 13mm. Remove the wiper arms and then the rubber strip that runs along the bottom of the plastic cover. Remove the plastic scuttle cover. This is where the easy stuff ended. The 2nd pic shows the silver bracket and it's rivited onto the car body. I couldn't see any other way of getting the siren out without cutting the tops off the rivets. You can't drill them as there's no access. 3rd pic shows the side view, the siren is the black plastic part (circled) sticking out from the silver bracket. The wire and plug above are connected to the siren. A standard hacksaw blade was too deep to fit so I put a junior hacksaw blade into the handle (4th pic) until I'd cut enough to get the full sized blade in. This is incorrect use of the tool so you do this at your own risk. Once cut I used a thin, long, flat bladed screwdriver to prise the brackets apart. It did bend the metal on the body but I can't really see a way of avoiding that. This gets the silver bracket into a state where you can put your hand in from the side and maneuver it such that you can slide a spanner in to undo the bolt holding the siren to the bracket. 5th pic. Once that bolt is off you can fangle the siren into a position where you can get a screwdriver in to release the electrical plug and then get the siren out the side. You can also remove the silver bracket this way if you need to, once the siren is out. It's a faff but you can get it out. I found the best position was with the silver bracket rotated so the siren can be pulled out, 6th pic. I said I couldn't see a way without cutting the rivits, that's not entirely true. There's a black painted piece of metal infront of all of this. Initially I thought it was spot welded to the frame but I don't think it actually is, there are square nuts on the back which could possibly be removed. However, I wasn't up for removing this as there is all sorts bolted to it. Anyone following this guide does so entirely at their own risk. I'm just trying to help others. This took me about an hour to get the siren out but should take less time not having to figure out how to do it. Once the batt. is replaced I'm going to seal the siren module with silicon bath sealant. It's probably not the correct thing to use but it's what I've got. Will replace the rivits with nuts and bolts. Even if I wanted to rivit it there's no access to get my pop rivit gun in. I hope this helps others with theirs.

This was a mission! I'm going to add a guide with photos of how I did it below to help any other Rapid owners (and possibly Fabia Mk3 if it's the same?) who have this battery problem. Before that I'm going to say that it's a different battery to the one shown in the Octavia thread here. That one is a 5 cell, 6V 200 mAh battery. The one in my Rapid is a 2 x 3 cell 3.6V 140 mAh battery pair. Part No. for my alarm siren is either: 1K0 951 605C or F005V00327. Not sure which is the part No, I'll attach a pic of that as well incase it helps anyone.

Sadly not, that'd be easier! The previous generation had it behind the liner but these ones have it under the scuttle cover. I should have taken a photo of the bracket etc. but I didn't think of it and it's back together again now with wipers reattached.

Hello, I found a very helpful post in one of the Octavia fora about alarm siren battery replacement and I have the same problem with my 2015 Rapid. I've ordered a new batt. for it but I'm struggling to remove the siren unit. I've found it under the scuttle cover but it's in a metal bracket and feeling round the back of it, it seems there's a nut. I can't see a way to get a spanner onto it though. Does anyone have the knowledge of how to remove the alarm siren module from a Rapid? I'm guessing it's the same as the Fabia Mk3? Any help gratefully received. Cheers, Mike...

Thanks Kev. I might give it a go and see if it's happy with 150mAh. Things cropped up today so I never got to finding the siren module and removing it. Just hope it doesn't go off in the middle of the night and wake up all my neighbours. Mike.

I know this is an old topic but it's been really useful to me when my Rapid started sounding the alarm for no reason. Has anyone tried the 150mAh batts. as they're much more readily available, 1/3 of the price and have the correct solder tags? Does the computer accept that? The other question is does anyone know where the alarm siren is located in a 2015 Rapid? I'm guessing it's the same as a Mk3 Fabia, under the scuttle cover but if anyone can confirm before I start pulling it apart that'd be great. Cheers, Mike.

I saw in a video someone using a length of scafolding pole to do the same thing as teh 2x4, we tried it with a piece of box section that was lying around but the strut started moving to the side. We couldn't keep it straight and the risk of losing a hand seemed quite high so we packed that in smartish! For the hub splitter a chisel was used, the proper tool would have been better. I'll look into getting one of those for when the other side needs replacing. Mike...

Thank you for those extra pieces of info, I apprecaite it. We certainly found out about the RHS one being a total sod. Luckily we were doing it at my mate's work and we used a forklift on the droplink tabs of the shock to compress the spring and strut enough to get the hub back on! Was dreading the LHS one going but if that one will drop far enough then it'll be relatively easy to do. Thanks again. Mike...

TBH I've never removed the centre caps before so I didn't think of it but you're right, that should be enough, as long as I can get my callipers in to measure. Thanks for the idea. Mike...

Thanks for the hint, I'll have to get the weel off and measure that. Cheers, Mike....

Thank you Carlston. Annoying that an alleged VAG compatible set doesn't include a socket for all VAG models. I'm guessing the Rapid uses the same part as the Fabia which has to be one of their best selling cars! Any way, glad I have the info I need now and didn't buy a set I don't need. Thanks again, Mike...

Hello, I'm trying to find out what size of 12 point spline socket I'd need to remove the front hub nuts on a 2015 Rapid Spaceback 1.2 TSI. One site I read said 36mm but the only sizes in the VAG compatible sets I've found are 24, 30 and 32mm. I don't want to buy a set and find they don't fit. Please can anyone tell me what I need for this? Have just replaced a front coil spring and it was a total PITA to do without losening the hub nut. The other side will need doing at some point no doubt so want to have the tool for it when that happens. Cheers, Mike...