Alarm System Service Required

[chrism]

2003 V70, 230,000 miles:

What does it mean when the subject message is displayed for a few seconds after I turn the key on and start the car? About 3 seconds after the engine starts the message and amber triangle disappear. Is the alarm battery going dead? This all just started today.

In addition, for the last week or so, the key is occasionally hard to turn. It seems to occur when getting in the car on a hot afternoon - like Texas hot. The DIM's temperature gauge has been reading about 111 deg when I get in the car. It drops a few degrees once I start rolling down the road. No problem turning the key when it's cooler out.

[jonesg]

Thats the battery, get on it or leaking acid will burn the board.
Drill out rivets and pull back wheel liner, use dremel to cut a slot in the security bolt head then screwdriver to remove.

[chrism]

That's what I suspected. Dead battery that is, not the dripping acid part.

Is it on the RH side like aft of the W/W reservoir?
Also, is it a common battery that I can pick up at Batteries Plus or Walmart, etc?

Thanks.

[chrism]

OK, I just watched a couple Youtube videos on the subject so I'm an instant expert

It was interesting - on one of the videos he replaced the circuit board due to the acid attack using a board from another car. It worked fine with no programming required.

[jonesg]

OK, I just watched a couple Youtube videos on the subject so I'm an instant expert

It was interesting - on one of the videos he replaced the circuit board due to the acid attack using a board from another car. It worked fine with no programming required.

Correct, a junkyard siren module is all you need if the board is toast.
I bought 2 phone batteries and soldered them up with extra wire so the battery is remote mounted.
I needed 7.4v so a couple of nimh 3.7 packs did the trick.

Passenger side wheel well, have some rivets and rivet gun on hand to seal it all up again.
If you wait the board will be damaged,
the battery is mounted above the board and the acid wicks down the power feed wire right onto the board.
A new alarm module costs $250.
My junkyard price was $10. No programming needed.

[vtl]

I fixed two of these, and going through the bumer/headlight is easier in my opinion. Especially on cross country.

[SuperHerman]

Agree with all that has been said above, but will add I pulled the module, opened it up, found the battery number and searched the internet for a source. I think I paid under $20 for a complete replacement and if I recall they "custom" made the stack for me. I only had to solder the connector. If you don't want to do any modifications that is a safe approach.

[chrism]

I found on the internet that the OE power source is a stack of (3) x 2.4V, 240 mAh NiMH large button batteries (approx 1" dia x 3/8" deep) = 7.2V total. Apparently that type of battery is difficult to find stateside? I wasn't able to find a source but I didn't search all that long.

Anyway I went by Batteries+ and I'm having the guy package (6) AA rechargeable NiCads in series (= 7.2v) with pig tail leads. They spot weld the bridges between the batteries rather than solder and then shrink wrap it all together. He's charging me $25 which includes batteries and packaging.

I'm guessing the new battery pack is unlikely to fit inside the alarm box, so the "tentative plan" is to mount it remotely inside the ECM/TCM box (there's room) with a disconnect there to facilitate subsequent replacements. It will only be about a 12" run down to the alarm box. I'm thinking that would place the batteries in a fairly good environment with the cooling fan. According to him the NiCads will discharge faster than NiHydrides if the alarm goes off, but overall they'll last longer before needing replacement. It will be interesting.