Factory Alarm Horn Honk / Light Flash

[ratz1984]

My lady friend has a 2004 Mazda 3 S loaded up with the factory alarm. When she first bought it 3 or 4 months ago, she could press the lock button twice and it would honk the horn and flash the lights. Now, a week or two ago, it does neither but the car still locks and the red light flashes on the dashboard. The dealer want $60 just to "Plug in and diagnose it" which is total BS... I know that's for check engine lights. No lights are on. Does anyone have any ideas? I've searched and haven't come up with anything.

 

[icspots]

Most dealers will charge a "diagnostic" fee regardless of whether or not they're plugging into the computer. Generally if they find a warranty problem then the fee is waived, however if it's a non-warranty issue then they'll charge the fee and whatever to fix the problem (though they shouldn't do anything beyond the diagnostic without checking with her). Since it's a '04 I assume it's out of warranty at this point. I'd either look for a dealer that will waive the fee, or find an independent shop to go through to find the problem.

 

[ratz1984]

Thanks for the reply. She told them not to diagnose it so she wasn't charged. They told her they would have to "plug it in to their system". Then yesterday, for no reason at all, it started working again.... strange. All I can figure is she somehow engaged some type of silent mode or something. I know aftermarket alarms have a valet mode that is activated by a few remote button presses while the door is opened (Been a professional car electronics installer for 7 years). Since it is working again this is the only thing I can think of... anyone else experience anything similar?

 

[tommyleeyyz]

Hey there,
My understanding is that you only really need to press the lock button once, the second time you press is just for confirmation.
According to the manual, "To confirm that all doors and the liftgate have been locked, press the lock button again within 5 seconds. If they are closed and locked, the horn will sound."

Possibly the doors/liftgate weren't closed completely (seatbelt caught in door?), therefore the confirmation honk wouldn't have been given.

 

[ratz1984]

Yeah, I figured that maybe there was a bad switch on one of the doors, hood or trunk, but all were shut tight. It's very cold here now so I'm guessing one of the switches got stuck and it "thought" the door was open. Seems like the most reasonable explanation since it started working again... I'll keep this up to date if the situation changes.