Alarm/hazards keep activating when locked

[Robin K-S]

My wifes passat has just started acting a bit strange. When its locked the hazards start flashing after a while, this can be a couple of minutes to a couple of hours. Its not unlocking itself, it just seems the alarm is going off without the noise & no tampering.
This is becoming a problem as we think it was going all last night, and there were the inevitable staring problems due to a flatish battery.
Any help would be gratefully accepted.
Cheers
Robin

[passat 130 tdi]

chances are the alarm siren batteries are dead , new siren is circa £80 ish . i unplugged mine and fitted another alarm from argoose. £25.

you may want to check the drain holes where the battery sits and the brake servo , just incase the front end is swimming in water.

[Robin K-S]

How easy is it to change the alarm, bearing in mind car electrics are not my strong point & can't you just change the batteries in the original siren.
Will check the drain holes when the wife gets home on Sunday.

Cheers for your help

Robin

[cazyp]

http://www.weirdlittlebiscuit.com/passat/leak/`

In that thread you can see the alarm location and how to remove.

[Fourbears]

Mine did exactly the same. The loom was corroded under the passenger footwell. Took me about 30 minutes to put new connectors in and hey presto, no more alarm going off. Its a common problem on Passats - there are loads of threads on here regarding the pollen filter seal allowing water in!

[Robin K-S]

Cheers chaps will look into it on Sunday/Monday when the cars back here.

Are the batteries in the siren changeable or is it a new unit required?

Robin

[passat 130 tdi]

i soldered 2 varta digital camera batteries into mine ,it made little difference.

[Col]

Sorry to butt in here but the starting point here would be to get the car read for fault codes.

Look in the vagcom subforum for someone off of here near you who could help by doing that scan.

Chances are there will be a fault code(s) showing that will make help you repair it much more easily.

[Robin K-S]

Problem sorted, it was water lapping around. The weird biscuit link no longer works, but the same guide can be found here
http://xyrotr1.com/misc/passat_tech/unblocking%20passat%20drain%20holes.pdf
Easier than it seems, took about 20 mins to get the battery etc out & clean it out & rinse out the drain holes, so I'm deducing it wasn't the alarm battery, just water slopping around the front.
Cheers for all your help.

[scotty33]

I have a similar problem, thanks for posting your solution!

[gordo73t]

For those of you with tailgates it's sometimes worth checking the connector on the rear washer, i found previously it had come loose and sprayed water over the c/l alarm sensor switch causing the same problem of constant false alarms

[picto]

that sounds to make sense as all seemed to happen on mine exactly like that.

[analyst]

I am so-o-o-o grateful to this thread.

Got home last night about 11:30pm locked car and after about 30 secs alarm started blaring, lights flashing. Sods law isn't it - worst possible time.:mad:

Tried several times, same happened. To spare the neighbours, I took it out in the country and tried checking doors/boot/engine shutting. (Hell its midnight and pitch black, w,tf now?

Took it home and parked it unlocked overnight (lucky I live in sleepy-ville, last crime around here was a plant pot got kicked over 3 years ago) went in t'house and on t'internet - got here, read it. Hmmmm, methinks, water??? Would never have thought it . . . went to bed ZZZzzzzzzzz.

Had to go to work this morning and leave the car parked all day in town, unlocked might be a bad idea. Whipped battery cover off and looked down, jeez I see a pond underneath (no frogs). Got some old rag and pushed it down narrow gap with a screwdriver, absorbed some water.

Tried it now - no alarms sounds - yay!

Hopefully, it should last till the weekend and I can do the job properly, per weird-little-biscuit thingy.

Cheers guys, wonderful :D