golf mk4 ASZ alarm problems

My golfs car alarm keeps going off (day:( and night:mad:) and i cant find the cause. I have a vagcom in the post, but that not going to give me a good nights sleep anytime soon, so i thought i'd give you guys a try. The car is a MK4 ASZ 2002.

When i lock the car the lights dont flash straight away, i just get one flash about 10 seconds after i press lock. Also the flashing light on the door doesnt seem to slow down.

I know that golfs are prone to alarm problems but from what i gather the cause seems to be concetrated around microswitches. I have checked my boot lock and all is very dry and well, and the hose to the rear wash/wipe has had the end replaced with some durable thick rubber hose so isnt leaking and the swich looks clean and new. Also i havent had any 'luggage compartment' warnings at all (before and after the alarm problem arose).
SO, then i thought it might be the door microswitch, but all my doors are locking fine, the light inside are all fine and fade correctly when i turn the key or lock the doors so its not an obvious fault.
I started striping my driver door as I thought that I'd get the microswitch and give it a spruce up / clean / scrub / solder, but then realised that i'd have to mess about with the window, so i stopped decided to wait till the vagcom gets delivered.
When i want to lock the car overnight i have to disconnect the battery and lock the door manually, then get my hand greasy connecting it up in the morning! Annother week of this is going to drive me mad!

Anyone got any pointers?

Without knowing if there are any faults or the last trigger source I can only guess at the common fault of a failed siren. When the alarm goes off, are the indicators flashing?

yup, indicators flash away, siren in my ear! (not a horn, but its as oem alarm...as far as i know..)

The alarm horn/siren is a separate unit in the plenum chamber under the windscreen. You need a code read and to know the last trigger source which is in measuring blocks.

ok, i'll update the thread when i get the code.

You could take the appropriate fuse out and that could work as temporary work-round instead of disconnecting the battery.

Have you got any tips for how to take off the inner back door panel, and how it fits back easily. I need to fix rear wash pipe on mine.

Cheers.

This is going to sound daft , but is the rear washers working OK?
The rear washer pipe can pop off , then water goes down the inside , then inside where the rear hatch catch is
Then it thinks that the boot is open and so goes off the alarm
Check for water around the catch
Sarah

Not daft at all, good point. Normally this makes the tailgate open warning light glow dimly.

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Instead of disconnecting the battey, im now locking all doors, opening the passenger side, getting out of the car, going round to the passenger side, locking the car from the inside, then locking the passenger side manually and closing the car (quick and simple!??!). I havent taken out the fuse as I thought this may tamper with the immobiliser, and I dont want to go through the process of having re-calibrated. I'd try and take the fuse out of the siren, or disconnect it, but i dont want the indicators going off, attracting attention to the car in the middle of the night as a car with a silent alarm.
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Not a stupid point to raise, its a very common problem apparently. Yes the hose is all in tact the washer wipe works fine and the boot is nice and dry. The microswitch seems ok, but you never can tell. Ill have to wait for the vagcom before i've know for sure.
:)
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The rear panel comes of really easily, you just have to be a bit careful with it. There are two screws/torx bits in the rear grab handles, once these are off, you peel the plastic section away from the boot from the bottom (lock side) to the top (window side). There are metal upside down 'V' clips that locate into the boot across the panel. Once all the clips have popped out, carefully pull / slide the panel from the window surround trim. Quite easy really, but all when you want to put the trim back on, you have to slide the top and bottom trim back together, then make sure all the clips are staight and locate back into the retrospective slots on the inside of the bootlid. Doesnt take long, maybe 10 mins to take off, 15 mins to put back in. The washer pipe runs along the the top of the bootlid, under the window trim on the side, then out the bottom. Its a black plastic tube and its not easy to see why they split, as they are very rigid so try not to bend it about to much. Id clean and wd40 as much of the microswitch as you can just to clear any moisture while its exposed. Hope this helps!

The immobiliser is a completely separate system to the convenience system electrics and you will not upset it unless you do something really silly like reverse polarity or something equally daft.