Alarm goes off when I lock my 02 Passat

**derekjohn37** · 12-02-2006,07:52 PM

The alarm on my 2002 TDi Passat went off today in the drive for no apparent reason. When I unlocked the car it stopped but when I locked it again it went off imediately. I can now not lock my car without setting off the alarm. I have checked that the doors, boot and bonnet are all correcly closed but still no luck.
Any ideas?

Please Help

**Sam** · 13-02-2006,11:08 AM

Originally Posted by derekjohn37

The alarm on my 2002 TDi Passat went off today in the drive for no apparent reason. When I unlocked the car it stopped but when I locked it again it went off imediately. I can now not lock my car without setting off the alarm. I have checked that the doors, boot and bonnet are all correcly closed but still no luck.
Any ideas?

Please Help

Sit in the car and turn it on, does the display show that you have anything open?

Check for dampness in your footwells.

Possibly a faulty microswitch somewhere.

HTH
Sam

**derekjohn37** · 14-02-2006,09:17 PM

Thanks Sam. The display does not indicate that any anything is open and I cannot find any damp in the foot wells.
The problem did go away last night and was ok this morning but at about mid-day the alarm went off again (no one was near it) and I haven't been able to lock it again tonight.
I am interested in your suggestion that it may be linked to dampness. I live up in Scotland and we have has some very heavy rain over the last couple of days. Dampness shorting something may explain the intermittent nature of the problem. Do you have any idea where in the car this is likely to be affecting the alarm?

Cheers
Derek

**Sam** · 15-02-2006,11:44 AM

Derek,

If you can, pull up the carpet in the driver's footwell.

This post https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=607 should help you on your way, but do post again if you don't get anywhere.

HTH
Sam

**Brian Rouse** · 15-02-2006,12:49 PM

I had a similar problem. Water was was leaking through the pollen trap gasket on the bulkhead. There are a lot of multiplugs in the passenger fotwell behind a plastic kick plate. The grey one is from the bonnet lock sensor. This was corroded but cleaning and spraying with WD40 seems to have sorted it out.

**derekjohn37** · 15-02-2006,08:50 PM

Thanks. I'll have a good look this weekend and let you know if I have any luck.

**DRSWANSTON** · 19-02-2006,07:19 PM

I recently discovered that this appears to be a standard fault with this model (2001 saloon Passat). The water leak leads to ( amongst other things) (i) alarm problems (ii) all sorts of other 'mysterious ' electrical faults(iii) Wet carpet in passenger footwell .
When this happened to me the VW emergency chap said he sees a lot of these faults " some have a couple of inches of water in the footwell " The alarm/locking system etc apparently has its own (very inaccessible ) battery which will flatten if the alarm goes off ever few minutes all night as happened to me .

This leak could be due to (a) poor design (b) Poor Manufacture (c) poor maintenance
None of these should be charged to the owner/user .
Verdict: It should have been the subject of a recall or " at next service fix"

I think all user landed with these associated problems should press VW for action Any helpful comments welcome

**richieb** · 19-02-2006,10:48 PM

hi im having the same problem with my 01 estate

i was just wondering if your boot hatch is working or maybe this is a seperate problem for me ill b takin my carpets out at work tommorow and ill see if ive any water there hope u get yours sorted

**DRSWANSTON** · 20-02-2006,09:24 AM

If you take up the carpet front passenger area and ease back the plastic trim on the vertical panel just in from the door you should see a lot of electrics ie connectors . These include ( I think ) all sorts of stuff like alarm , door locking etc . If water gets in above this area ( ie from the Pollen Filter Housing) it will seep down to these connectors, which are NOT waterproof) If that happens it will 'connect' wires that should not be connected and thus make things happen in an unpredictable way . This seems to explain many many reported faults with this series . If the water leak is small ( ie a fewdrops) this will in fact be worse because it will be that much more difficult to find out what is causing these mysterious faults, and when the car gets hotter inside the tiny drops of water will evaporate and 'bingo' ..." No fault " ...Until it cools down , goes though a rain storm or whatever. This is a fault that VW should have admitted and done a "recall" or " fix at next service" bulletin to dealers . Tell any one you know who has this model about this and ask them to contribute here . Cheers

**Dozz** · 20-02-2006,12:10 PM

Don't think theres any chance of vw owning up to this. From the service histroy on mine it looks like i had the same problem and they charged over 300 quid to fix. Prob to good an earner to turn down. Also if they do make it a recall will they refund the money to people who have already paid for it to be fixed????? I think we all know the answer to that question