Car alarm failure on the 300C (how do you disable the alarm)

Discussion in 'Chrysler 300' started by General Schvantzkoph, Apr 23, 2006.

  1. The alarm on my 06 300C failed on me yesterday disabling the car. The
    alarm has gone of spontaneously a couple of times but it always recovered
    before. Yesterday it failed and I couldn't get it to reset so I had the
    car towed to the dealer.

    The details of the failure are as follows. The car wouldn't respond to the
    keyless entry commands. When I opened the door with the key the alarm went
    off. Putting the key in the ignition wouldn't stop it and the car wouldn't
    start. To add insult to injury I couldn't get to the battery to disconnect
    it because the battery is in the trunk and the alarm system disabled the
    truck button on the dash and the keyless entry buttons weren't working (I
    tried both of my key rings so I don't think it's a problem with the
    batteries in the key rings).

    This was the most embarrassing kind of failure, I was in the parking lot
    of an Audubon society bird sanctuary and they were having a lecture. You
    can imagine how popular I was.

    There must be a battery cable that comes from the trunk to engine
    compartment, is there a place where this cable can be easily disconnected?
    Is there any sort of system reset button in the car?
     
    General Schvantzkoph, Apr 23, 2006
    #1
  2. General Schvantzkoph

    damnnickname Guest

    Is this a right hand drive vehicle?


    Glenn Beasley
    Chrysler Tech
     
    damnnickname, Apr 24, 2006
    #2
  3. No it's a regular American 300C.

    The dealer said they spent four hours on it although all they did was a
    firmware update. Frankly I doubt that they've fixed the problem, if this
    were a software problem it would be happening to lot's of people. It feels
    like an electrical or hardware problem to me. Has anyone heard of an alarm
    lock up problem to the 300C? Does anyone know if it's possible to have the
    alarm disabled or devoiced?
     
    General Schvantzkoph, Apr 24, 2006
    #3
  4. General Schvantzkoph

    maxpower Guest

    --

    If there was a cable that made it easy to shut down the system, the alarm
    would be worthless.
    Take it to the dealer and have them scan the module, it will show up on the
    scan tool what the last reason why the alarm was triggered.

    Glenn Beasley
    Chrysler Tech
     
    maxpower, Apr 24, 2006
    #4

  5. I got my car back from the dealer, all they did was reset the computer.
    Chrysler has had a few reports of similar failures but they haven't issued
    an ECO yet. For now the only solution is to reset the system when the
    computer locks up. For the benefit of others here is how you do it,

    1) When the computer is locked up the normal methods of opening the trunk
    are disabled, i.e. the button on the dash and the keyless remote. However
    the back seat in the 300 folds down so it's possible to access the trunk
    from the back seat. Once the back seat is down you can reach in and pull
    the kidnap cable which opens the trunk.

    2) The circuit breaker box is easily accessible, just lift up the carpet
    and its right there. The left hand circuit breaker (it's black) controls
    the power to the relevant computer (there are 30 computers in a 300, don't
    know if they are all on the same circuit). You pull up the circuit breaker
    and wait at least 10 minutes, then you reconnect the circuit and the
    system should operate normally.
     
    General Schvantzkoph, Apr 25, 2006
    #5
  6. General Schvantzkoph

    Art Guest

    Sounds like a Microsoft style repair.


     
    Art, Apr 25, 2006
    #6
  7. It is a Microsoft style repair because it's a Microsoft type bug. The 300
    has a BSOD problem. I suspect that it's really a hardware problem,
    probably undershoot on a sensor line or perhaps a power supply glitch. If
    it were purely a software problem then it would be much more common then
    it apparently is. However it could be an exception handling bug in the
    software, i.e some sensor or combination of sensors is giving a reading
    that the software doesn't handle correctly which causes the computer to
    crash.
     
    General Schvantzkoph, Apr 25, 2006
    #7
  8. General Schvantzkoph

    MoPar Man Guest

    It's bad enough that the car is ugly looking. Now we learn
    that it's electronic systems were designed by Rube Goldberg.
    Did anyone think of using the key to unlock the trunk from the
    outside? Or does the Tonka-300 not have a key-lock mechanism for the
    trunk?
    Bill Gates would require a separate XP licence for each computer.
    Dave, what are you doing Dave. I know I've been acting erratically
    lately....
     
    MoPar Man, Apr 26, 2006
    #8
  9. There is no key lock on the 300's trunk, the only way to open the trunk is
    with the keyless remote, the trunk button on the dash (which is
    electronic, it's not connected to a cable), or with the kidnap release
    which is there so mafia snitches can get out of the trunk before Tony has
    a chance to pop them.
     
    General Schvantzkoph, Apr 26, 2006
    #9
  10. General Schvantzkoph

    Steve Guest

    Its got a key- only GM and Toyota are aggressively eliminating key
    locks. The rental Impala I had as a rental not too long ago had NO trunk
    key slot, and NO passenger door key. Totally dependent on the little key
    fob to get in the trunk. Pretty soon they'll eliminate the driver's door
    key slot. GM and Toyota have also eliminated transmission dipsticks on
    many models. Yee-ha.
     
    Steve, Apr 26, 2006
    #10
  11. General Schvantzkoph

    Steve Guest

    I sit corrected- I hear that 300's DON'T have trunk key-locks. Thank God
    they still have real transmissions, at least.
     
    Steve, Apr 27, 2006
    #11
  12. General Schvantzkoph

    Guest Guest

    I'd locate the alarm horn wiring and insert a simple switch in the
    circuit for future use.
    The lack of a key lock on the trunk was one of the many reasons I passed
    on the 300.. This is unacceptable design which I know comes from Europe,
    where I've seen it there on rental cars for some time.
    I once rented a Renault which had NO key locks anywhere. I assume there
    was some way to get in if the battery failed, but typical of rental cars
    the owners manual wasn't to be seen.
     
    Guest, May 2, 2006
    #12
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