Couple of Issues
 

Morning all,

I'm brand new to Volvo's and this forum so please bear with and go easy on me... my background is Mercs. I have a 1997 S40 2L SE Saloon. quite a lucky find as it only as 21k miles on the clock, 1 owner and a full Volvo Dealer History. anyway I digress, so a couple of issues are:-

1) when i lock the car using the fob, the indicators keep flashing after the slightly long flash confirming this has been done. All doors are locked, and nothing in the car is moving around. the alarm is silent though when the lights are flashing. also, the little light on the inside flashes (normally?).

2) the radio keeps showing "off" and wont let me input the code. the car went for an MOT on friday so was on for a good hour but it states off... any ideas?

All replies and help appreciated.


Thanks and Regards

Hiten

Sorry, don't have much to offer beyond the obvious. Sounds like an alarm/immobilizer issue (probably the former). I think there is a fair amount of literature out there to point you in the right direction. As I recall, there are some issues with the ?battery? in the alarm that sometimes goes defective.

1, When you lock the car the alarm goes off , hence the flashing of all 4 indicators , so you have two problems , something setting the alarm off and also the siren is faulty as you cannot hear it , I would change the siren first that may cure the problem if it is faulty and setting itself off .

2, You must have input the wrong 4 digit code three times for it to lock up ..
You must leave the car quite a long time with the ignition on , connect up a charger , It could be 2 hours or it could be overnight depending how many times the incorrect code was put in . Every time it is incorrect it doubles the time you have to wait until it resets itself . I would ensure you have the correct code before trying again !

Thanks very much for your response. Are there many second hand sirens about? Also, are they just plug and play?

The car came with the "off" being displayed on the stereo so looks like I'll just have to sit it out.

yes you can swap sirens but best to get a new one for reliability .
have you got the radio code ? and dealer can sort you out with it .

Thanks - now time to try and hunt for one. The dealer ones seem quite expensive!

I have 4 digits written on the service book so im hoping its that. not had a chance to try it as yet. I may ask the dealer to be on the safe side.

remember it locks up again on the third wrong code entry

Also, the lights can flash to indicate a problem with the circuitry. The little stainless strip that operates the microswitch in the bonnet catch/latch can distort and is a usual suspect

Being 20 years young the siren batteries or PCB may have failed but before you go spending money on a new one you might want to carry out the following check:

With the bonnet raised, all other doors in the closed position, press the stainless strip with a pen or a screwdriver to deactivate the microswitch, place your ear close by as you press it in order to hear the microswitch, then try locking the car via the fob. If the indicators don't flash you've found the problem......now realease the strip to test the siren 😁

I had the exact same issue with my car. It's more than likely that the batteries have burst in the alarm siren and melted the circuit board, and unfortunately the sirens in the phase 1's are sealed so there's nothing you can do to repair them unlike the later models. New sirens which are compatible with your locking unit are unavailable as far as I know, and there will be no second hand ones about which are any good. In my case there was also a short circuit in my alarm siren so even unlocked, the main car battery would drain in a matter of days.

All is not lost though! First thing to do is disconnect the alarm siren which is under the battery. The next bit is a bit bodgy so do this test first, and only applies to pre-1998 cars. Try locking the car on the fob with the bonnet open (doors closed), the doors should all lock and indicators flash a couple of times, and then your problem should be gone. You'll notice that the alarm light on the dash remains on permanently when locked, which is fine. By leaving the bonnet open, the alarm system doesn't arm but the central locking still works. The bodgy bit is tricking the system in thinking that the bonnet is open all the time, which means going to the bonnet sensor and bending the stainless strip out the way, so the switch no longer closes the circuit when the bonnet is shut. This means the now non-existant alarm system will not be armed so won't know that the siren is broken (now missing).

I've done this to mine and has been trouble free now for years. Only thing is you'll no longer have an alarm, but there isn't really another way. Someone will be along soon to say that with the light on the dash staying on permanently when the car is locked, it will run the battery down. It won't. It's a tiny LED and mine has been locked weeks on end with the battery remaining fine.

Another thing to remember on these early cars is that the locking system and the immobiliser are NOT linked in any way.

Now go and enjoy the trouble free (if not wallowy, sqodgy and sometimes rusty) simplicity of a phase 1 S/V40!

Hmm. That's interesting because my phase 1 works slightly differently.

Ordinarilly, the alarm will arm if it's armed with the bonnet closed. The alarm will sound if any doors are opened, including the bonnet. This is normal behaviour.

Here's the clever bit. If the alarm is armed while the bonnet open, the rest of the doors remain sensed, and the alarm will sound if one of them is opened, but it ignores the bonnet. This has been tested many times, for example if I'm charging the battery, or performing work on the engine and can't close the bonnet for whatever reason overnight.