Alarm + fob issues

[nixius]

Hello,

I have a V40 1998 2.0 Petrol, with an alarm that won't go off, so has been sitting for two weeks with the battery disconnected.

I locked the car with the fob, the next day the fob simply wouldn't work, so I opted for key entry and the alarm has been going off ever since (sometimes with siren). Thinking back my fob had been a little less reliable than I thought, but it had always worked.

I've bought new batteries for the fob, I couldn't remember the polarities but I've tried all combinations now. I can't quite figure out why there are 2 batteries though or how they should be placed into the fob; any advice?

I've been ringing around my local garages, including one that 'specializes' in Volvo's but no one wants to touch it. I don't really want to drive too far with the alarm on (it will start fine, albeit it sadly).

To top it off some idiot has rolled his car into it as well so it's a bit smashed up.

Any advice would be very welcome!

[Kev0607]

Did they give you a reason as to why they don't want to touch it? Which Volvo garage did you phone?

Really, its a guessing game. It could be anything from a low battery in actual alarm siren triggering the alarm, but I'd be inclined to think its related to the key fob. I'm not sure whether this will work, but I've read turning the key to the unlock position twice whilst the key is in the lock in the door disables the alarm (worth a try?).

All keys in the V40's up to 2004 took two batteries, but I'm not sure as to the exact reason why. I can only guess that one wasn't enough!

Have a look at this site below. Look at the pictures to see which key matches yours (They're labelled "A", "B" & "C") & follow the instructions. Given that your car is a 1998, I presume yours will be the same key as shown in picture "A". If that's the case, then the plus side of the batteries needs to face down.

http://www.volvohowto.com/replace-re...volvo-s40-v40/

If this fails, then you need to get the fault codes read. If the alarm is going off, it should store some kind of code that diagnostics will show.

[nixius]

Thank you, I had similarly read about turning the key twice thing, sadly it didn't work. I also read about a disable button under the dash (can't find it) and in the glove box (can't see it either). I did recently replace the main battery, probably unrelated but worth a mention I guess.

You're right, it is type 'A' - I tried both batteries +ve down but.. now I'm thinking... if it needed 2, do the batteries need to be placed quite specifically? i.e. do they need to be touching each other or parts of the circuit board or something?

There is only a specific recess for one battery, the other one is prone to float around. I will give it another go, much to my neighbours delight I'm sure =)

The garage is a local one, I'm giving them a ring today to see if they have found their 'old' machine to read codes. I don't really want to drive too far with alarm going off if possible. They are put off by its age and things like rounding screws off, bolts shearing etc.

[nixius]

Well this is embarrassing, when I opened the fob to check batteries they were side by side. So I've been trying to put them in... side by side... it's only when I typed the reply earlier that I thought something was definitely weird.

So I went out at lunch, and this time I stacked the batteries on top of each other, and now it works. I also had the hazard lights on, which does the same behavior as the alarm without the siren, so maybe even some key only stuff I did could have worked.

I'm an idiot. Thanks for replying, if I hadn't thought out a reply I could have been spending a lot of money for someone to just replace some fob batteries!

Now on to the next raft of problems =)

[Kev0607]

I did think that it was going to be related to the key fob, so that was a cheap fix! Yep, the batteries go on top of each other with the positives facing down.

Out of interest, I only know two Volvo Specialists in Manchester - One is called Hallmark & the other is Trevor Burgess. It wasn't any of these garages that you tried by any chance?

[nixius]

No it was a place in Hindley, Wigan.

I was recommended to go there by another garage, it was that garage that said they were a Volvo specialist so maybe take it with a pinch of salt.

[P156KWJ]

A well known (locally anyway) company who claim to specialise in ALL makes of car key cut me off mid sentence when I enquired about Volvo keys they just said "they are dealer only"