Hi -
I have a 1998 Audi A4 2.8L AWD with an alarm system that is suddenly going haywire. I lock the car, which doesn't always give that annoying little beep that it's supposed to when it is locked and "armed," and walk away. Sometimes in minutes and sometimes a few hours later, with no interaction of any sort(anyone trying to break in to steal the old 80's CD collection, neighborhood brats bouncing their "friend's" heads off of the hood, etc.) it will suddenly start screaming and beeping and....well, you get the point. The only thing that has come in actual contact with it is the air around it - shocking since it's black and the birds are back from their winter trip south.[&:]

I'm going nuts because I can't figure out what the problem is and I don't like leaving it ANYWHERE unlocked but cannot tolerate the alarm going off (while I'm in the grocery store, at the dentist, trying to sleep after an 18 hour day). It's on my last nerve. [:@]

Any help would be greatly appreciated - I thought about pulling the fuse(short-term fix)but, off hand, I have no idea which one to pull and I'm not sure that's even feasible if it's tied in with anything else.

HELP !!!![]

 

You can Vag-com it to adjust the sensitivity, but I wouldn't pull the fuse. I dont think you'll even be able to start it if you did that. Do you have any windows open when this happens? You can try to disable the motion sensors be pressing the button next to your seat when getting out. I'd try this 1st maybe you got some spiders in there that trigger it.

 

I have a 2001 A4 that i just purchased and this happened to me yesterday,I did have the windows cracked...Hmmmm sounds like that might be the issue[sm=exactly.gif]

 

That drove me nuts last summer (1st with car) because id leave the windows down and the wind or other things (like my dog) would set it off. You need to press that button every time you get out the car to turn off the motion sensors. You'll see the red light on thedoor light up (solid I think) when its turned off.

 

Alas, no windows were down and there are no creepy crawlies in there(thanks for the thoughts running through my head about that though [:'(]). Seriously, I was at Lowe's last night and it literally started its siren song as I was walking towards it from across the lot (Please note that I DO NOT have a remote that I might've been accidentally activating or anything). The siren song lasted about 10 -15 seconds and stopped before I could even get the key in the lock to deactivate the alarm system. All pulling the #14 fuse did for me is disable the interior lights and also disabled the flashing exteriorlight show that normally accompanies the siren song. The car works just fine with that fuse pulled since there's nothing critical attached to that circuit.

I'm at a real loss here and am neither in the position to do without the car or my pitifulpaycheck to have a dealer try and find the "issue" if it can be ferreted out before it becomes a necessity.....sigh...[:@]

Pushing that button on the driver's pillar - does that have to be done at any certain time(other than when, presumably everyone is out of the car - no kids or pets are ever left in the car either) ? I'm assuming get out of the car, push the button and close and engage the locking system as normal ? Forgive me if this is obvious to the rest of you - I've never encountered the button before and what I have for a manual isn't all that great on discussing same.[&:]Wondering why the horn is suddenly not always giving its little "bleep" when the the doors are locked/alarm systenis activated ?

 

My car sometimes does this especially in wet weather. Most likely one of the contacts/sensors isn't making a good contact.

Open and close all the doors, the trunk and the hood of the car. Then try the lock and see if it beeps.

At any time, if the alarm doesn't beep immediately after you set it, there is a fault, and most likely the alarm will trigger when you go in the house.

 

My alarm woke me up today, in the last like 4 hours its gone off like 7 times. Its super windy today and I think that is the problem.

Very very very annoying.

 

Mine does that when sunlight hits the sensor. Behind the drivers door, on the pillar between the fron andt rear seats, there is an alarm button, which turns the motion sensor off. I'd try that.

 

Hmm...well, living in scenic W. PA, it's fairly windy here a fair amount of days so I'm thinking that it's not likely the wind (or not all by itself anyway - there almost has to be something else there adding to the mayhem). Except for the stores I visit, the car is almost always in the same position in th drive or in front of the house where it's been before - for almost 2 years - prior to suddenly starting with the alarm system "acting out" in the past week. I'll do a go round of the doors and such but I'm not certain that's it either(although a good idea) since sometimes thealarm does and sometimes it doesn't beep after locking it and I'm pretty rigid about making sure everything is kept closed tight and locked up.

Keep those ideas coming - I do appreciate them and eliminating potential caues may certainly help locate the actual cause !

 

Im gonna agree with david9999, the most common problem is a door contact switch in the latch. Even if you do hear the beep when you lock the car the latch can malfunction and make the alarm go off randomly, i had to track that same problem down on a B7 A4 which turned out to be a bad trunk latch.