Clifford G5 Blues ...

Sartori

Full member
Points
53
Location
UK
Car
Supra UK TT Auto
Hi all,

Has anyone out there in TorqueSpace got an encyclopaedic knowledge of vehicle alarm problems?

I have a Supra TT, and I paid a lot of money to have a Clifford G5 installed. For 6 months everything worked fine but now the alarm immobilises the car if I depress the brake pedal (it is a deliberate feature of the G5) - this should not happen since I drive with the key in the ignition barrel in the on position.

So, I have to drive (sparingly) with my brake pedal switch unplugged in order not to trip the immobiliser, but that removes the brake lights too (so I have to cycle, walk, or if driving is unavoidable, use the rear fogs to manually indicate braking)

Then, even with brake switch unplugged, the G5 immobilises the car about a certain # revs (another deliberate feature)

So - the alarm is behaving as if my ignition key is not present, so in one sense it is working perfectly. Except that my key is present.

It suddenly started failing after six months of working perfectly, and so far the alarm chap has instead it cannot be the alarm, and a vehicle electrical specialist has inspected everything and told me there is nothing wrong at all with the ignition barrel or anything else for that matter.

Alarm chap (Gap Security) would charge £150 just for turning up let alone any time spent inspecting his installation, so I thought I would turn to this forum to see if any clever people out there can give me some new ideas to try - if not I guess I will have to arrange a call-out...
 
Check the simple stuff first. Does the car have a good earth connection? Disconnect the battery from the car and reconnect it after a few minutes making sure there is a good connection there. See if that clears things for you.

To diagnose this you'd really need to take readings from the sensors in the car (ignition, brake pedal etc) and see if there are any unexpected conditions being made.
 
Thanks obi_waynne - I am borrowing a multimeter later today and will do some checks. The alarm is still well within warranty but the person who installed it is reluctant to travel out for understandable reasons - but has agreed to talk me through a few checks over the phone, which I will do in addition to the checks you described above. If that does not work then possibly I will contact Clifford UK directly to see whether I should be insisting on a visit from the authorised installer or not ...
 
Basically buddy, get him to sort it. A ruddy cheek really, the distance was no problem when he installed the alarm and took your money, now there is a problem & suddenly the distance is an issue? Yeah right! Trust me on this, if that was me, that engineer would be here in the morning with his own multimeter and his head under my bonnet.
 
Hi T9 man, I must admit I am starting to think that way myself now! I have been able to rule out quite a few things now, but what I've narrowed it down to is some dodgy connection somewhere inside a bowl of multicoloured noodles and insulation tape - I think I could have done a better job, with no experience, by following a wiring diagram! I am starting to get tempted by the idea of pulling all that mess out and tidying it up - how hard can it be I wonder... though I have visions of starting the radio by indicating left and washing my screen when I press the brake pedal...
 
Hi T9 man, I must admit I am starting to think that way myself now! I have been able to rule out quite a few things now, but what I've narrowed it down to is some dodgy connection somewhere inside a bowl of multicoloured noodles and insulation tape - I think I could have done a better job, with no experience, by following a wiring diagram! I am starting to get tempted by the idea of pulling all that mess out and tidying it up - how hard can it be I wonder... though I have visions of starting the radio by indicating left and washing my screen when I press the brake pedal...
:D I've seen worse, believe me!
 
OK - problem solved - dodgy installation where one wire was incompletely soldered. Looks like I will be trying to invoice the person who installed the alarm for the diagnostic costs! I took a few snaps of the weak join :)
 

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