2004 Accord Alarm Problems

My wife just bought an Accord EX and the Honda factory alarm seems to
have a 30 second preset which means if she's unloading something from
the trunk, 30 seconds after she shuts off the car it locks and if she's
digging around in the trunk or if a door's open, the alarm sounds. Th
dealer said there's no way to change the time so that it doesn't lock
until say, 3 minutes after the car is shut off. Is this true? It's a
real pain in the ass.

T.B.

 

That would be a pain. I have a 2003 Accord LX-G (Canadian model) and I have
to lock the car myself with the remote in order to activate the alarm.

Since you bought an EX, I'm assuming you have remote keyless entry. When
you or your wife gets out of the car and need something in the trunk, use
the remote to lock the car. Then use the remote or the key to open the
trunk. Since you used an authorized method of opening the trunk, the alarm
should not go off. Keep in mind this a guess though since I'm not that
familiar with the 2004 Accord's alarm system. Makes me glad I got a 2003
instead. I hate, and refuse to buy, any car that has any form of an
auto-lock. I can't stand cars that automatically lock the doors when you
start to drive or lock after so much time after taking the key out. It's
like the car companies think we're stupid.

 

On the few after-market alarm systems I have worked with, the auto-lock
feature can be turned off altogether. Perhaps the factory alarm has the
same feature. Did you fine-comb the manual for information on this?

Also, are you sure it is a factory alarm? A friend just bought a new
Civic and thought the dealer put in a factory alarm, but later found out
that it was an after market system. Same thing happened to me back in
'94.

 

I didn't think much changed between the '03 and '04 Accords, but I guess
this is one of the changes. I haven't read anything about this though. I
have a 2003 Accord EX and the car NEVER locks itself. I can leave it
unlocked overnight in my garage and it will still be unlocked in the
morning. I have the '03 and '04 Accord feature list and it also doesn't say
anything - in either brochure - about an auto-lock feature. So, to repeat
what another poster said, are you sure this is a factory alarm and not an
aftermarket alarm?

 

Thomas Bell said for all posterity...

Well, maybe it's partly true.

Here's how my 2003 EX V-6 Accord Coupe works:

Assume the car was locked with the remote, so the alarm is
activated:

a) If window is open and you reach in and unlock door, alarm
goes off, even at 6:00a when your neighbors are trying to sleep.
I know this to be a fact.

b) If you unlock doors with remote, but do not open the doors
within 30 seconds, the doors re-lock themselves. I know of no way
to lengthen or shorten the 30 second timeout. This is a pain at
times.

c) As far as I can tell, unlocking the trunk with the remote has no
real effect on any of this.

d) I know of no scenario where you can arm the alarm with the doors
open causing the horn to start blowing, unless pressing the Panic
button on the remote can cause this. I'm not going to try it for
my neighbor's sake.

Simply turning off the car and getting out does not result in my
doors automatically locking, no matter how many days pass by.


Casey

I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.

 

I don't have the alarm on my 2003 Civic. There is a 30 second timeout on
the door locks. If I unlock them with the remote, they will lock again in
thirty seconds if I haven't opened a door.

I find that the car is locked sometimes, and I haven't quite figured out
when, but it seems like it has something to do with me having opened the
trunk. I don't have a remote for the trunk, though. I am fairly certain
that something is locking my doors occasionally, though. In my case,
I can't lock the doors if one is open, but I can lock the doors with
the trunk open.

 

I agree 100% w/ Casey. I read the owners manual cover to cover too. This 30
second delay is a pain. I'll unlock for someone to run back to the car and
I'll walk away and if they don't open the door fast enough, it's locked
again. Same if I unlock then go in the trunk first. I wish we could override
this! I also do not like that you can't lock the door w/ the fab if any door
is open. I use this feature often in my other car. A bunch of us go to
unch - I'm first out - I lock the doors - when the last one closes theirs,
the alarm sets. W/ the Honda I forget and think I locked the doors like in
my other car and they're not.

I set my alarm off today - I popped the hood release - got out - locked the
doors - opened the hood - ooppppsss. But it was 7 AM - everyone should be up
anyway.

Jim / NJ

 

I just bought a 2004 civic... and had the same problem... The alarm
system would go into auto-arm mode after 30 seconds unless you
followed a certain procedure of unlocking and putting the key in the
ignition (which I could never get used to). While driving the alarm
would start wailing because the shock sensor would be triggered
because of the vehical's motion.

For me, I found out that the alarm is not a factory alarm... it's an
alarm made by Audiovox (Pursuit) They call it a factory upgrade
meaning they use the same key fob that comes with the honda keyless
entry. This alarm costs only about $80 retail, but the dealer charges
almost quadruple for it!

Anyway, you can set your alarm to not be in auto-arm mode... you need
to call your dealer and find out where they've installed the valet
switch (or feel around under your dashboard for it)... then have them
walk you through the steps to turn off auto arm (ie automatically
turning on after 30 seconds). You can set up a whole bunch of other
options such as whether or not the car beeps when you lock it, or if
the lights flash or not... but you need to know where the valet switch
is, it's a small metallic pin-type thing that you can push in and it's
probably located somewhere under the steering wheel or just above the
foot rest or front hood release switch).

If yours is also a pursuit, you can follow the procedure listed here:

owner's manual:
http://www.audiovox.com/manuals/owners/1286021_OM.pdf
installation manual:
http://www.audiovox.com/manuals/installation/1286022_IM.pdf


Next time, I would find out what kind of alarm they would put in if I
ordered it from the dealer, then go buy that and have them install it
for another $80. Of course they will tell you you MIGHT void your
warranty and scare you that way... but now we know better... just get
the dealer install it for you.

 

After faintly hearing the horn honking in the driveway, I decided to
superglue the panic button. I have set it off several times with coins
or keys while in my pocket.

 

No.

 

dold said for all posterity...

Okay, true story.

About 3 years ago I had two 99 Ford Expeditions in my driveway. My
wife had one and the other was mine. The wife and both SUV's are
gone now, but that's another story.

I found out how to set the key fob to work on either vehicle... it
was simple procedure to "tell" both vehicles to obey either fob. I
could lock or unlock them both with one click.

One afternoon I managed to accidentally activate the panic button
in my pocket and one vehicle went into the horn blowing routine. I
guess the other was out of range. I walked out on the porch and
hit the panic button to turn off the alarm. Yep, this silenced
vehicle #1 but promptly set off vehicle # 2. Now I have two
vehicles, one panic button, one vehicle is passive and the other is
in "panic mode". I tried pressing the panic button over and over,
but all it did was alternate vehicles. My 12-year old son realized
what was going on and was laughing hysterically by this point.

As a last resort, I tried pressing the button as rapidly as I could
until I somehow had both vehicles going off at the same time. One
more click restored peace to the neighborhood....



Casey

I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.

 

To follow up on this, we had taken the car in on Saturday, heard about
the dealer's inability to change the alarm setting on Monday, then got a
call that they had "fixed" it this morning before we were going to pick
it up. After numerous calls trying to get a straight answer about what
exactly they "fixed," we wound up going to the dealer this evening to
pick up the car and were told that they could disable the alarm's
"time-out" function so basically it won't activate at all if the car is
left unlocked - which is fine by us as we're not stupid enough that we
need a timer to lock our car for us. It was explained to us that the
Alarm's brand is "KARR Security Systems" and is what West Coast Honda
dealers install as a standard. This is their website:

http://www.karrsecurity.com/

Also, the service dept was supposed to clean up a minor nick in the
driver's side door and due to the idiot who wrote up the service report,
they cleaned up "something" on the passenger's side door instead. The
mistake was caught by the salesman who sold us the car and an extra day
was required to paint the nick on the proper door, however, it wasn't
done until about 2 hours before we went in to pick up the car and looked
pretty cheesy.

I will say after this that that the local Cerritos, California Honda
dealer has what is easily the worst, most disorganized service
department I've ever dealt with. As I sat in our other car waiting for
my wife to get her car, I heard several other really pissed off
customers dealing with various reps about various problems with their
cars. My wife loves the car but their service is terrible and will
probably keep me from buying another Honda (I am looking for a '04
minivan), at least at this dealer.

T.B.

 

Thomas Bell said for all posterity...

Okay, this explains the "non-factory" behavior. Not sure why you'd
really want an add-on system when the Accord has one already built
in, though.


Casey

I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.

 

My wife was told by the salesman this is the "Honda standard keyless
alarm" meaning it's this system or no alarm whasoever from Honda unless
the car's buyer specifically buys another manufacturer's alarm. She
didn't ask for (or was offered) any type of "add-on" security system. As
I mention above, this is the standard security system supposedly that
West Coast Honda dealers install on at least the '04 Accords and likely
their other lines too.

T.B.

 

I will say after this that that the local Cerritos, California Honda

Sounds like you need to take your service to a different dealer as well.
Any dealer can service your car and handle warranty claims on your Honda.
It is unfortunate that every car manufacture has good and bad dealerships
and the customer must find out which is which by trial-and-error.

 

The EX's are supposed to come with a factory installed alarm, meaning there
is already one in the car before it hits any dealerships, west coast or not.
It will be listed on your brochure (if you got one), and probably in your
owners manual (haven't seen the '04 manual). Maybe others could clarify,
but I don't understand why they would have to install an alarm system on a
car at the dealership when it already comes with an alarm system from the
factory. The only thing I can think of is that they can drastically mark up
the cost of the alarm without the consumer really knowing about it, thereby
making the dealership more money.

 

From the hondacars.com description of interior features:
"Door ajar warning: If any door or trunk is not closed properly, horn will
sound three times and the system will not arm"

That sounds annoying, but the alarm isn't set, according to this. It also
doesn't mention the doors automatically locking, except if you unlock them
and don't use the unlocked door within thirty seconds.

If you get out, lock the doors, then unlock the trunk, does that also
unlock the doors? If it does, and you are getting things out of the trunk,
it would relock the doors in thirty seconds.
Coincidentally, the horn would honk three times to warn you that the
trunklid was ajar... which seems like there ought to be horns honking in
every parking lot in the US. You'd have to be quick to load or unload the
trunk in thirty seconds.

 

I like the lock-at-15mph feture on my Chrysler products. It is optional,
and can be turned on or off by the dealer, usually at no charge.

My 2003 Civic seems to be locked occasionally when I walk out to it. I
think it has something to do with the trunk, but I don't know why, since
the fob doesn't control the trunk.

 

I like that feature on Chrysler products as well, and miss it on my 03
Accord. It is not a dealer item on the Chryslers however, it can be done by
anyone who takes the time to read the owner's manual.

 

One more:

e) Attempting to set the alarm while the trunk is still open will not work.
Normally, pressing the lock button twice will beep the horn, confirming the
alarm. This does not happen if the trunk is open.