[Richard]

I bought my Insight with what I thought was the factory alarm and door lock set up, but lately it has been acting in an odd way. Please refer me to the proper thread if this has already been discussed, but I searched and couldn't find it!

Okay, . . . I walk up to the car, hit the "unlock" button, and the car unlocks (once, driver's door only, twice, passenger and rear hatch too), so far so good. I get in, close the door, start the engine, and the doors lock automatically. Okay, that's fine too, my Miata does that.

But then, just driving along, the doors unlock. Wait 30 - 45 seconds, and they lock again. A few mintes pass, then they unlock, etc. Very annoying. An hour or so passes, and they go through the same ritual.

Then a couple of times (slow learner, once should have been enough!), when the doors unlock themselves, I manually click them to the locked position, . . . And the blue "Alarm On" light below the dash starts flashing! Yikes, I'm driving along with the alarm on!

One time, I pulled over, and the horn starts honking, lights flashing, the whole "I'm being stolen!" performance, while all the while the key is in the ignition, and the motor is running. Then next two times, I pulled off onto the shoulder (pretty much immediately), turned off the engine/motor, clicked the button to disarm, then restarted and all was well. For awhile, anyway.

Has anyone else had this happen, or am I the only one?

Best Regs,
Rick
2006 / CVT
55.3 lifetime mpg

 

[Scott]

Definitely not normal. The initial unlock sequence sounds right, but it shouldn't lock on it's own once underway. Nor should it be locking/unlocking on it's own. Being an 06, I would suggest a trip back to the dealer. Might only be a problem with keyfob? Did you try the spare one that came with the car?

 

[Richard]

Good idea Scott!

I had thought of that, and both yesterday and today I've been driving with the other key and fob set.

The 2nd set still locks me in when I start the engine/motor, but so far has not gotten into the spastic lock/unlock ritual. I went by the dealer yesterday afternoon, and they told me that they subcontract out the alarm systems to a company called "Southwest Alarms."

The Southwest Alarms tech wasn't in when I dropped by (just a clerk of some kind), but the clerk gave me an 800 number to call. So I will try to do that today, and report back.

Best Regs,
Rick
2006 CVT

 

[Insightful Trekker]

It's an aftermarket system.

 

[Richard]

I just spoke with the alarm company rep. and he's coming to my house tomorrow evening to fix it (hopefully!).

Will advise!

Best Regs,
Rick
2006 CVT

 

[Richard]

Yes, it is an aftermarket alarm, but it's installed (from what the repair guy told me) on all new Norm Reeves Hondas, then removed if the customer doesn't want to pay the extra $ for it.

He checked it out and found that it all worked fine; but there was a loose wire where the alarm system hooked into the car's power supply. He said that was odd, since the rest of the installation looked like a very clean job.

His theory was that the problem (on/off/on/off door locking) was caused by this loose wire jiggling around when I hit bumps on the road. Okay, maybe, we'll see! No problems today driving to work, but will advise if it starts happening again.

Best Regs,
Rick
2006 CVT