[rallison]

I have a 2010 EX with the stock alarm. 117k mi. Car has been perfect since I bought it used at 37k a bit over five years ago; it's been a daily driver since then, until a week and a half ago.

Mid-day today the alarm started going off randomly while sitting parked in my driveway--six or seven times during the afternoon. I hit unlock on the remote fob to silence it and then LEAVE IT UNLOCKED and it still goes off.

As the car had been parked for several days. I thought it might be related to battery issues, so in the late afternoon I started it--no problem at all starting--and drove it around for 45 minutes or so. The false alarm did not repeat; I chalked it up as random.

Then, just after midnight, it woke me (AND I AM SURE SOME OF MY NEIGHBORS!). It went off three more times as I searched this forum and typed this entry. I'll go down and disconnect the battery for tonight, I guess, but I would welcome any and all help.

HEEELLLLLLPPPP!

Thanks in advance, folks.

 

[KLR3CYL]

I would have your 12v battery properly load tested.

Just because you were able to start and drive it for 45 minutes doesn’t mean the battery is OK. When you drive it the charging system helps keep the car alive. If you have an older battery that is starting to have issues the drive won’t necessarily fix it. A battery with voltage drop issues could be the problem.

HTH,
Scott

 

[rallison]

I would have your 12v battery properly load tested. [...] A battery with voltage drop issues could be the problem.

HTH,
Scott

Thank you, Scott -- The battery is about 4 years old, so I'll have it checked out promptly.

 

[egads]

Indeed, the 12volt underhood batteries in these cars only seem to last about 3 years. Weird things happen when they get weak.

 

[rallison]

Indeed, the 12volt underhood batteries in these cars only seem to last about 3 years. Weird things happen when they get weak.

The original 12v battery was 3-4 years old when I replaced it; the replacement (now 4 or 5 years old) was mid-level aftermarket. I would not have expected it to decay this soon.

 

[egads]

It has nothing to do with battery quality, but how the 12 volt battery is charged and used. There is no alternator to charge it directly and it almost never starts the car. There are specific reasons these batteries die early, but I am not the one to explain it, so I won’t. (It irritates those who really know)

 

[BackStreetXX]

I had a note on my Insight from security at work that my alarm keeps going off. I had my battery checked and it was fine.

There is a common problem with many Hondas that the hood latch switch goes bad. Anything, even a temperature change, can then set off the alarm. You can clean, replace the switch, or simply disconnect the switch.

I disconnected my hood latch switch and have had no false alarms since. The door alarms still work fine.

 

[sibaseubo]

Ours is doing the same thing, we had our battery tested and it is fine. No one seems to know what is causing it. removing the battery cables is the only fix we found so far.

 

[sibaseubo]

Mine does the same thing, we checked the battery, nothing wrong.

 

[egads]

So, did you check the hood latch?

 

[sibaseubo]

Car Alarm randomly goes off

Yes,
We checked it yesterday and we could not find any sensor, looked in the manual and no mention of it. Is there a sensor in the 2010 Insight and if so, where would it be? We also checked the interior lights and could not find a sensor. The interior lights look almost molded into the ceiling of the car.

 

[egads]

The stock alarm is really simple. The "sensor" such that it is is just the door switches that turn the interior lights on & off. Those do get mangled sometimes. Same thing with the hood latch. It is just going to be a couple of wires running to that hood latch. If you find them, they can be wired together to fool the system into thing the hood is really latched. Probably not worth replacing that latch.

 

[Callita]

I had a note on my Insight from security at work that my alarm keeps going off. I had my battery checked and it was fine.

There is a common problem with many Hondas that the hood latch switch goes bad. Anything, even a temperature change, can then set off the alarm. You can clean, replace the switch, or simply disconnect the switch.

I disconnected my hood latch switch and have had no false alarms since. The door alarms still work fine.

Looked under the bonnet, my boyfriend also looked, tried to find a latch switch or a button that moves or any wires at all, and there is nothing like that... I fear that the only way to fix it to get to the nearest Honda dealer....

 

[Callita]

Looked under the bonnet, my boyfriend also looked, tried to find a latch switch or a button that moves or any wires at all, and there is nothing like that... I fear that the only way to fix it to get to the nearest Honda dealer....

Also have a problem with the passenger door locking while I sit in a car in driver's seat, a couple of times, I wonder if these problems are related?

 

[egads]

Look at the rubber covered buttons that switch on the interior lights. Those are also used for the alarm. Also, I'm not sure how it works in the Insight, but my other Honda will automatically re-lock if no Door is opened. When I had an issue with that button switch on my passenger door, I would use the fob to unlock, open that door to get stuff out and have the car re-lock with the door open. Check the switches at all 4 doors.

 

[Callita]

That does make sense, thank you. I also maight have solved the mystery of my random alarm sounds, I was driving a long time yeaterday and at some point the huge spider at least an inch long had marched from passenger door/mirror to my driver door and disappeared down the closed door... I was on M25, so couldn't do anything about it. I was only praying that the thing will not climb my ankle inside the jeans!!!!!!! I didn't see it today, but sprayed every vent at the front. When at home the siren did sound twice, once and about 5-6 min again.... I hope I got rid of it. At least the thing seems to be asleep in the night!!!!! lol

 

[SmaRkieS]

Sensor list.

 

[SmaRkieS]

 

[SmaRkieS]

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