Ok Ive got a MY99 with the factory alarm

sometimes (but never at home) it refuses to unlock (occasionally refuses to lock but this is VERY rare)

last night 30 miles from home took 10 mins to unlock

im sure its not the batteries as I took the ones from the spare remote thats never used.

Eventually it seems to unlock, but its getting worse Im sure.....

anyone else get this?

also, where is the sensor to detect the alarm, as holding it close when it plays up may help? .......

robski

Could be our old friend the Mobile Phone transmitter aerial mast thingamabob. Parking around these can cause keyfob transmitter not to work as airwaves are chock fulla signals microwaving your brain. The fact it's location specific supports this.
C

We had a situation last week where the remote would not disarm the alarm or unlock the car on our MY01 and of course we were miles from home too and it was late at night :rolleyes:

We called Subaru Assistance and after about an hour the man with the breakdown truck arrived. He opened the car using the key (setting the alarm off) then put his jump leads on our battery, revved his truck a bit and lo and behold the remote worked and turned the alarm off. He said that this can happen when the voltage drops in the car battery and that the alarm thinks it's been tampered with so won't disarm (or something like that! ;) )

We took the battery to Lavender Hill garage for a drop test but it was fine so we have no explanation for it not working that night but jumping it did work! :confused:

This probably doesn't help you at all!!! :D

Sal

Um - that is interesting.

My P1 sometimes does this - the local dealer mentioned something about the new police transmitter frequencies being very close to that of the subaru alarm system. Many People are finding the remote locking is failing in certain areas

I think the remotes can be reprogramed - please speak to your dealer.

Ian

The Sigma M30 is prone to interferance from the new Police digital radio transmitters.
Your Subaru dealer can get it swapped FOC for a updated model working on slightly different frequency.
And they need both remotes to reprogramme them to the new unit.

I had to have it done on my MY00 after getting stuck, and the push button panel in the glove box also wouldn't respond.

If you try holding the remote under the driver sill it can help.
The position of the alarm unit is probably best not discussed on here.

Cheers MTR

When our remote failed I initially thought that it is was as a result of transmitter interference having read a thread on here two days previously all about that. The explanation (and subsequent remedy) that the breakdown man gave us about the battery voltage being low seemed ok but what I don't understand is why it happened as the battery is holding 12volts ok. :confused: I'm concerned that it will happen again when I'm out in the car on my own :(

Sal

Ian Gratton \ MTR

Bang on. Although they are not within the new Pilice Transmission Bands if they are close (because of the power of transmissions) they bleed over.

I was also told by my dealer, if this is the case they can get the frequency changed by Sigma FOC to one more mid range (i.e. not on the outskirts of the band and prone to 'bleedover')

For what it is worth Blackpool near the tower is infamous for it!!)

Steve :D

pressing the fob near the front nose badge can work, i've done that b4 to get in / lock the car.

Also - you can just unlock it with the key get in and disarm the alarm with the alarm code...

Snowcrash

That's great if you know it - guess who didn't? :rolleyes:

We do now though, our dealer changed it for us :D

ok ok, this is gonna sound stupid BUT..............

if you hold the remote up under your chin it will unlock the car, it does it with my sigma alarm all the time and some bloke at B&Q said try it under your chin and it opened! :)

No im not mental, just give it a try!

I have this problem all the time when I park in supermarket or out of town shopping center carparks... Im convinced it is something to do with interference from another source and the Police / cell phone transmitter answer sounds most plausible to me. This is because mine is not an intermittent problem - I can reproduce the problem easily by parking in certain areas or spaces.

Resolution...
My dealer has agree to replace my main alarm unit FOC to one with a different frequency... Thanks again Heritage of Leicester!

on the industrial estate where i worked there was infra red cameras that interfeared with my remote, under the chin actually works!!!!!!

yes i've only noticed it in areas with infra camera's ...

also it took me 20mins to work out pressing the fob near the nose of the would lock it (as i basicly walked around the whole car pressing the fob till it worked). also i couldn't not do this as i was 300miles away from home in Manchester (and im not leaving my car unarmed there).

Mr Manchester you might be right, as where the nose of the car is in this carpark it was the only position not in line of sight of an IR camera... next time i go there in the scoob i will try it :rolleyes:

also could this problem be a cause of IR camera's and / or HAM radios / Police Radios ...

OK, I know this is an old thread, but I just had the same problem... I parked at a supermarket (groan) and couldn't set my alarm at all, so locked the car using the keys.

When I got back, my keyfob still wasn't working. It's been dodgy a couple of times recently, so I actually had the spare one with me just in case. That one didn't work either. So, the car was open, but immobilised!! Very helpful. So I tried using the keypad, and YES, I am probably one of the few people who remembers their code. That didn't work and eventually the keypad even gave up flashing at me!

I even tried holding the keyfob under my chin, as I'd heard about that trick - that didn't work either. So I ended up calling Subaru assistance. The first question the woman asked me was whether I'd parked there before. She said that it could be a transmitter interfering and that I'd need towing out to get out of range. (I have had slight problems with my keyfob there before, but never total failure until now - so maybe it was a transmitter causing the problem). I tried to point out that towing a 4-wheel drive isn't that straight forward, but she seemed to know what she was doing...

1/2 hour later, local garage truck comes out. Only info he has is that "key ignition doesn't work"! Takes a look at the car and says he can't tow it. Doh!! Now that was a surprise... So, we ended up pushing the car to the far end of the car park, and that actually did the trick - both keyfobs and keypad back to normal!

But I'm not happy! Is it just me who thinks it's ridiculous that you can't go shopping without being stranded because of security problems? I don't want to be restricted on where I can go because of transmitters! They're everywhere! Don't want to have to call for assistance ever few days!! It could get slightly annoying after the first 6 months. So, moan number 1 - alarm.

Moan number 2 - Subaru Assistance. They failed to inform the garage of the exact problem and didn't pass on vital information - had the car actually required "towing" elsewhere, I'd have probably been waiting at least another 1/2 hour. Very annoying, as I had lots of beer in the boot which I couldn't drink!!

So has anyone else had similar problems?

Well this really is a common problem isnt it, I'm scared to turn the car off in some areas now as I know it will take me ages to disarm immobiliser once I've pulled key out ignition.
Advice on here seems to be contact local dealer and get them to re-program frequencies of keyfob so that there is no interference from transmitters....
As regards to holding keyfob under your chin, thats the craziest thing I've ever heard!! But will give it a go next time I'm stuck, I'll let you lot know in due course.

When you get in normally, and start the car, does the alarm bleep just before the car fires up ?
If so your battery is about to fail and this can also lead to problems with the remote not working.
Have your battery checked to make sure it's holding it's charge.

Apparently another trick is to move your Scoob 5ft forwards or backwards and this MAY do the job. Admittedly not much use when parked in meter bays. Source is a main dealer.

BTW for Mancs, it's probably a good idea to avoid Stockport Town Centre near (behind) the Town Hall. This is reputed to be a Scoob alarm killer zone!!! Something to do with the copshop and a telephone transmitter in close proximity.

Just lately my alarm has sounded a beep before i start it
IS it the battery about to give up on the key fob?