Fatman

OK - this may sound kinda crazy, but please update me or put my mind at rest.

This afternoon I was out washing the car (UK Turbo, MY00) on my driveway and the car apparently locked itself. Strange, I thought and unlocked the car again... wonder if I pressed the button by accident (keys in jeans pockets). So I leave the keys on the ground. A few mins later, the same happens. Nope - no accidental button press. Spare keys were in sight, so it's not those. It happened a third time a few minutes later.

So, what's going on? Dodgy electrics due to water from washing getting into the doors? Or this... I had a look around, to see if there's anybody hanging around, like acting strange. There was a car in the public car park within sight of my house. Something looked dodgy about them. Dunno what. Anyway, I must have looked at them funny or something 'cos they drove off. The car didn't play-up any more - locks haven't done anything strange since.

So, am I imagining it or is it possible to grabthe codes from Scooby key fobs and re-use later? Am I making something out of nothing (i.e. irrational paranoia) or is someone casing-up my Scoob?

boomer

This isn't the "if you unlock the car with your remote, but don't actually open a door within 60 seconds(ish), it automatically re-locks" feature - is it?

mb

matty01

Re-create the exact conditions ,if it doesn't do it again be carefull,some alarm codes can be "grabbed" and they MAY have been checking as to wether it was a randomising code,be carefull!!

Fatman

Boomer - no, that's not it. The car's normally unlocked whilst I wash it. I've done this dozens of times, so it's not some new alarm feature that I've not seen before. i.e. familiar scenario.

Matty - do you know whether the codes actually do randomise? I'd like to assume that this is a standard feature of Cat-1 alarms/immobilisers. Perhaps they were scoping for whether it was a constant or variable code. That wouldn't explain the way that the car apparently locked itself. I don't like the idea of the car being known and being watched.

Hopefully it was just the wiring playing up with the cold weather and water from washing. Any more thougts, anyone?

matty01

mmmmm..i would go to a reputable alarm specialist pronto,tell him the whole story and see what he says,you may want to buy a disclok for peace of mind ,they are pretty good.I would be gratefull if you could post back here if you get to the botttom of this as i'd be interested to know the cause of this,i'll put this thread in my favourites,good luck.
P.S. It may account for re-locking if they were grabbing code and re-transmitting it to check if it was randomised,as i understand it but i'm no expert.

[Edited by matty01 - 2/2/2003 12:59:11 AM]

Fatman

According to the Thatcham website, alarms/immobilisers must have anti-grabbing technology. So, perhaps that's not a realistic threat.

Yes - I certainly will keep folks updated. I was looking for a reason to put in a better alarm/immobiliser anyway!

Fat Blerk

Just my 4 penneth - may save you some money.

If you unlock the car and dont open a door, after a couple of minutes it will lock and rearm itself.

Standard feature of the standard subaru alarm............

Fatman

Cheers Fat Blerk - that sounds like the solution.

Adrian F

To grab the code you have to operate the alarm via the remote whilst they record the signal and then play it back. seems different to what happened?