casper5551

just been to local dealer for 2 new romote keyfobs as mine have snapped of the key ring HOWWWWWWWWW MUCH even dick turpin wore a mask when he ripped someone off £35 pound each ouchhhhhhhhh plus dont forget the best bit here folks £45 to re program fobs to alarm unit wouldn't mine so much but the dammn alarm don't work if ya anywhere near a radio transmittor any idea if ya can buy cheaper else where

petesmith

Had the same problem as you with alarm not working near a radio transmittor. The main unit is not shielded, the subaru garage should change the main unit for you in warrenty as it is a design fault. They will however charge you for the fitting of the replacement unit. I had only had the car for less than a month from a subaru garage when i discovered this problem. When they change your main unit give them the new remotes and they will program them into the new unit.

Sigma Sam

On the subject of radio lock out, this is NOT a warranty item or a design fault….

Radio Lock Out
- All alarm systems manufactured for use in the UK in ’99 were required to operate on the frequency of 433MHz. Subsequently, in late 2000, the government allowed the introduction of the “Tetra” radio network for telephone companies/police/fire/ambulance services etc, which was allocated the 420-430MHz bandwidths.
Although not exactly the same frequency, these “Tetra” transmitters are licensed and so are allowed to operate at around 20,000 watts, compared with the alarm systems 0.5 watt radio key (necessary so that your radio keys remain exempt from annual licensing!)
As a result, when you are near a transmitting “Tetra” mast you can get a degree of “bleed over” as their signal isso much stronger and this can swamp the transmission from the radio key. This problem is not exclusive to this system and can occur on any number of manufacturers systems produced prior to 2001.
The receiver boards were redesigned to focus more accurately on the 433.92HHz frequency as soon as this problem became evident, however, systems manufactured before 2001, with the older receiver boards, are not faulty and were NOT considered eligible for warrant , although as a goodwill measure, customers who suffered from “exceptional” radio lock-out (ie lived or worked below a mast) were offered an upgraded receiver board if the vehicle was still within the warranty period.

Avoidance.
There are a few points that should be remembered:
- All vehicles that passed through the import centre from January 2001 are equipped with the latest receiver boards that are "Tetra Resistant" and so should not experience this problem.

- A keypad is fitted to ALL models with the UK standard fit alarm system (from 99 MY) as an emergency override, in the event of loss, damage, flat radio key battery etc. (The keypad also allows the driver to access a number of features and is a complete programming tool for the dealers) and so pushing/recovery of vehicle’s should not be necessary provided you know your override PIN and ow to operate the keypad.

- The keypad can NOT be effected by "Radio Lock-Out", as it is hard wired into the system and does not rely on a radio transmission.

- The keypad allows only THREE PIN attempts and then will "Lock Up" if an incorrect number is entered a third time. This is a secuity feature to prevent random attemts at steeling the vehicle, however, it is also an inconvenience if you are suffering "Radio Lock Out" and enter your PIN incorrectly.

- The PIN number should not be entered too quickly or too slowly - when a digit has been pressed the small LED built into the keypad will illuminate briefly as confirmation and only then should the next digit be entered.
If an incorrect digit is pressed or the delay between entering digits exceeds10 seconds, then the LED above the keypad will flash rapidly and the PIN attempt should be abborted and started again after 30 seconds.
Due to the small size of the keypad some users may find a rubber tipped pencil easier to use. DO NOT use the sharp tip of a ball point pen etc, or press excessively hard on the keypad as this will only damage the membrane and cause a digit to remain pressed, causing a continual incorrect PIN.

My advice is to read the alarm system's instruction manual, practice entering the PIN before you need it and, if you bought the car second hand, ensure you know the correct PIN as this could have been changed by the previous owner and can be changed to one of your own choosing, following the instructions in the alarm booklet.
Ensure your keypad is operational before you need it on a dark night!

I hope this has cleared up a number of points that have been raised and will help to keep eveyone mobile.

Incidently £35 each for a transmitter doesn't sound to bad from a franchised Subaru dealer , compared to. £85 each for a Renault Clio transmitter and £100+ each for a Land/Range Rover transmitter, to name but two, although I agree the labour charge seems excessive for something that you could do yourself using the keypad in 2 minutes.

SS