scoobyster

Hi All

I have a problem with my Scoob which I believe is likely to be due to the Clifford Concept 600 alarm. The car behaves as if there is a loose connection to the main car battery, but the terminals are firmly connected. The alarm remote unlocks the car as usual and accessories have power. The dash lights come on as I switch ignition to on but the moment I try to start I hear a click and all electrics go dead - this includes interior light, hazards, alarm, everything. After a while, usually when I fiddle with the car battery's connectors, power comes back and the alarm usually sounds.

This morning while I was trying to get the thing started, the alarm sounded quitely and slowed down, thus I assume it was being powered by a very knackered internal battery in the alarm at the time. The alarm was installed around 8 years ago and the car has often stood for weeks at a time while I work abroad (albeit with the main battery on trickle charge) so I think it's plausible that the alarm's battery is knackered. The car is currently in daily use but mostly short journeys as my commute is only 3 miles.

The alarm was installed by Maximum Impact in Leeds who I believe have ceased trading. I'm still the owner of the car so I should have a lifetime warranty on the alarm, but does this apply at any Clifford dealer? An extra complication is that I'm currently on the Isle of Man where there is no Clifford dealer that I'm aware of (no car crime to speak of here!)

Do you think the alarm battery is likely to be at fault? I don't think it can be the car's own battery since the accessories work fine until the moment I turn the starter key. I have recently replaced the remote's battery but don't think this can be related since the remote works fine.

Any ideas greatfully received. Sorry for the long post!

steve nic

sounds like a dead sell in the battery or a earth conection on the car.if the car dash lights and engine starter motor trys to crank it cannot be the alarm!try running a earth from the battery to another point on the car and see if that helps if so find the offending earth strap!if not get another car or battery that you know is ok and jump the car off with that and if it works you know your battery is fooked

scoobyster

Thanks for your reply. Sorry my description wasn't clear - the starter motor doesn't try to crank. Literally the instant you start to turn the key to trigger the starter, all the electrics die. When this issue doesn't occur, the starter performs flawlessly and the car's battery has shown no other signs of problems.

I wondered if the alarm relies on its own battery power during starting so as not to be affected by the voltage drop on the main power circuit due to the starter motor? If so, and the alarm battery is dead, what would happen? I would expect it to fail safe and immobilise the car but not cut all electrics dead as is happening. I know Cliffords get unhappy if the car's main battery runs flat though, so anything's possible.

The car has an additional grounding kit so there are plenty of good earth routes.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Doesnt sound like the alarm at all, they do have a battery back up so dont rely on the car's main power that much, but what you describe sounds like a faulty starter motor, turn and you get nothing, all the lights etc go off, could just be on the way out, and you have not really told us what model year car you have?

Tony

scoobyster

Thanks for your reply Tony. I don't see how a faulty starter could cut off *all* electrics though - inc interior light, hazard lights, permanent live to the radio, central locking, etc. There must be something cutting off all power in/before the fuse box, that or a very weird battery problem. It does all point to the battery but I just don't believe that a battery could fail to provide enough juice to power the radio memory one minute, but start the car normally some of the time. The battery is probably tired though as it shows only 12.5v (everything switched off) and the electrolyte level was a bit low in all cells - have now topped up. I haven't been able to replicate the problem today but will get busy with a multimeter and see how far power is/isn't getting when the problem occurs.

Spoke to a Clifford installer today and he says the alarm battery just powers the siren and not the brain so didn't think my theory about a flat alarm battery was correct.

scoobyster

The problem has occurred once again today and I think I've spotted a pattern. I took some time over loading the car after unlocking and so had to repress the remote button to unimmobilise. While this appeared to work as usual at the 'ignition on' stage, again the electrics all tripped off and alarm sounded weakly, presumably from it's onboard battery. I managed to get a multimeter on the main car battery while this was going on and had 12.5v there, so I think the car battery is not the issue.

I think the problem has only occurred in a delayed start scenario such as loading shopping or whatever. I think it's always been ok if I start up within 30 seconds of unlocking so haven't had to re-unimmobilise.

Any further ideas based on this? To answer a previous question, the car is a 1995 Impreza GL.

Cheers.