Car Alarms: Grand National Alarm, valet mode, dash area


Question
QUESTION: This is kind of along the lines of another question I saw on here, but I think I can be more specific.  I have an '87 Grand National and the alarm shows as a steady red LED light just to the left of the steering wheel, and the alarm goes off only if the battery dies and you try to recharge it without the key in the ignition.  The problem with this is, if I don't drive the thing every 5-7 days, the alarm drains the battery.  How do you disconnect or disarm the alarm?
ANSWER: If it was an aftermarket system that LED would
tell me the alarm is in service mode. It would
not work if disarmed in any circumstance.

But if this is OEM from Grand National then your
system specs would not allow for removal, and you would
have to contact a tech who knows more on the factory
systems then I do,

Best bet is to get a tech in there to determine
which relay is draining the battery too. I'm thinking
it's factory, cause it does not sound like aftermarket
from the limited description so far.

What happens when it goes off? Give me a description
of sites n sounds.

ALARMTEK

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I am pretty sure it is the factory alarm.  It has a siren that goes off, the same "whooop" over and over, and the parking lights flash.  So you think I should have a Buick Tech look at it?  

Answer
Nope, sounds after market. The siren and parking lights
gave it away.

It appears from your expaination, that the
car alarm is in service mode.

Ok, try this.
Put the key in the ignition, and turn forward
all the way just before cranking. Then within
5 seconds, press and hold in the valet/overide
button, found under the dash area,
until the installed LED (the blinking light)
in your dash area goes off, and the siren chirps twice.
(Your valet switch might be the toggle (on/off) type.
in this case, key on, flip switch in oposite direction,
key off.)

This should reset the alarm.

Just Repeat these steps to place it
back to valet mode.

That should do it.
If you want to remove it at this point,
take it to your neighborhood installer
for this, or buy the wiring chart for
the vehicle, and reverse engineer it wire
by wire, until it's safely removed.

If it does not work out this way, you will have
to replace the system with one you know how
to operate and what to expect.

Let me know what happens.

A.