Car Alarms: 2002 Pontiac Firebird car alarm, airport parking lot, pontiac firebird

Question
My 2002 Pontiac Firebird factory installed car alarm is going off intermittently every night and day.  I have owned the car since it was brand new in 2002 and had never had a problem with the alarm until recently.  I don't know if this is coincidence or if it is a factor in this, but the problem started immediately after my return from vacation in March when I drove the car back home after leaving it parked in the long-term airport parking lot for a week.  I have taken it in to the dealership twice now.  The first time, they told me it was due to corrosion on the battery terminal which was causing irregular voltage surges and setting the alarm off.  They charged me $99 to clean the terminals and said it was fixed.  The alarm went off an hour and a half after I got home.  The 2nd time they told me after another hour and a half that they still could not figure out what the cause was and they would need me to schedule a day that I could leave the car there all day to look at it further. Other people have speculated that possibly something was done to alter the frequency or caused by certain radio waves being so close to the airport for that amount of time?  I have made another appointment to leave my car at the dealership again but was wondering if you might know what is causing this.  I (and my neighbors)would greatly appreciate any information you may have in order to fix this.  The dealership has already told me that I cannot disable the alarm because it would disable or affect other things on the car.  Thanks for your help!  

Answer
Hmmmmm, this is not an uncommon question
from my visitors as of late. Must be
a rash of GM OEM alarm systems malfutioning
out there!

First thing is ya gotta keep in mind that your
car dealership knows only about the specs of
it's own cars, and the services they are required,
or allowed to perform.

These are the most ridgid minded type guys
there in the service dept., and do things
"Strictly by the book".

By that I mean, unless it's something they
consider to be consumer broken, fixable with
factory parts, OEM applicable (vague I know),
or replaceable at the customers retail cost,
They can't help you if it's anything that's
"outside the box".

So the moral of the story in this case is,
Knowledge trumps intelligence.

If you need information on how to bypass a
factory sytstem, the LAST folks who will
tell you how is the dealership.

But I believe you should know how to
get this under YOUR control considering
it's YOUR car. It's just common sense.

Anyway's...onward, Most OEM ALARMS
would be disarmed if you insert the key in
the drivers door, turn left, then right
to reset it. If yours is malfunctioning,
you can disable it for good by doing the
following:

(THE FOLLOWING APPLIES ONLY IF IT'S-
HEADLIGHTS FLASHING, HORN HONKING,
WORDED SECURITY LIGHT FLASHING IN THE
DASH CLUSTER.)

The factory alarm disarm wire is
GRAY/BLACK  (-) at the door lock
key cylinder in he drivers door.

Once Located, splice into this wire with
a simular guage wire, and put it to
a solid chassis ground. This terminates
the factory alarm functions entirely.
Please use black electrical tape to
cover the splice.

Now, just in case this might already
be an aftermarket system,

(PARKING LIGHTS FLASH, 6 TONE SIREN/LED IN DASH
STARTER DISABLE)

This following info pertains to aftermarket
equipment enhancements that interace to
"The Original manurfacturers Equipment."
and would not fall under what the dealership
will help you with.

So, ok, try this:

Put the key in the ignition, and turn forward
all the way just before cranking. Then within
5 seconds, locate, press and hold in the
valet/overide button, found under the
dash area, (push button, spring loaded)
until the installed LED (the blinking light)
in your dash area goes on solid,
and the siren chirps once.

(Your valet switch might be the toggle
(on/off) type. in this case, key on,
flip switch in opposite direction,
then turn the key off.)

This should reset the alarm, and reset
the grounded relay on the starter wire,
allowing you to start the engine.

At this point, the only thing working would
be the keyless entry from the alarm,
if it came equipped that way.

Just Repeat these steps to place it
back to usable armed mode.
You may get 2 chirps, confirming it,
and the lights may flash twice as well.

That should do it.
Let me know which system was the
trouble maker.

Regards,

ALARMTEK
CARALARMSTORE.com