QuestionHello HT. I am in great need of advice/suggestion as I have been awake since 5am dealing with what I think is a faulty alarm system in my 2005 Elantra. It has since been going off 6 plus times and has misbehaved in the past.
1. Are all alarms on these vehicles after market systems.
2. Is this something that I can try and fix myself? ie. bash alarm with a hammer :-)
3. How do I find the after market system and will I mess anything else up by any attempt of fixing.
Thank you,
Sleepy Eyed
AnswerHi, Randi.
I believe all 2005 Elantras came with a factory alarm. Whether you have an additional aftermarket alarm, I don't know. If you look at your alarm/keyless fob, it should have a Hyundai logo on it if it's for the factory alarm.
You can indeed try to fix this yourself.
First, lets see if we can disarm the alarm. To do this, depress the unlock button on your remote, open the driver's door, relock with the button on the door, and close the door. If you don't open the door, the alarm will presume the unlock signal was unintentional and relock the doors and arm the alarm after thirty seconds. If you relock with the fob, it will re-arm the alarm. Once the alarm is disarmed, if you do not relock again with the fob (and open a door within thirty seconds of any fob unlock request) the alarm will not re-arm.
Next, you can try to locate the issue. The alarm monitors the hood and all four doors. To test, arm the alarm and jostle all doors and the hood. If jostling one of them causes the siren to sound, then you will most likely have a defective switch or damaged or misadjusted hood or door that doesn't properly depress the switch plunger. If you locate the problem, a temporary fix is to simply unplug the switch in question, although if that's a door switch, this can also cause other items to not work correctly (such as dome lamp or key in ignition reminder). Most problems are with the hood switch. Many occur after body repairs where the rubber bumper on the hood that contacts the switch hasn't been put back in place. If this happens along with poor contact in the switch, the alarm may erroneously arm when there's not contact and then sound when the switch makes contact.
If you do have an aftermarket system, it'll likely mostly be installed behind the left side of the dash since it will need to be wired into the ignition switch. Whether you'll damage anything by attempting repair will depend on your capabilities in electrical wiring repair-- you'll need to remove the system and wire some things back together-- and your proficiency with disassembly, removal, and reassembly.
