alarm stopped working, keyless entry still does though Options

[Formula WS6]

ok i just did a clutch change on my car so I was in the center consule area. my alarm no longer works but my keyless entry does and my parkign lights no longer flash when i use the keyless entry. all this worked before i started the clutch change. this doesnt make any sense to me since its all controlled by the BCM. is it a seperate part of the BCM? i know you can have keyless entry and not alarm on a car. ive tried entering diagnostic mode of the BCM. those of you with a service manual can read how to do this in the BCM section. anyway the car would not enter the BCM diagnostic mode. where is the BCM located? do any of the wires run through the consule area? i havent doubled checked the wires to make sure everything is still plugged up if it is in the center consule area. i will do that tomorrow but im looking for other thoughts and input as well. thanks for any help.

oh the car is a 96 formula M6. late build date.

[trackbird]

Trey, that's a new one on me. Do you have a door switch that's stuck closed (showing door open?).

[Formula WS6]

that wouldnt stop the alarm from arming. ive set the alarm before shutting doors before and it respondes but i guess doesnt activate until all doors are shut. the only response i am getting is that the doors will lock and unlock. the LED on the dash doesnt blink and the parking lights don't flash any more either.

im going to start looking into it some more today since its no longer raining. i havent even found a fuse for the BCM yet. there has to be one somewhere though. so yeah im lost on this too. its very strange if im understanding how the system works. i cant get into BCM diagnostic mode but ill try that again also. its as if the car didnt come with the alarm. however when getting into the programming mode, to set whether the horn sounds or the lights flash when the alarm is used, the car chimes twice indicating that it has an alarm. however i can not change any settings.

all this from a clutch change. im lost.

[trackbird]

On my 3rd gen, there were a couple ground wires hooked to the top bolts of the bellhousing. My LS1 had no such wires. Did your LT1 have anything bolted up there that might have been left loose? I know the 3rd gens had about 3 or 4 ground wires in each ring, so it could have lost grounds to several things if that were the case.

[slowTA]

Sounds like the same thing with my Malibu (2000), keyless entry works but the lights don't flash at all. They never have as long as I've owned the car. I've seen my neighbor's lights flash when they unlock it 2002.

I always thought that was odd!

[Formula WS6]

thats a great suggestion Kevin and i can not remember honestly. i know all the vettes ive worked on have had ground wires there that includes the C2/3s. ill have to double check that for sure.

i tried again just now and i still can not get the alarm to respond when placed into programming mode and the BCM will not go into diagnostic mode. i did more reading in the factory service manual. turns out they have an alarm section but it only talks about how it works and how to program it. no diagnostic stuff. i have learned though that the BCM must still be working at least partly anyway or else the car would not run. the BCM controls VATS/PASS. so yeah still kinda lost. i know the locaiton of the BCM. its under the glovebox on the passenger side there. so ill get under there and make sure its all pluggged up. there is a theft deterent relay thats supposedly on the backside of the dash. i think its over by the glovebax too as it mention the airbag support. im going to try and hunt down the schematics and determine what fuse or relay controls the alarm.

Chris you can program the alarm and keyless entry features to do different things. sounds like yours is programmed to not do anything other than work while your neighbors flashing his light and sounds the horn. this can all be changed. the owners manual tells you how. my problem is everything worked and was programmed to flash before i did my clutch and now only the keyless entry works. the alarm nor lights respond to the keypad and it wont allow me to adjust those settings.

This post has been edited by Formula WS6: Dec 17 2005, 08:33 PM

[slowTA]

You mean I have to read the owners manual!! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[Formula WS6]

ha, yeah its about as hard to read as a factory service manual. stupid things. youd think they would make it easy and use normal words/titles.

well this is what ive found out so far. all the diagnostic stuff for the UTD(thats universal theft deterent ie alarm) is in the electrical diagnostic section. makes sense i just wish a notation was made in the actual UTD section.

ok so im going through the symptom table and is has the following sympton.

LED does not illuminate. Horns and parking lights do not operate with UTD functions. Cannot program UDT system.

heres the reason and your not going to believe this.

These symptoms are present when the LED is not plugged in when power is first applied to the BCM. connect LED and disconnect then reconnect positive terminal.

can you believe that. the LED is not plugged in causes all these problems.

well if only it could be that easy. my LED is and was plugged in the whole time. i only disconnected the ground cable from the battery. it was for over a week though.

so where i am now is trying to figure out why i no longer have power going to my LED. i tested that according to the book and theres no power there anymore. either i have a bad ground or the connection at the BCM is not good. ill have to check into it tomorrow or the begging of next week. might just go into work at the shop since thats heated. im thinking this will clear everything up once i get the circuts checked out, but we will see. the only other loop or hurdlethat could cause problems is the fact that i no longer have the factory LED in there. i put a smaller and brighter blue LED in its place when i replaced the dash panel. the one advantage is this LED can be tested off a battery(12v) where as the factory one cant be tested with 12v.

so ill keep yall posted. id hate for someone else to have to go through this. thanks

oh and kevin this car didnt have any grounds on the bell housing.