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MG MGF Technical - Help - Hyper-Sensitive Car Alarm

Dear All,

I have a 1996 MGF 1.8i. Recently the alarm get hypersensitive as it gets trigger off easily and sometimes multiple times per night! It will horn for about 24 times then get cut off by itself. I am pretty sure that no one is near or attempting to break in to the car.

I was using the Soft top and had since changed to the hard top. It kind of solve the problem for a while, but yesterday, it is back again!!

This is driving me nuts. mg workshop checked all the wirings and said they are okie. They suggested that it is the rubber lining the doors and the top of the windscreen and suggested that I change all that. Is it true?

Anyone with some ideas about this will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.
KokYoung Chai

Hi - welcome to the BBS!

Its not unknown for MGF alarms to be "hyper sensitive" (or sometimes even "under sensitive" too!).

I'm surprised your dealer couldn't sort it out as its quite a well known problem.

Two things can cause it: one is that the battery voltage is low - simply (and relatively cheaply) replacing the battery fixes it. If your battery is (or looks) original, this may be a cost-effective thing to try.
The other "fix" is to adjust the sensitivity of the radar sensor. This can be done with the testbook at the dealers.

Hope this helps.

In case you haven't found it, there's an excelent search engine on the "archive" of the BBS which goes right back to 1996 and contains a wealth of wisdom and experience. If you were to submit a query on the word "alarm" in the "MGF Technical" archive, I'm certain it would come up with other good ideas.

Neil.
Neil

Close proximity to a microwave cooker is also said to cause problems. Do you experience this problem always in the same location?
Bruce
Bruce Caldwell

I forgot to say that leaving a GSM phone in the car can also trigger it (when the phone talks to the base station). Particularly true if the phone receives a call...

Neil.
Neil

I wish mine worked, after my ex smashing it up it didn't even go off! And mines new, reminds me another reason to get it in for a service!
Ashley

Thanks very much for all your help. No, the alarm doesn't always trigger off at the same place - anywhere from private parking (previous owner lives in a house) to public multi-storey car parks. It will go off 5-10 minutes after the car is locked.
KokYoung Chai

This thread was discussed between 11/10/2001 and 14/10/2001

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGF Technical BBS is active now.