5 replies to this topic

[greg.harvey]

Hi all,

I just bought a 1999 standard Mini with the MPi engine, 1275, with alarm and immobiliser. When I bought it I didn't even know it had an alarm! I was told to start it just press the plain button (it's a Rover key-fob/system) twice and the LED flashes twice - then it will start. This was all good for a week, then I disconnected the battery to fiddle with the audio system. Hooked it up again, wouldn't start (of course!) but found the bit in the manual about resyncing the remote with the system, pressed the lock button on the remote a lot of times and that seemed to work!

But here's the thing. The alarm used to be disabled, so you'd get in the car and no alarm would go off - simply press the plain button twice and start.

Now, if you forget to press the plain button twice *before* you get in the car it goes bonkers and starts hooting and flashing when you open the door! Not really a problem - in fact, it's now doing what the manual says it should do... but how was it set to immobiliser only mode before, and how do I do that again? I need to know anyway, as they always ask you to disable your alarm on ferry crossings and things like that. The manual doesn't seem to say! =/

Thanks in advance!

Greg

[wardyxxx]

Erm, no.

Smooth button once to disarm.

textured button ones to arm.

Alarm and Immobiliser are one system. If armed, the alarm goes off and the immobiliser kicks in when a door is opened. Secondly, you'll also find that the immobiliser will activate (without the alarm) after a few minutes of the key being removed.

That is how it has always been on the 2 button fob.

EDIT: and the led light shouldn't flash when you disarm it either! Well, at least all the mini's with F.Fitted alarms I have ever worked on don't.

Edited by wardyxxx, 23 July 2011 - 05:33 PM.

[bcjames]

If you lock the car without rearming the alarm it should kick in to immobiliser mode after a minute or so. Mine does it when I go in the petrol station to pay, I come out and the car won't start until I press unarm, even though I didn't set the alarm. The way your alarm is working now is the normal MPi way!

As for ferries etc, I don't think theres anything in the MPi alarm system that responds to movement, so it shouldn't go off unless someone opens a door.

[greg.harvey]

Ahhh, thanks guys - that makes sense. Just didn't know it had an alarm, so previously was not arming it. Immobiliser was doing it's thing. So in the process of re-syncing the remote I accidentally armed the alarm I didn't even know I had, and so the fun began!

Edit: What confused me was (the way I read it) the manual implied the *alarm* activates 30 seconds after the door is closed, but it sounds like that's not the case? Just the immobiliser arms? Will test tomorrow. 21:45 in the evening testing car alarms will not make me popular with the neighbours...

That all makes sense now. Thanks for that.


Greg

Edited by greg.harvey, 23 July 2011 - 07:44 PM.

[greg.harvey]

EDIT: and the led light shouldn't flash when you disarm it either! Well, at least all the mini's with F.Fitted alarms I have ever worked on don't.

When you arm it, by pressing the textured 'lock' button, it blinks the indicators 3 times and the LED flashes very rapidly at first for 10 seconds or so (arming) and then slows to flashing once every half second or so - which is as the manual describes, so that fits. When disarming it blinks the indicators once and the LED flashes twice rapidly with a half-second gap between each 'double flash', again for about 10 seconds, until the light goes out and stays out. You can actually get in and start the car while the 'double-flash' is still happening - it's almost like a 'disarmed' notification, rather than 'in progress'.

When you stop the engine (I think) the LED goes solid red and stays like that until you open the door and close it again, then it flashes armed. (EDIT: with the benefit of hindsight, the indicators don't flash, which is a clear sign the alarm does *not* in fact arm and this 'armed' state is only the immobiliser, which fits with comments above - similarly, no indicator flashing when disarming using the smooth button, but the same LED flash pattern of 'double-flashes' separated by about half a second for 10 seconds.)

I'm 99.9% sure this is Rover factory fitted, because its behaviour, including what you need to do to sync the fobs with the alarm system, matches the Mini book. It also looks like the same Rover fob I remember from my 1996 Rover 600. I'd be really surprised if it's not F. Fitted.

Anyway, that's just observation/for information based on my experience of mine today while fiddling with it to try and suss out how it works. =)

Edited by greg.harvey, 23 July 2011 - 09:31 PM.

[greg.harvey]

Definitely something not quite right about our immobiliser:
http://www.theminifo...howtopic=198705

Hope it doesn't continue to cause problems! How hard is it to remove the factory alarm?