Using battery cutoff + locking car without alarm screaming?
Discussion
Hi guys,
I live in a town center and keep my 1998 Continental T in a car parking attached to my building.
I have been finding the battery to empty itself if I don't run the car for a short drive about once a week. I put in a fresh battery, but it still drains.
Being a communal car park, there are no sockets for trickle chargers. :-(
I regularly leave the car for a month or two and would like to use the battery cutoff switch to conserve charge.
The problem is that if I attempt to close the car with the battery isolated, whether by remote or by key, the alarm goes off. I think this is normal because the alarm is supposed to go off if the battery is disconnected (sign of possible tampering).
This means I must choose between EITHER disconnecting the battery and leaving the car unlocked OR locking the car and having a drained battery.
I can't disconnect the battery AND lock the car??
Please help.
Thank you,
Alex
I live in a town center and keep my 1998 Continental T in a car parking attached to my building.
I have been finding the battery to empty itself if I don't run the car for a short drive about once a week. I put in a fresh battery, but it still drains.
Being a communal car park, there are no sockets for trickle chargers. :-(
I regularly leave the car for a month or two and would like to use the battery cutoff switch to conserve charge.
The problem is that if I attempt to close the car with the battery isolated, whether by remote or by key, the alarm goes off. I think this is normal because the alarm is supposed to go off if the battery is disconnected (sign of possible tampering).
This means I must choose between EITHER disconnecting the battery and leaving the car unlocked OR locking the car and having a drained battery.
I can't disconnect the battery AND lock the car??
Please help.
Thank you,
Alex
Try this.
Lock the car doors with the remote or keys leaving the boot ajar, then turn the isolater switch, shut the boot lid which can then be locked by the key, I think.
It's a while since I have done this but from memory that's how it can be done, might need to tinker between locking the car with the key or remote.
Lock the car doors with the remote or keys leaving the boot ajar, then turn the isolater switch, shut the boot lid which can then be locked by the key, I think.
It's a while since I have done this but from memory that's how it can be done, might need to tinker between locking the car with the key or remote.
Thanks for that.
I tried and what happens is this:
- When I lock the car with the boot ajar, the alarm makes a special louder brief beeping, as a warning that I left something open.
- Then, as soon as I cut the power with the kill switch, the alarm goes off.
- Then closing and locking the boot does not make the alarm stop, presumably because it is reacting to the power being cut and not the boot being open.
This happens whether I use the remote or the key in the door.
:-/
I tried and what happens is this:
- When I lock the car with the boot ajar, the alarm makes a special louder brief beeping, as a warning that I left something open.
- Then, as soon as I cut the power with the kill switch, the alarm goes off.
- Then closing and locking the boot does not make the alarm stop, presumably because it is reacting to the power being cut and not the boot being open.
This happens whether I use the remote or the key in the door.
:-/
alexwagner said:
... I think this is normal because the alarm is supposed to go off if the battery is disconnected (sign of possible tampering). ...
Doesn't sound normal to me. If the battery is isolated by the switch, it should be possible to lock the doors and boot with the key. At least, that's how my Conti R works.Once the battery is isolated, the only things that work (AFAIK) are the alarm and the clock. In my case (and my Conti is '94, so may be different), the remote still turns the alarm on and off, but will not operate the locks.
The alarm has its own NiCd batteries (2 in my case). I wonder if one of yours is on its way out and causing a malfunction. The alarm gizmogery is in a metal box near the top of the centre console, access being via a strip of the dashboard and top roll - not the easiest job in the world.
There is an expensive fix in the form of a standby battery: this is an official option. If the main battery goes down, you then switch to the standby, which gets you going. It is probably not as expensive to consult a Bentley dealer (or specialist) to confirm whether, indeed, your car's idiosyncrasy is normal.
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