My friend has a 2000 Cougar I want to buy, car has not been driven/started in 5 months. Today we tried starting it, battery was dead of course, we tried boosting it, the car had some juice, all the lights etc... came on, but so did the factory alarm it seems. Sounded like the horn for the alarm was coming from the passenger side rear fender. Engine would not turn over, but something was just clicking, and we could not stop the alarm until taking off the booster cables. The factory alarm was disengaged when he installed a aftermarket alarm, but the aftermarket was removed 6 months ago when he stopped driving the car. Its as if the factory alarm has come back on, and we cant seem to bypass or stop it [img]smileys/smiley5.gif[/img]


Any ideas how to shut off/bypass the factory alarm, and could this be the reason the car is not starting?Edited by: Kazii01

 

factory alarm probably has a cutout for the fuel pump to keep it from being started. whoever did the change-over job did not do it correctly and left the factory alarm functional, but in a stand-by mode. after loosing power, and having fresh power connected, it resets and goes off. the only idea to shut it off, would be to have the key fob and just hit the unlock button. disabling it however may prove difficult. Bypassing it would be a wiring nightmare if I remember that type correctly. it''s connected to the door-locks as well as the lights and half a dozen other things. It would probably be easier to enable it and just use the key-fob to turn it off the next time you connect a battery to the car.

 

Excuse my ignorance, but what is a key fob? I dont mind keeping it active, as long as I can control it. This may be a stupid question at this point, but does anyone know if the factory alarmcame with a remote to arm/disarm the alarm? Edited by: Kazii01

 

the key fob is the remote control for the car (lock/unlock buttons and maybe a trunk button)

there should be another way to disable the alarm without the remote (hidden switch, certain series of buttons/levers to move, etc), but the owner of the vehicle would have to ask a dealer about that one.

 

Low voltage, like from a jump will make an alarm malfunction. The clicking you heard was the starter not getting enough juice. A new battery to start.

 

Yes I agree, you should use a new battery or one that is fully charged, usually jumper cables bought from a store are rubbish and cannot handle the amperage. Generally I make mine from mig welder cables. Anyway, try disabling the alarm by closing the door and locking and unlocking it by the key while the alarm is going off. My girlfriend has a 2000 cougar, it has been a good car but has had a few troubleshooting problems. All of its problems were mis-diagnosed,but were solved by minimal expense.