1990 Pickup Alarm Woes (Please Help!)

Hello I've got a 1990 SR-5 4WD pickup that has an alarm in it but I know very little about it because there is no mention of it in the user's manual. The button on the dash says "TOYOTA" with a round red light and has options for "Horn Defeat" and "Vallet Mode". There is a keychain beeper with a toyota logo and two BLACK buttons on it. One of the buttons locks the doors (and at the same time enables/disables the alarm). The second button as far as I can figure does nothing.

Here's my problem: I've had the truck about a year, and I've ALWAYS had to use the beeper when I get in or else the alarm goes off. Today my 2-year-old decided to wash all of our car keys and the beeper no longer works. My wife didn't know it was dead and tried it and set off the alarm and couldn't get it to turn off for a long time. I pulled the horn fuse so our neighbors wouldn't get mad, but now I can't start it--even when I wait until the alarm stops, the ignition is disabled. I tried disconnecting the battery and pulling random relays, but when ever I re-attach the battery terminal the alarm starts to go off again, and the ignition is still disabled.

As I write this I am leaving the battery disconnected for the night to see if that helps. Other than having it towed to the dealer, can anyone offer any suggestions as to how to get the truck started? I did try drying things out and replacing the battery in the beeper but nothing helped.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer. If you don't have a clue how to help, but know something about my alarm, that would be nice too..

Barry

Reply to
Barry Croker
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Have you tried unlocking the door with the key ? That should disarm the alarm sytem.

Reply to
Mike

No, unlocking the door with the key has never disarmed the alarm. I have _always_ had to use the beeper or the alarm will go off. The locks are such that the driver's side lock only unlocks itself when you use a key (not like other cars I've had where you can unlock all the doors just by using the key in the drivers door if you turn it the right way or wait a minute.) and as soon as you open the door the alarm light starts to flash and soon the whole neighborhood is awake. Thanks for the suggestion... any other ideas?

Reply to
Barry Croker

Reply to
roger

Just a follow-up: I felt like I replied to the previous message in haste, so I did go out and try it (after re-attaching the battery and waiting for the alarm to stop going off). I first locked the doors with the power locks inside (while the alarm was going off) and waited until things were quiet, then I opened the doors with the key. BOTH doors did unlock (to my surprise) and the alarm didn't go off when I opened the door so it was somewhat disarmed. HOWEVER, the ignition is still disabled.

Just a side note, I did experience the "toyota starter click" fiasco last year where you turn the key and get a click but no ignition and this is NOT the same sound. When it was the starter you could hear the solenoid energize and see that the battery was having current drawn, but now when I turn the key there is no click and no drop in voltage.

Thanks again, Barry

Reply to
Barry Croker

Roger Could you be a bit more specific? The "button" on the left side of the dash isn't a button but a rocker switch with two positions "Horn Defeat" and "Valet Mode". I have never been able to use this switch to disable the alarm. When it is in "Horn Defeat" it prevents the horn from chirping when you lock/unlock the car (beep beep). "Valet Mode" is a bit more difficult to understand, but it appeared that when it was in this mode you could get out without the alarm automaticlly arming and get in without setting off the alarm. However, when the alarm is going off the switch does nothing.

Reply to
Barry Croker

To use the valet mode, the ignition has to be turned to the on position with the key and then turn the switch to the valet position.

Not sure it will work without the alarm being fully disarmed. I'd also check for power at the starter just in case two things are going on.

Good luck. It looks like it's an old alarm and not too many folks out there know about it (including me). Paul.

Reply to
Paul.

Since no one seems to know how it works, can anyone help me find where it is? I've spent time under the hood and pulling relays/boxs from the lower left of the driver's side and I haven't seen anything. I've found things that mention the ECU is usually under the dash near the steering column...is there something I can pull to disable all the alarm stuff?

Reply to
Barry Croker

OK, another update this time good...

I was poking around under the dash looking for the ECU (which I found on the passenger side diametrically opposed to the fuse pannel) I noticed that there was a pigtail-like wiring harness connected to the ignition that looked out of place. Further inspection revealed that all but one of the wires passed through this harness, which I postulated to be the ignition disconnect. I pulled the pigtail and reconnected the two ends and voila! It started. The second finding was that my alarm happens to be fused through the dome light circuit, so when I pulled this fuse the alarm stopped going off! Now aside from the facts that I don't have a remote lock/unlock mechanism and the dome lite doesn't work, I'm all back together again! I guess when I get sick of not having a dome light I'll do some digging to find out how to remove the alarm, but until then it's out of sight out of mind. Thanks to the help that was offered and that inspired me to do more lurking around under the dash.

Reply to
Barry Croker

Do search for the Fujitsu alarm FAX back site to get the operating manual and installion instructions --- note they may not go back that far though -- recall '96 oldest. (ok its 310 327-9905). A Google search might give you programming instructions too. Then look on ebay for replacement alarm fobs (Yours came with 2). Make sure you get the same FCC code -- since itis the tranmitting frequency that matches the alarms receiver. Use the manual to program it. You might try taking old one apart and cleaning contacts and replacing the battery.

Reply to
Wolfgang

Have you try locking the door with the key and unlocking it with the key?

Reply to
AndThenSome

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