Has anybody got an original alarm fitted?

Discussion in 'Mech Tech' started by andyv, May 27, 2019.

  1. I've got an alarm fitted, which was probably considered quite sophisticated in its day. It's armed by means of a key switch in the door and sets off an alarm consisting of two horns in the engine compartment, if somebody breaks in and opens any of the doors or hatches. It also goes off if you remove the radio, and immobilises the starter.

    It's a bit temperamental and I've considered pulling it all out, but since I don't understand it I'm likely to cause more problems. Most of the problems so far seem to be due to bad earths.

    My preference would be to keep it and use it if it was reliable.

    At the heart of it is a Bosch Alarmrelais 0335 411 033. I've done a drawing with all the 15 terminals and wire colours, but that's as far as I got. It's a bit crowded under the dash. It went into a number of German vehicles in the 80's, but I can't find a circuit diagram for this.

    Has anybody got anything on this?
     
  2. Got a pic of the connections you’ve found. Going to be quite primitive inside, so unlikely to be the relay unit, I’d think.
     
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  3. Bhubesi

    Bhubesi Supporter

    When my bus was new in 1976, I fitted a rudimentary alarm/ immobilizer, which consisted of a small unit with a separate key in it, fitted in the dash.
    When you parked the car, you would remove the ignition key, turn the alarm on with its key, then remove that key.
    If someone hot wired the bus, the engine would start and run for 30 seconds, which was enough to enter a public road, when the imobilizer would cut the ignition and sound the horn until the battery ran flat!
    For reasons best known to the guy that did my resto. the immobilizer was not refitted.
    Tony
     
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  4. [​IMG]
    Above is what the relay device looks like. This is just an image I've pasted off a German web site. The terminal numbers and wire colours are as below, but this is as far as I've got. I've stuck it back in as the bus wouldn't start without it. I suspect my problem has been terminal 31 as the alarm has stopped randomly going off, but it would be good to understand it better. IMG_1155 (800x389).jpg
     
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  5. mikedjames

    mikedjames Supporter

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  6. Yes it does - at first glance this looks like a more advanced version with infra red remote control, but the principle is likely to be the same as it's using the same terminals on the main control box to those that I've got.
    Well spotted. Some bedtime reading I think
     
  7. OK for anybody who needs to know I've more or less fathomed this out. Only 9 of the terminals are connected to anything. Two relays serve to disconnect the starter and the coil and set off a pair of horns and flash the headlights. It's quite sophisticated for something designed 40 years ago, and the remaining 6 terminals allow for even more fun. Contact me if you need to know more.
     
  8. Moons

    Moons Supporter

    You sure that original, and not something fitted in the 80's?

    My old man had a Moss alarm fitted that use a key and relied on voltage drop across the interior light bulb to detect a door opening, then sounded the alarm...that was 1983 ish.
     
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  9. No I don’t think it was fitted by VW, but was probably done early on by the original German owner. It looks like a professionally fitted job though.
     
  10. Loads of the cheapo alarms used to work in a similar fashion. Not sure they were terribly reliable...
     
  11. Moons

    Moons Supporter

    He had one on a Cortina....I think urban legend had it Ford only made 5 key types for all of them.
     
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  12. Probably not far off, I remember a friend's Transit key fitted my Escort.
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2019
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  13. My sister’s old Ford key would fit any Fiesta ever made...
     
  14. It wasn’t even as sophisticated as that. My dad had a Cortina and got locked out. A guy in a car park let him in with a volvo key. Later we found various house keys and screwdrivers worked well too.
     
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  15. Merlin Cat

    Merlin Cat Moderator

    My Capri keys opened other Capris. However, my Citroen C15 could be opened by a lolly stick.
     
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  16. It’s amazing that car theft wasn’t more prevalent. My old Fords, you could open the door with a coat hanger (or stick anything you liked in the lock), hot wire the ignition as the switch wiring was all exposed under the dash, pop the bonnet up and start the engine by poking the button on the starter contactor helpfully provided by the manufacturer. It’s a wonder anyone owned a car for more than a few weeks...
     
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  17. Moons

    Moons Supporter

    We had an old cortina as a summer car (instead of borrowing our parents cars, each summer a few mates pooled resources, as much as £80 one year, to buy and share a car)....it was knackered but met our two criteria, 1 it was road legal, 2 it didn't smell of wee.

    We found most Keys fitted, as did anything flat and strong enough to turn the ignition barrel. We used to leave it unlocked (on the first night some pillocks smashed the glass, resulting in a silver door on an otherwise navy car) and found it a couple of times rolled in to the hedge at the bottom of the hill, once abandoned in a hedge a few miles away and one time it disappeared for a few days only to reappear one night with a sorry note for using all the petrol.

    We used to place a water balloon on the drivers seat so anyone two sheets to the wind got at least a wet Arse if they nicked it.

    We sold it for £15 at the end of summer to someone that wanted the Webasto sunroof (handy for roof surfing across the Barry Island straight, and hanging on for dear life through around the Island bend) ...it had cost us £47 and we left the spare balloons security device with car.

    We smashed my Toyota Carolla record of 13 people in a car with that Cortina....15, including several strangers we hoodwinked from the chippy who ended up on the roof.

    God you do stupid stuff when young that you forget eh.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2019
  18. Update. The alarm system went crazy last week just before I went off for a few days in the Fens. I'd already disabled the horns so only had to contend with flashing headlights, but the most problematical issue was that it also disconnected the starter. I hurriedly took off the drivers door panel where the key switch is, the dash panel, the glove box, and the plastic shelf. I couldn't trace the fault so I had to hot wire it to get it to start. We got to our destination and back 350 miles without incident.

    The fault I've now found was a speaker wire in the passenger door which was exposed and almost severed by contact with the door check strap. The alarm has a circuit that guards against the radio being removed. Apart from a rat's nest of wiring to push back into place it seems OK again.
     

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