"Alarm System Service Required"- Which replacement battery?

[TheDarkKnightt]

I got the dreaded "Alarm System Service Required" message a this week.

That was the least of my problems- I had a serpentine belt tensioner go AWOL while I was on I-77 near the VA-NC state line. :eek: Try finding one of those on Friday evening late. :mad: (I know, I should have one handy in the toolbox, right?) The one in it only had 20K miles on it. :confused:

I'm ready to slap a new tensioner on it in the morning when I get it from the dealer- the belt was not damaged, but I'm going to put a new one on anyway and keep the old one for a spare.

Anyway...

I'm going to try to replace the battery in the alarm/siren module under the fender this week too- I figure if I don't let it go long, maybe it won't leak all over the electronics and corrode them. What is the battery that has worked for you in this application? What's the best stuff to reseal the module too?

I tried looking for the thread that had a link to I think Matthew's volvo site with a step by step process. I can't find it now. I'll have no problem getting it out and replacing it, but which battery in the correct one?

[JRL]

What's "dreaded" about it?

[TheDarkKnightt]

I guess I dread it. I'm beginning to think the Swedes have been infiltrated by Lucas! :eek: :rolleyes: :p

If the Amish built this thing, there'd be a little less electronics to go wrong. [thumbup]

[Astro14]

I would pull it first and see what you've got. When I pulled my alarm module out - it was fried...looked like heat damage, not acid/chemical damage...but the whole circuit board was melted and cracked.

Hello new module...be careful drilling out the rivets for the fender liner. They get hot and can melt the ABS plastic, leading to damage to the fender liner as the hot rivet spins on melting plastic...

[billr99]

Here is a thread on the repair procedure http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=17479. As far as the battery, I repaired mine by finding a 7.2V NiMH battery on eBay (note the original battery pack is three 2.4 button batteries connected in series, thus 7.2V right?). Higher mAh is fine but be careful of the physical dimensions of the battery as the space allowed is limited. Finally, as Astro suggests, take a close look at your circuit board before you go too far. Look for damaged components and discontinuity of the traces. Just because the shellac has come off will not make the board bad so kind of ignore that. BTW, my eBay battery cost well less than $10 and the whole procedure took maybe an hour.

If nothing else though, you can always go to Eire Vo-Vo as their price is pretty reasonable for a used one. Just try and get one from a newer model year. As I found on another one I did, if you get one from the same year as yours it may not work at all or not for very long. It's the battery that has the life expectancy assuming that it hasn't leaked. It is yet another example of the automotive industry making a non-replaceable, stupidly expensive (for what it does) part when they could have easily engineered it to allow for a periodic battery replacement.

Cheers,

Bill

[TheDarkKnightt]

Is there a date stamp on new siren boxes that indicate when they were made, or at least of the age of the battery inside? I'm going to try to repair this one first. *fingers crossed* [thumbup]

I don't want to buy a new one that's sat around for five or six years- I don't think that would be any better.

[Willy]

I have (as others have) replaced the siren module, I can't remember having seen any date stamps
but I have to admit I didn't pay special attention to it.
Trying to repair the module is a good idea, but often they are gone too far.
You may also consider not replacing it, the alarm system will still work, albeit in silence :o
Willy

[TheDarkKnightt]

Let's just say I need an alarm system I can hear. :p

Thanks for the advice gentlemen! That's why this forum is so great! [thumbup]

I'll just add some Lucas wiring harness smoke to the box so it will perform better. :p

[billr99]

Is there a date stamp on new siren boxes that indicate when they were made, or at least of the age of the battery inside? I'm going to try to repair this one first. *fingers crossed* [thumbup]

I don't want to buy a new one that's sat around for five or six years- I don't think that would be any better.

I'm trying to recall here (it's hell getting old) but I think that the siren module has one of those circular manufacturing stamps that indicate a build date. I know that I was able to tell in the one case that I had a newer module than the one I was replacing. I might still have an old case out in my barn junk. If so, I'll update this post a bit later.

Cheers,

Bill

[heyuusa]

I bought one from ebay 7.2v 1800mah. It seems too big for the space. Do you have link for the battery you purchase at emay. Many thanks!




Here is a thread on the repair procedure http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=17479. As far as the battery, I repaired mine by finding a 7.2V NiMH battery on eBay (note the original battery pack is three 2.4 button batteries connected in series, thus 7.2V right?). Higher mAh is fine but be careful of the physical dimensions of the battery as the space allowed is limited. Finally, as Astro suggests, take a close look at your circuit board before you go too far. Look for damaged components and discontinuity of the traces. Just because the shellac has come off will not make the board bad so kind of ignore that. BTW, my eBay battery cost well less than $10 and the whole procedure took maybe an hour.

If nothing else though, you can always go to Eire Vo-Vo as their price is pretty reasonable for a used one. Just try and get one from a newer model year. As I found on another one I did, if you get one from the same year as yours it may not work at all or not for very long. It's the battery that has the life expectancy assuming that it hasn't leaked. It is yet another example of the automotive industry making a non-replaceable, stupidly expensive (for what it does) part when they could have easily engineered it to allow for a periodic battery replacement.

Cheers,

Bill

[nickbw]

In UK Volvo does a siren replacement kit which is much cheaper than the simple siren replacement. The kit includes the siren, the fitting bracket and security bolt and a new hood/bonnet catch (yes the XC has two of these but only one is linked to the alarm. It also includes the specific rivets for the wheel arch inner shield and the fasteners for the bumper holding. I have done this (like many others) and found that removing the front bumper is only five minutes work and affords much better access to the siren, which can be replaced without changing the shield and security bolt. Also, try inverting the new siren. Someone on here (I think) pointed out the * obvious that when the batter fails and leaks - highly caustic NaO2 Sodium hydroxide anyway it drips onto the circuit board and destroys it more or less instantly. Is that built in obsolescence or plain stupidity?

[Pennhaven]

I bought one from ebay 7.2v 1800mah. It seems too big for the space. Do you have link for the battery you purchase at emay. Many thanks!

I recently ordered two of these 3.6V batteries (http://www.dx.com/p/delipow-700mah-3-6v-2-3aa-rechargeable-ni-mh-battery-for-cordless-telephone-white-green-2-pack-143560).

Plan to install them in series as per this write up (http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=339695#p346441).

[Pennhaven]

I recently ordered two of these 3.6V batteries (http://www.dx.com/p/delipow-700mah-3-6v-2-3aa-rechargeable-ni-mh-battery-for-cordless-telephone-white-green-2-pack-143560).

Plan to install them in series as per this write up (http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=339695#p346441).

OK. I finally received the two cordless phone batteries from China and installed them yesterday.

I was able to get the new batteries to fit with only slight modification to the interior of the siren housing. It was necessary to Dremel away the original battery mounting ribs and posts to provide enough clearance to install both new batteries side by side. If I were to do this again I'd probably spend a little more for major name brand batteries instead of these, only because removing and replacing the siren is such a labor intensive job and wouldn't want to have to do it again. In comparison, opening the siren, replacing the batteries, and resealing is quite easy.

I used a Dremel cutting wheel to cut through the lighter colored plastic along the seam with the black portion of the housing. I applied masking tape on the light plastic side to provide an outside guide line to follow with the cutting disk. Cutting cleanly between two lines is easier than alongside only one line. I used the Slow speed on my rotary tool to minimize melting of the plastic and made multiple shallow passes around the seam ending up with a reasonably clean and narrow cut.

I had a tiny jumper on hand that was the perfect size to connect the two batteries in series, then added shrink tubing. It I hadn't had the jumper I would have cut the connectors off and soldered. I marked the + and - minus terminals of the power connector on the circuit board red and black to make sure I wouldn't reverse the polarity when I connected the batteries.

I hot-glued the two batteries together, hot-glued them into the siren housing, connected the power leads, quickly ran a bead of hot glue around one edge of the seam and stuck the two parts of the housing together, then finally applied aluminum duct tape around the seam to doubly insure it's water tight.

As I mentioned, the removal and reinstall of the siren is the much more difficult part. To access the siren I chose to remove the headlight assembly. This worked well enough except, as another member has posted, it's very slow work to loosen and tighten the lower nut on the siren housing with only an open end wrench. You can't see the nut, so can barely get a short wrench on it by feel, then can only turn it at the most a quarter turn at time, which makes for a very tedious job removing and even worse installing. So if you don't already have a ratcheting box wrench (http://www.homedepot.com/p/GearWrench-10-mm-Combination-Ratcheting-Wrench-9110/202737938) set, it is totally worth buying at least at 10mm one for this job.

Since only one headlight has to be removed I unfastened only that side of the bumper shell. I did remove all the plastic rivets on top, released the clip inside the fender, and removed the bolt on the siren side, but only loosened the bolt on the far side. This likely saved some time but with the bumper still mostly in place it's also harder to see and access the headlight housing bolt next to the radiator and it also makes it tougher to replace the headlight, so pay very close attention to how it comes out so you can slide it back in the reverse sequence. Because I didn't it took me fifteen minutes more than it could have. I also wasted considerable time recovering two bolts I dropped down into the splash pans. So I strongly recommend lining your sockets with enough tape to really hold onto the bolt heads.

Here are previous posts I found helpful.

Front bumper removal. (http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?16879-How-to-remove-front-bumper&p=118391#post118391)

Additional tips. (http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?72-Radiator-protection&p=658#post658)

Bumper/Headlight removal. (http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?15426-2002-XC-70-Head-Light-Assembly-Front-Bumper-removal&p=107953#post107953)

Fortunately my original siren battery hadn't yet leaked, but the voltage was down to 3.7V from the nominal 7.2V, so it was long past time for replacement. Glad I took care of it while the weather is still nice.

Searching online I also noted a couple of firms in the UK that sell exact replacement siren batteries, but the cost is a much higher than adapting these off-the-shelf batteries.

74427443744774487449

[Willy]

When I replaced the siren module, I accessed it through the wheel well.
Removing the wheel and drilling out a few rivets was all it took.
I also sealed the connector and the connecting pins that go inside the housing using silicone
since I assume that this was the way by which the water got inside the module (the cause
of the failure of the siren module in my car, the batteries were ok).
Willy

[Pennhaven]

When I replaced the siren module, I accessed it through the wheel well. Removing the wheel and drilling out a few rivets was all it took...


I understand that has been the suggested procedure, but lately I have read posts claiming it is easier to remove the headlight, so that's what I elected to do. I guess the primary advantage is not having to reach up under the fender to defeat the tamper proof bolt, and the secondary is not having to drill out and replace the rivets. Not having tried both methods I can't say which is actually easier.

[Willy]

The tamper proof bolt was a bit of a challenge, but I assume this would also be the case if approached from the front.
The rivets are no problem, you must avoid them to start spinning with the drill bit as this could make them hot enough
to melt some of the plastic material around it.
I also had the front bumper removed once, to install a grill. Also no problem as such, but somewhat difficult to reinstall
by just one person. I haven't removed a headlight unit yet (the dealer did, when both bumper and headlight
were replaced after an accident :mad: )
Willy

[Pennhaven]

The tamper proof bolt was a bit of a challenge, but I assume this would also be the case if approached from the front...
No. The principle advantage of removing the siren module via the headlight opening is that the mounting bracket remains attached to the car by the tamper proof bolt. The module is removed from its bracket by loosening two bolts (as it still must be if you remove the bracket and module from underneath). The upper bolt holding the module to the bracket is very easy to access through the headlight opening, however the bottom one is a challenge without a compact ratchet style wrench. With the proper tool though it should be easy. I suspect removing the headlight is actually the official Volvo way to service the siren, since tamper proof bolts aren't intended to be removed by service technicians either.

[Willy]

Isn't the possibility of removing the siren module without removing the tamper proof bolt defeating its purpose?
volvo calls for accessing the siren module through the wheel well, see pdf. I assume that's why I did it that way.
Willy
7453

[Pennhaven]

Isn't the possibility of removing the siren module without removing the tamper proof bolt defeating its purpose?
volvo calls for accessing the siren module through the wheel well, see pdf. I assume that's why I did it that way.
Willy
7453
Not if the purpose isn't to prevent removing the siren, but only to preclude doing so without going through the time consuming process of removing the bumper and the headlight. It seems to me that the tamper resistant bolt (screw) is intended discourage a thief from quickly slicing open the fender (wing) liner and easily unscrewing the siren.

The VIDA page you've linked does show an official method going under the wing (fender), which argues against my theory. However it does not reference a tamper resistant screw. So I'd argue that procedure predates the addition of the tamper resistant design.

[Willy]

... it does not reference a tamper resistant screw. So I'd argue that procedure predates the addition of the tamper resistant design.
The procedure in the pdf is for the MY of my car, 2004. And this was indeed so.
Perhaps the Vadis procedure assumes that the technician will know what to do.
On the other hand, if special tools are called for, Vadis usually gives a reference.
I don't really understand why the special screw is there, if a thief would want to disable the siren,
all he needs to do is to disconnect the siren and I think it would take a thief too long to get access to it.
I also assume the srew isn't there to protect the siren of being stolen by itself :rolleyes:
Willy

[Pennhaven]

The procedure in the pdf is for the MY of my car, 2004. And this was indeed so.
Perhaps the Vadis procedure assumes that the technician will know what to do.
On the other hand, if special tools are called for, Vadis usually gives a reference.
I don't really understand why the special screw is there, if a thief would want to disable the siren,
all he needs to do is to disconnect the siren and I think it would take a thief too long to get access to it.
I also assume the srew isn't there to protect the siren of being stolen by itself :rolleyes:
Willy
I don't understand either. Logic can only take us so far when dealing with the seemingly illogical. :confused:

[Iroll_]

Perhaps for insurance purposes?