My girl owns a black 98 civic ex. She originally bought it brand new back at the end of 98. It came with keyless entry and an alarm from the dealer. Its never had any problems until now. So here we go.

The remote battery died and we replaced it but had forgotten how to reprogram it so we just didnt bother for nearly a year. I finally got tired of waiting for her to open her door and then mine and attempted to reprogram it myself. I figured out how to do it holding that little button on the radio down until it locked the doors and then hitting lock and unlock on the remote and then letting go of the button. This worked fine the first day for several hours til we noticed the dome light was flashing, the alarm has enabled itself, and the remote wasnt working. So I opened the driver door remembering how to disable the alarm the last time the remote died and we couldnt get in and put the key in the ignition and turned it on which worked fine. So I reprogramed the remote again and it worked fine for several days. Then two nights ago my girl went out to the garage at 3am to put her dog to bed and she again noticed the dome light flashing. Not wanting to let it flash all night and drain the battery, she did what I did and got in and put the key in and turned it on but this time the alarm would not turn off and the car wouldnt start. I ended up getting up then and trying twice myself with no luck. Ive since tried it a couple times but still no luck.

So, im assuming the alarm has triggered a switch that must have been installed by the dealer to disable the starter which is why the car wont start. Id imagine this is also causing the alarm to not turn off when turning the key on. So, does anyone have any suggestions on what to try? We plan to call the dealer tomorrow afternoon and set up an appointment for Wed. morn, but at 90/hr to have it checked out, its gonna cost too much. They said we could just get the alarm disabled which would allow the keyless entry to still work but my concern beyond that is if there is indeed a killswitch. Id appreciate anyone who can get back to me QUICK STYLE on this.

Later
Big John

 

Sounds like your going to have go to the stealership for this one. Sorry.

 

So no suggestions on where the dealer may have put the kill switch? I mean, if the alarm has disabled the starter, they had to have added one, and with that possibly being the problem, its a matter of where it is. I would just need to find and reset it and all will be good to go, but I have no real idea other then near the starter, somewhere near the horn thing in the engine bay, or under the dash somewhere as to where it might be found. My friend said theres a good chance it could be behind the center console thing by the gas pedal so ill be checking there as well as a couple other places here soon. Ive got 4 hours to get all the possibilities and check them out. So if you have any ideas where they might have put it let me know.

Thanks
Big John

 

Went into the fuse panel and pulled both the fuses that were for "security" and now the alarm is disabled and the car starts. Im curious if they keyless entry will still work, which it should because theres another fuse for keyless but it might not being tied into the alarm system, but I also dont know if these fuses being pulled will affect anything else. Not sure what falls under security other then alarm. Anyways, good to go for now hopefully, ill be driving it soon to find out for sure.

Later
Big John

 

when ever you have a problem that may have anything to do with electrical, check your fuses.

 

no the keyless most likely wont work.......its usually ran thru the alarm if a car has one.........i hate alarms man.......theyre just a hassel.......if it were me.........id remove the NEG terminal on the battery.......leave it for 15 mins and let the ECU reset.....then reprog the alarm.......id have to kno what model alarm it was to be of more help so keep me posted.

 

Well since pulling the fuses work, im not going to bother with it anymore. The car starts and runs fine, the alarm is off, and its gonna stay that way. I have no idea where the alarm is even located in this damn car ( I own a Durango and am not familiar with Hondas very much even though ive been around this one nearly 6 years) so I wouldnt be able to tell you what model or anything the alarm is. All I know is it was an option that was offered when she bought the car, and she said she wanted the alarm, so they added it to the keyless entry from the factory. This is why I question if one of those fuses is for the alarm and ones for the keyless entry part of the main alarm module because the alarm was obviously one of those "add the chip" sorta deals, atleast I think it is, but I could be wrong. I did have the battery disconnected for over a day and it did not reset the ECU.... well maybe it did.... but as soon as you reconnect the terminal the alarm would sound off and be enabled and lock the doors. So no dice with that. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Later
Big John