Older car....big problem

Hi,

I'll try to keep the explanation of this as brief as possible. My son has a 1986 Buick Century Ltd. His dad got it on the cheap for him....the only problem was the door locks(keys) did not function. Fine we figured we would change the locks...no big deal. Unfortunately we didn't realize that the car has a factory installed alarm which is somehow activated by using the electric door locks. Well..you guessed it..one of the kids accidentally hit the lock switch, arming the alarm. According to the manual the only way to disarm it is by using the key to unlock the door.  My question is this....is there any way to override this system? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Beth

Wow.  I didn't know the Century, even the Limited, had a factory alarm available that year.  Kinda cool though.

GM alarms will reset to "off" if you disconnect the battery, wait a short time, and reconnect it.

As you've probably read in the owner's manual, the alarm is activated by pressing Lock while the door is open, and then closing the door.

Both door lock key cylinders contain a small switch, which sends a ground signal to the factory alarm, telling it to disarm.

Remove either kick panel, and look for a light green wire coming in from the door.  Do whatever you have to do to get the factory alarm to start sounding, then apply ground to the light green wire for one second...if the alarm stops, you've found the right wire.

I'd imagine you could probably get away with leaving this wire permanently grounded, the the factory alarm will no longer work.  I'd imagine you wouldn't want to have a car that doesn't work like it did from the factory.  But it might be a good temporary solution until you get the lock cylinders working properly.

Thank you so much for this information!!  My son had to leave the car in a parking lot, and I was getting worried that if we didn't get this figured out soon, that the car would be towed out of there.  I'm no car guru myself, but I will pass this information along to my ex and he can take it from there. I really appreciate your help.

Thanks again!

Beth