06 toyota oem alarm

I am chasing a gremlin in a factory 06 Toyota alarm. Until last night I thought the alarm was OEM from the factory but now I realize I am dealing with a dealer add on system. I was looking under the dash and I can see the brain, the shock sensor, and all of the wire taps used to tie the system in to the wires behind the drivers side kick.

I take it it is a system that relys on the lock and unlock puls from the OEM keyless in order to arm and dis-arm.

Symptoms started in the system randomly going off. About a week ago the car started to act like the battery was getting low. For example it would take a second or two to crank vs turning over right away. Last night the car did not start, after about 30-40 min I pulled my truck up next to it to jump it and I decided to try and turn it over to see just how dead the battery was and what do you know it started on its own.

Once the car started all of the interior dash lights started blinking(while the car was running) similar to what it does if the alarm is triggered. After a few seconds the lights stopped blinking but I could still hear the clicking of the flasher relay for a few more seconds. After the lights settled I decided to drive it around, while driving if I hit the lower dash infront of where the shock sensor is the horn starts honking like as if the alarm has been triggered. I had to hit the unlock button while driving to shut the horn off.

My next try was to manually lock the doors from the inside and close the door, basicly not arming the alarm. If I do this then I can unlock it with the keyless and start the car and everything is fine(no flashing lights and hitting the dash once running will not set off the alarm) so I am sure this is an alarm issue.

Does the funny behavior of the alarm seem like it could be a side effect of a low battery on the car? The battery has enough juice to start the car so I really don't see that as possible.

Anyone have a wiring diagram of the OEM add on system so I can try to disconnect the alarm system. The car should still start and run fine if I disconnect the system right? 

First, what you are describing is symptomatic of a "slightly" flat battery. It would cause the alarm to throw wobblies false arm etc. secondly, the factory alarms are made by Fujitsu, they have a white molex type plug which has a rivetted down security collar. With the factory unit all you have to do is unplug it, throw it away etc. The car will still start, ref your third paparagraph about taking time to start, thast's more slightly flat battery than anything else.

You mention wire taps, if that's what they were using, I'd throw the whole thing away. We aren't allowed to even use them in the UK, too unreliable and suffer from knocks, vibration etc + bad electrical connection also known as IDCs = insulation displacement connectors.

Yeah I had thought about disconnecting the brain and see what happens. WIll probably try that sometime this week, I can not imagine how the installer got the brain so far up in the dash though.

Nothing like looking under the dash and seeing the shock sensor zip tied around a bunch of wires and seeing 5-10 wire taps into the factory wiring lol.

I will double check the voltage on the battery but I know while running it was above 14, and right at about 12 after it had been shut off for a few hours. If I had to take a guess the starter kill in the alarm is what was keeping it from starting, then once I cycled the alarm it allowed it to start???

Wonder if I can find an acctual Toyota OEM alarm system. I have to imagine the OEM system ties into the car with some sort of harness system.

Don't mean to sound like an idiot but how would I go about doing a drop test? WHat do I need to disconnect to keep the car turning over without acctually starting?

I know the zip tie of the shock sensor is ok but when I saw it I knew that the alarm was an add on and not something that came from the factory, which means it is prone to installer error. Guys in the service departments here work on stub time so any shortcut that they can take to get the car done in a hurry is money in their pocket which to me is just motivation for taking any shortcut you can get away with.

Mike M2 wrote:

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What kind of car is this?

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06 Toyota Corolla Type S

Mike M2 wrote:

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I know i like to put the brain above the pocket on the dash. Is this where it is?

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If you are refering to the pocket on the drivers side of the dash area kind of right above the drivers left knee then yes thats where it is at. To the left and bit higher than the fuses if that makes sense.

Chris Luongo wrote:

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There is a Toyota-branded, dealer-installed alarm system, should have a model number like VIP3000 or VIP3200.

In place of one of those switch blanks on the dashboard, there should be an LED with the word "SECURITY" in small white capital letters.

However, the VIP systems are almost completely plug-and-play, with just a couple of connections hardwired to the car.

When you say "taps" for connections, do you mean "T-taps?" Do they look like this?
www.autoslot.info/SAMMYW.JPG

If so, it's going to be a pure aftermarket system (that may or may not have been installed at/by the Toyota dealer), and the VIP3000 diagram won't be of any help.

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Well ever since I got her (my mom) to stop using the alarm to lock the car the battery is back to its old self. It carries 12+v with Key off and 14+v while running. She still uses the Fob to unlock the car though but since the alarm is not being armed the problems she was having with the battery and flashing lights when started are gone.

As for the installed system. Yes they used T-Taps to wire it in. I have not had time to get in there and check for numbers on the brain and since it was starting and running fine I was not making it a priority.

As for what system it is I could not tell you. There is a blinking light in one of the blanks that says security, however that thing blinks as soon as you turn the car off and keeps blinking till you turn it back on. There is also an LED/push button mounted a little bit above the dash pocket, like between the pocket and the security light. That light goes on and off with the system and the pushbutton activates valet mode for the alarm.

One thing that I just thought of. If the alarm is armed/disarmed by the door lock pulse then why does it not arm when the doors are manually locked from inside. Is there something that can sense when the doors are opened or closed and will only allow arming when all doors are closed?

She will probably be bringing it in to Toyota within the next few weeks but being out of warranty I am not sure what they would do about the alarm issue which is why I am preparing to take care of it if they can't fix it fairly cheap.