1985 Mazda RX-7, Commando FM-870, Intermittent Door Trigger Error
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Security and Convenience
Forum Discription: Car Alarms, Keyless Entries, Remote Starters, Immobilizer Bypasses, Sensors, Door Locks, Window Modules, Heated Mirrors, Heated Seats, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=148321
Printed Date: May 01, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Topic: 1985 Mazda RX-7, Commando FM-870, Intermittent Door Trigger Error
Posted By: gladiator350
Subject: 1985 Mazda RX-7, Commando FM-870, Intermittent Door Trigger Error
Date Posted: April 14, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Last August I installed a Commando FM-870 alarm into my 1985 Mazda RX-7, prior to that it was in my old 2000 Mustang since 2008. It has been perfectly reliable and there had been no false alarms since I re-installed it into the Mazda until last week. I heard the alarm go off randomly and the fob said it was for a door trigger. Immediately arming it again, it warned me the doors were still open when they weren't, I also tried re-closing them. I have the alarms green wire (negative door trigger) wired into the dome light ground side circuit, which splits off to the door jam switches on each side. I also have the white dome light supervision control wire spliced in at the same point, I didn't use a relay as I have been using a low milliamp led bulb in the dome light and it has had no problems lighting it up for 30 seconds upon disarming. The door switch wiring is no longer wired to the chassis cpu, to eliminate the annoying door buzzer, so it's not the car's cpu causing it.
I have looked for any visible breaks in the dome light/door switch wiring where it could possibly be rubbing the body and grounding out and I haven't seen anything. For the times when the alarm thinks the door is open the dome light is totally dark, not even slightly glowing as I would have thought if there was an unintended path to ground. I was thinking it's possibly heat related as it happens more often in the hot sun and goes away at night. Could it possibly be a need to use diodes between the trigger wire and the dome light supervision control wire, as well as the door switches?
Thank you for any advice.
Replies:
Posted By: lee.lopez
Date Posted: April 15, 2025 at 10:15 AM
I've had issues before with LED bulbs causing weird readings that I couldn't explain.
I would disconnect the dome light supervision and put a filament bulb back in.
If your problem doesn't return, you can assume that was the issue. Then you can add a relay (or transistor) for dome light supervision.
Posted By: gladiator350
Date Posted: April 16, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Thanks for the info, of course it's not acting up now but I'll try a regular filament bulb if it happens again.
For the moment I switched the led bulb with a different led bulb I had put in the hatchback area, the suspect one is polarity sensitive and the other works either direction, so I'll see if the alarm goes off from the hatch trigger next. I also made a better quality repair of a spliced section of door switch wiring.
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