Remote locking /Alarm failure

[Kam.]

Saturday turned into an interesting day. Drove to a race and at the end of the day we threw all our gear in the clio before going to pick up our trophy (came 1st woo!)
I locked the car on the keyfob as normal, but when we returned the keyfob would not unlock the car or deactivate the alarm.

We've ruled out the battery (recently tested), changed the battery on the keyfob, tried the spare key to no avail. Due to the alarm being rather loud, we had to endure a 6 hour wait and 3 hour journey on a towtruck.

I'm going to put money on the alarm receiver packing in. Where is this located and can it be independently replaced or can it be tested?

If not then I need to be able to drive the car. The immobiliser is working as the car will start but the hazard lights still flash. The alarm has stopped screaming but I think that is down to the battery being low than me playing with the key in the ignition and disconnecting the battery.
Is there a way to disable the alarm without the blipper by using a sequence of button pressing, cursing and smashing things with a big hammer?

 

[Kam.]

More research - seems it could be the UCH unit. I can get access to another 172 ph1. Can I remove the UCH, and fit to mine to test or do they need reprogramming for the car? I guess if I fitted it the other keys would work on my car.

 

[Rob]

The alarm unit sits ontop of the glove box, if you remove the dash top you should be able to see it, try unplugging that before anything else. As far as I'm aware the alarm isn't what activates/deactivates the central locking, as it's an after thought.

 

[Kam.]

I understand that. First task is to get the car operational so the alarm disconnected will allow me to drive it. I'll go retro and use the key in the door.

 

[Rob]

I understand that. First task is to get the car operational so the alarm disconnected will allow me to drive it. I'll go retro and use the key in the door.

A novel idea!

Get under that dash, unplug the stupid thing and see if it makes any difference.

 

[Kam.]

Been looking at Fubars nice guide

Not a lot of room for the alarm in those pictures..Is it tucked to the left of the airbag?

 

[Rob]

Well I've just ripped my entire dash out and replaced it with a ph2 item, it's only a small black box and is industrial velcro'd to the front top of the glove iirc.

 

[Kam.]

cool. looks like I will be busy sunday!

 

[Rob]

Dash top is a 20 minute job, tops. Very easy indeed.