I went out and picked up an aftermarket alarm after a good deal of research. Trouble is, the guys at Circuit City who installed it didn't seem to know what they were doing. The alarm took 10 hours to install (Python 700) but now i'm having some issues. They put the alarm on without altering the factory security system. I can arm/disarm it ok, and the shock works fine as well as the 2-way functionality. Trouble is, after being armed for about 40 minutes, the system falses. I swear, I could set a clock by the false alarms. Is there anything that I should know about before I go back in to Circuit City? Anything that I could tell their "professionals" to look in to?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

Check the alignment of the hood pin (if you have one). Also, Im not familiar with Python, but is that a model with the two-way remote?

 

Yes it is. The hood pin seems to be in place. If I use the factory alarm, it does not go off.

 

whats the remote displaying when ity alarms? Also, just because the hood pin is in place doesn't mean it's properly adjusted. Depending on where its located it may not be pushed down enough when the hood is closed and it's throwing the trip, in that case either relocate the hood pin or use small washers and shim it (if it won't adjust enough). If you said you can set your watch by it then something is not sensing properly and the hood and/or trunk pins are the most common reasons from my experience in troubleshooting others work.

When you arm the alarm there is a delay where it senses all the applicable sensors. If one isn't arming properly then it will trip following the delay, hence why you can set your watch by it.

 

It sounds like they are using the dome light instead of the actual door pin.

On the DEI alarms if you arm it with a sensor bypassed the sensor will remain bypassed until it returns to its non-alarm state. If you bypass it indefinately it will never cause a false alarm. The sensor would have to go to the 'ok' state then back to the 'alarm' state in order to trigger the alarm.

 

We found out what it was when I brought it back yesterday. After 40 minutes, the car shuts down most of the electrical systems. To keep the door pins active, the car sends a grounding pulse to the doors. The factory alarm is able to interpret that signal, the Python was not. Thanks for the help everyone.