My old 1996 TS Magna went to heaven about a month ago and until I secure the funds to purchase a new car, I have loaned my grandparents 1995 XI Verada. The old girl has done just near 260,000km and is nearing the end. However, it has been kept in reasonable shape except for a dint in the front bumper and hood, which I assume is the root of my problem.

Since i have acquired it, the alarm sounds for roughly 30 seconds at random intervals 2 or 3 times after I have locked and left the car. After consulting the user manual, I discovered that this is a precaution put in place to notify me that either the door, boot or hood is not properly secured once the theft-alarm system has been activated. The problem is that the hood, boot and all four doors are in fact locked and secured. I believe that the dint in the hood is what is making the system think that the hood is open.

I had fiddled around with almost every part of my Magna before it died, and fixed many issues I had with it. But this particular problem is really starting to frustrate me. If there is anyone out there who could direct me in a way to permanently deactivate the alarm, it would be much appreciated. As I stated before, the car is quite old and the potential for re-sale is out the window, so simply cutting a wire is an option I will not overlook. I don't keep anything valuable in my car ever.

Thanks!

Find the switch for the hood that is linked to the alarm it will possibly pop up when you open the hood as not looked at one or either it is onboard with the latch mechanism. Might be able to bend it a bit to get a better contact when the hood is closed or cut/disconnect the wires so it thinks it is closed all the time. Depending how the Mitsi setup is you may have to join the wires but try disconnecting first.Vee

Thanks for the reply.
I had a quick look last night and couldnt see anything right away, ill have another thorough search later today.

Are there any other potential solutions out there that anyone can think of?

Short of getting the front accident damage repaired, bypassing the bonnet switch is the next best option.
Disconnect it, pull the plug. If it still goes off, bridge the wires in the plug.

"Cutting a wire" to disable the alarm altogether is probably not a good idea, as it may cut ignition as well.

Short of getting the front accident damage repaired, bypassing the bonnet switch is the next best option.
Disconnect it, pull the plug. If it still goes off, bridge the wires in the plug.

"Cutting a wire" to disable the alarm altogether is probably not a good idea, as it may cut ignition as well.

isnt there an ETACS fuse?

Etacs is hooked into everything. So disabling it generally kills your ancilliaries as well.

In these cars, it is usually the bonnet or boot.

However, the door buttons usually give grief of some kind at that age.

I cannot recall if the early ETACS has a door ajar warning noise, but that is a good way to test if the door buttons are working.