So I have a 2002 f150 with a 5.4l V8. It has the factory PATS alarm system installed. There is the little flashing light / button on the lower dash to the left of the steering wheel. You can control the setting of the alarm by pushing the button and the flashing of the light will change so you can essentially turn it off - which is how I've always kept it - alarm isn't really that important to me.

I got into a minor fender bender a while back and bent my brush guard so I picked up a new one off ebay and took it my local shop (who I have been very happy with up until now) to install. I also had them install 4 KC hi-lites which I had on a shelf on the center of the brush guard. They actually did a good job getting the guard and the lights installed but of course when they disconnected the battery it reset the alarm to default mode which activates within maybe 45 seconds. Once activated if you even look sideways at the truck it triggers the alarm (you know what I mean if you have one).

So they're doing some other work that I wanted on the truck and they keep triggering the alarm. They should have known something was up as I've had it in there several times before with no issue. Anyway some genius decides "Hey, I'll take some pliers and rip that light / button loose from the dash and maybe that'll fix it". Of course that did not fix it but we quickly reached a point where it became clear that I'd have to sue them if I wanted to force them to fix it, plus they obviously cannot (not going back there again). It is stuck in basic mode which arms within a few seconds - even if I park and sit on the phone for a minute. When I get out it triggers the alarm - extremely friggin irritating.

I have called a few aftermarket alarm places locally (Dallas, Tx) but nobody wants to touch it - they all say take it to a dealership. I will do that as a last resort (not happy on a 20+ year old vehicle) but just wondering if anybody else has dealt with something like this before? I'd be happy to disable the whole damn thing but I've never found anywhere that that is even possible.

Thanks for listening to my rant.

 

Any light associated with a push button is an aftermarket alarm
That push button is the valet switch
So, you have both a chipped Ford PATS key and an aftermarket alarm (possibly with remote start)?
Aftermarket alarms have no service or parts
That is why no takers as far as repair
Ask then to install a new one and you will have several takers
I would just remove the aftermarket alarm and its associated wiring / box
If you really want the alarm, replace it and get new fobs

 

Thanks for the feedback. Attached are a couple of pics of the "button" and my fob. The fob is factory as far as I know. The light on the dash flashes until I hit the unlock button on the fob, then it goes dark. I always assumed this is all factory but maybe I'm wrong. I'm going to try again this week to find somebody to address this. If I take a long road trip and want to pull over and catch an hour of sleep at a rest area - if I even touch the wheel or the pedals accidentally it triggers the horn. Bad enough for me but I've had people get pissed at me at night because I can't turn the GD thing off...

 

So I left this one for a while but really wanted it fixed. I found a local electronics / alarm store so I decided to head over and see if they could help me. He told me that if I wanted it fixed back to original then I would have to take it to the dealership (it is stock and original). I said what I really want is to disable the thing completely because I never used it before the other shop broke it. He said "Oh - I can do that. The only thing is your remote unlock won't work anymore." I said "I don't care because I never used it before and don't care anything about that anyway." So and hour later it's fixed and if I ever want an alarm again (doubtful) I'll just get an aftermarket.

He pulled the module and gave it to me and I said if I ever sell the truck I'll give it to the new owner and they can do with it what they want. Here's the module removed:


Figured I'd post the final result in case anybody cares or has a similar issue.