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MG MGF Technical - Can i change the frequency on the alarm?

Hi.

I've had my 96 VVC MGF for about a month now. It is currently sitting with the horn disconnected.

Since i've had the car, the alarm has been gone off just about every night. I checked all the wires visually, and was just about to replace the drivers door lock, but held off as the alarm only went off at home(never at work during the day).

By chance, I saw the instruction book for my house alarm and noticed that it is on the same frequency as the car alarm!

Now, as the house alarm is rather expensive to change, and I cannot alter the frequency on it, does anyone know if it is easy to change the frequency of my MGF's alarm?

Any help is much appreciated...
Shaun Asque

Easy - nope. But Japanese cars used a different frequency (not sure if it was a completely different band or just a different frequency within the same band). They used different alarm parts, not just the same parts "retuned".

Cheers,
Tim
T Jenner

Can't recall if the volumetric alarm is set if you just lock the car rather than superlock it. My alarm goes off if a taxi passes it (their radios seem to be at the right frequency) and others have found that microwaves can set the thing off too.
Leigh

Lock with the key in the door lock doesn't engage the volumetric sensor.

Worth a try, indeed.
Dieter

Dieter,

Didn't realise it was just with the key and not one click with the blipper! Means that all the times I thought there was another MG going off, it was actually mine!
Leigh

Thanks for your help so far....

I've tried just locking with the key, but this didn't work.

I don't think it is a problem with the car's volumetric sensor interfering, I think thats it's the actual frequency used by the remote, ie the car is waiting for a signal to unlock on 433mhz, and it gets 'a signal' from my house alarm(also on 433 mhz).

Not sure why this would cause it to go off though...

Shaun Asque

The frequency used by car alarms is used by 1001 other things such as Baby Listeners, 2 way walky talky radios etc. Most other frequencies are 'closed' to public use!

Have you tried moving the car to a point further away to see if that solves the problem?

Certainly a micro wave oven can upset the alarm ours used to (before we moved house) but found by parking further up or down the drive cured the problem.
Ted Newman

I thought I had a problem with my old car with the alarm going off regularly, imagine my surprise when I watched a local teenager set it off deliberately.
Leigh

My MGF VVC alarm is continually doing this at work and at home and we have no alarms at either place. A mechanical engineer friend suggested it may be a sign of a flat battery but i have tested this and it is not the case (battery is fine) Anyone any ideas? as my car is sitting unallarmed and i have to spend ten minutes locking it as it wont work even with the key it unlocks itself straight away and the alarm will not set with the fob. help!!!
Garth

A lock may be broken inside (electrical). Either the O/S or the N/S lock.
Dieter

Thanks Dieter,
I have taken the car to a dealer who has hooked it up and they are telling me that the volumetric controller needs to be changed, this failing it may need a new ECU (costing the earth!) does this sound right to you?
Garth

This thread was discussed between 23/04/2008 and 13/05/2008

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