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Hi all, new EP3 owner here needing a bit of advise.
I bought a 2002 EP3 around 2/3 months back, and for the first 2 or so weeks, had no problems with it; even took it abroad for a 600 mile round trip. However, after those two weeks, my battery completely died, which led to the alarm going off. I never ever had a problem with the alarm before this. Once I switched the battery over, all seemed fine, until the alarm started going off randomly.
I've seen that the random alarm is a common issue, especially on the pre facelift EP3's. Suggestions range from water ingress from the aerial, contacts on the door/boot/bonnet, or a faulty alarm brain box so I checked what I could, and tried everything, including getting it out of valet mode (as far as I can tell it doesn't exist on the pre facelift), and reprogramming the keys. However the alarm literally kept going off every 30mins. I got so frustrated with the thing, that after a couple of days I disconnected the siren and taped up the ends, but by doing this, I managed to kill the whole remote central locking system.
Eventually, I found and called Hamilton & Palmer, the alarm manufacturers. They told me to check a couple of fuses near the steering wheel column and after replacing a blown fuse, the system was up and running again with no siren. The alarm was still going off randomly, but we were able to diagnose that the brain box was faulty, and Hamilton & Palmer said that it would be £216 to replace. I didn't replace as another option I was considering was just removing the whole alarm system, and fitting a third party one with a new warranty. In the meantime I left it as it was with no siren, but with the alarm still going off randomly (ie hazards going off).
I started noticing that sometimes, the car would not recognise that I was pressing lock/unlock on the fob, along with the fuel pump not being engaged (no noise), hence no ignition. The only way to start the car in this state was to reset the alarm system (by fuse) for it to recognise key presses. Again, I put this down to the alarm system.
I would have been happy with this and left it going until I could be bothered to fit a new car alarm/replace the brain box. However during a 130 mile trip a few days ago, the accelerator completely cut out on the motorway about 3 times. Literally, I put my foot down, but no response from the engine at all. The first time, after about 2 mins, it kicked back in. The second time I had to pull up on the hard shoulder, and the third time I was thankfully in stationary traffic. It sounded like a relay was constantly clicking somewhere near the front passengers side.
Now I don't know if this is a problem with the alarm or if the problems are related in any way. I might be (and probably am) completely wrong, which is why I decided to post here, but I thought it was a possibility due to it being faulty and connecting into the fuel pump/ignition looms, or the alarm draining the car battery. When the recovery company arrived to see what was wrong with the car, he managed to pull error code P1298 from the OBD2 port. We narrowed this down to the ELD and he took it out, cleaned it a bit, and put it back in. The car worked for about an hour with no problems, and then once again, no acceleration randomly. I knew I couldn't drive back home on the motorway that evening, and had to get recovered 130 miles back home (joy).
I was wondering if anyone had encountered anything similar and if anyone had any advice. The only thing I can personally think of is to find someone who can disconnect the Hamilton & Palmer alarm and resolder the wires to the ignition and fuel pump, and also replacing the ELD in case that's the cause. That's the only way I can rule out both the alarm and a broken ELD.
Would this be the best thing to do? Is there something I might have overlooked? Or is it something else altogether lol
Would greatly appreciate anyones help.
Cheers
Ps: Sorry for the long post - just making sure I've covered everything
I bought a 2002 EP3 around 2/3 months back, and for the first 2 or so weeks, had no problems with it; even took it abroad for a 600 mile round trip. However, after those two weeks, my battery completely died, which led to the alarm going off. I never ever had a problem with the alarm before this. Once I switched the battery over, all seemed fine, until the alarm started going off randomly.
I've seen that the random alarm is a common issue, especially on the pre facelift EP3's. Suggestions range from water ingress from the aerial, contacts on the door/boot/bonnet, or a faulty alarm brain box so I checked what I could, and tried everything, including getting it out of valet mode (as far as I can tell it doesn't exist on the pre facelift), and reprogramming the keys. However the alarm literally kept going off every 30mins. I got so frustrated with the thing, that after a couple of days I disconnected the siren and taped up the ends, but by doing this, I managed to kill the whole remote central locking system.
Eventually, I found and called Hamilton & Palmer, the alarm manufacturers. They told me to check a couple of fuses near the steering wheel column and after replacing a blown fuse, the system was up and running again with no siren. The alarm was still going off randomly, but we were able to diagnose that the brain box was faulty, and Hamilton & Palmer said that it would be £216 to replace. I didn't replace as another option I was considering was just removing the whole alarm system, and fitting a third party one with a new warranty. In the meantime I left it as it was with no siren, but with the alarm still going off randomly (ie hazards going off).
I started noticing that sometimes, the car would not recognise that I was pressing lock/unlock on the fob, along with the fuel pump not being engaged (no noise), hence no ignition. The only way to start the car in this state was to reset the alarm system (by fuse) for it to recognise key presses. Again, I put this down to the alarm system.
I would have been happy with this and left it going until I could be bothered to fit a new car alarm/replace the brain box. However during a 130 mile trip a few days ago, the accelerator completely cut out on the motorway about 3 times. Literally, I put my foot down, but no response from the engine at all. The first time, after about 2 mins, it kicked back in. The second time I had to pull up on the hard shoulder, and the third time I was thankfully in stationary traffic. It sounded like a relay was constantly clicking somewhere near the front passengers side.
Now I don't know if this is a problem with the alarm or if the problems are related in any way. I might be (and probably am) completely wrong, which is why I decided to post here, but I thought it was a possibility due to it being faulty and connecting into the fuel pump/ignition looms, or the alarm draining the car battery. When the recovery company arrived to see what was wrong with the car, he managed to pull error code P1298 from the OBD2 port. We narrowed this down to the ELD and he took it out, cleaned it a bit, and put it back in. The car worked for about an hour with no problems, and then once again, no acceleration randomly. I knew I couldn't drive back home on the motorway that evening, and had to get recovered 130 miles back home (joy).
I was wondering if anyone had encountered anything similar and if anyone had any advice. The only thing I can personally think of is to find someone who can disconnect the Hamilton & Palmer alarm and resolder the wires to the ignition and fuel pump, and also replacing the ELD in case that's the cause. That's the only way I can rule out both the alarm and a broken ELD.
Would this be the best thing to do? Is there something I might have overlooked? Or is it something else altogether lol
Would greatly appreciate anyones help.
Cheers
Ps: Sorry for the long post - just making sure I've covered everything
