Hello Team,

Regarding my 2009 V8 Limited: does anyone know where the "brain" that controls the Panic Alarm is located? I want to swap it out. I'm thinking it must be connected to an antenna system that is responsible for the remote lock/unlock, but where is it?

I am having a very frustrating problem that has come up in the forums with no definitive answer: my panic alarm keeps going off at random times! It's not the aftermarket alarm--I had that removed.

I have already taken care of what the Interwebs have suggested:

• Replaced fob batteries √

• Removed fob batteries completely - still randomly goes off even when fobs are "bricked" with no batteries which makes them incapable of sending a signal.

• Starting battery voltage is fine: 12.5v to 12.6v resting voltage.

• Aftermarket alarm completely removed by dealership two weeks ago -- problem still persists!

I am completely flummoxed by this one -- this problem started about three months ago after our rainy season started here in Los Angeles...the dealership suggested "water intrusion" but they can't tell me where the module is located and are asking for $1200 to do some exploratory surgery to find it... I call BS.

My next step would be to buy a subscription to techinfo.toyota.com and start to look at schematics, but I'm hoping someone may have the answer to my question out there.

what aftermarket alarm was installed. i suspect either a low battery voltage issue, this can cause stock alarm to go crazy,

if the aftermarket alarm was removed, did they cover up the wires that was tapped into? might have to take everything apart and inspect.

check out Car Alarm, Car Stereo, Mobile Video, and Cruise Control Info for Installers for some wire diagrams.

I am currently experiencing a very similar issue. Aside from following the steps in the 4th Gen Alarm I am swapping out my 7 major cables from JeepCables in hopes to either solve a bad connection, or find something along the way that is causing it. Im with you - not paying for someone to investigate it. Worst comes to worse, I will remove the fuse as mentioned in the 4th gen alarm post.

Would love to hear a solution, and will share anything I can come across. Its is annoying AF

@riceandpho : regarding the aftermarket alarm, as far as I can tell it was either "Prosecurity" or "Xpresskit" based on the single photo I have of the pieces that were excised from the wiring harness by the dealership (see photo below). I haven't gone back under the kick panel to check to see if they taped up the wires it was tapped into. Regarding low battery voltage, what would be the threshold for weird behaviour? It sits at 12.5v -- I'm constantly monitoring it with an LED readout in the cigarette lighter. I had the 12V cig lighters modded about two years ago so they're always "on" specifically to keep an eye on the batteries-- a two year old Odyssey that passed it's health check last september. Plus, I'm constantly topping it off with an Odyssey tricklecharger, so I really doubt it's a battery voltage thing...??

@djacob.mbm: I forgot to mention that my "fix" was to remove the two fuses connected to the two horn assemblies so when the Panic Alarm goes off, only the lights flash and there's no blaring horn to annoy the neighbors at 2am. Yes--that's TWO fuses--one under the hood and the 2nd which is in the fusebox located below the steering wheel to the the left. Downside: no horn. Upside: probably won't get shot due to honking during road rage incident.

However--my million dollar question still stands: what electronic do-dad controls the Panic Alarm behaviour?

Also: I was told by the dealership that there's no such thing as a "factory alarm" and every alarm system is aftermarket, 3rd party...is this accurate???

Photo of the aftermarket alarm that was removed >>--------->

Attached Images

 

i go directly under the dash and check out everything in depth, could be a wire rubbing, looks like they just cut some wires out. you could possibly had a remote start installed.

stock 4runner only come with keyless entry, the oem alarm is the vip3000 system.

now you say the horn sounds, is it just constant tone, or is it beep beep beep. if its constant, your spiral cable might be bad, or horn relay maybe bad, or possible the install / removal related. horn wire is green/red ( - ) trigger.

also the door control receiver is located in the rear cargo, driver side , you have to strip the interior to get to it. above the tail light

@riceandpho : thanks for the location for the door control receiver. It sounds like the headliner has to come down to access it, eh? haha--I can piggyback the sunroof fix on this project cycle, too.

re: the horn -- yes, it's the "beeeeep beeeeep beeeeeep" with flashing lights that happens when you mean to hit the Panic Button. Now with the horn fuses removed, I can still see the lights doing their blinking on/off thing when it trips randomly.

Also, to be clear -- this problem started before I removed the alarm -- doing so was supposed to fix the problem, but it didn't. And yes, there was a remote starter installed. I never utilized it--I was the third owner and owner #2 said he lost the starting fob or something.

if you have a leak, you might want to undo the inside fuse box to see what happened,
I still think you really need to take everything apart.

location of all the wires to check for during the remote start install/removal.

try hitting the unlock key inside door switch twice. then do the normal lock and unlock by remote.

something might come undone at the plugs, you have to check all wires and plugs.

WIRE COLOR POLARITY LOCATION
Battery WHITE/ BLUE (+) IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS
Ignition 1 BLACK/ RED (+) IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS
Ignition 2 BLUE / YELLOW (+) IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS
Accessory 1 WHITE/ GREEN (+) IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS
Starter 1 GREEN/ BLACK (+) IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS
Anti-Theft Type UNIVERSAL IMMOBILIZER
Anti-Theft Descript THE KEY SENDS AN RF SIGNAL TO THE BCM MODULE THROUGH AN ANTENNA LOCATED AROUND THE IGNITION CYLINDER
Key Sense GREEN/ YELLOW (-) IGNTION SWITCH HARNESS
Tachometer BLACK/ WHITE (-) AT ECM MODULE BEHIND GLOVEBOX
ALSO IN THE DATA LINK CONNECTOR UNDER DRIVER DASH ON SOME MODELS
Speed Sense VIOLET/RED (AC) AT ECM MODULE BEHIND GLOVEBOX
Parking Lights GREEN (+) TOP LEFT PLUG AT FUSE BOS OR DRIVERS DOOR SILL HARNESS
Brake Lights GREEN/ YELLOW (+) AT SWITCH ABOVE PEDAL OR DRIVERS DOOR SILL HARNESS
Horn GREEN/ RED (-) IN HARNESS AT STEERING COLUMN
Power Unlock GREEN (-) IN DRIVERS DOOR HARNESS
DOUBLE PULSE TO UNLOCK ALL DOORS
Power Lock BLUE (-) IN DRIVERS DOOR HARNESS

oem theft system is behind the glove box,

Hi all, closing the loop on this thread: likely it was one of the six "open door / hood" sensors on the vehicle.

I created another thread here which gives further details.