Toyota car alarm - silent mode?

Factual Questions
1

I inherited my dad’s Toyota Tacoma with its car alarm and somehow I seem to have gotten it into a silent mode. Usually when I turn the alarm on, the horn “toots” once, twice for off, along with the lights flashing and the doors locking or unlocking as appropriate. Now, everything happens but the toot.

The fob has three buttons, a big red button which arms and disarms the system, a black button which disarms the system and unlocks both doors, and a green button I’ve never figured out. I have no documentation of the system, and I’m hoping that someone with the same system can tell me how to get this back into normal mode, which I prefer.

Thanks in advance!

2

How old is the truck? Do you know anything of how/when/why the alarm was installed? The description of the remote sounds to me like it’s an aftermarket unit, not a factory Toyota one.

Is there a red LED (light) mounted in the dash somewhere? What is its status as of right now?

Chris
MECP certified mobile electronics installer

3

This may be a silly question, but have you looked closely at the back of the keyfob? My Nissan Sentra has a keyless entry system that toots the horn when you lock it, but you can turn that off by holding down two buttons at once. The instructions appear in raised lettering on the back of the keyfob.

It took me four months to notice them.

4

It’s a 2000, Chris, and it’s a TDS brand alarm (at least, those are the letters on the fob). The red light is by your left knee as you sit in the driver’s seat (just above the fuse box access panel). I noticed yesteday that it is actually a push button and with an “in” setting and an “out” setting. Trial and error produced no results. The light blinks when the alarm is armed.

I have examined the fob, Legend, but I don’t have it with me to re-examine (I don’t drive it everyday, to tell the truth; neuseance does). I don’t remember seeing anything on the back that looked like instructions.

When the truck first came to live with me, I searched the owners manual and the Internet for info to no avail. I’ll do some more searching today, but any info I can glean here will be of tremendous help. Thanks again.

5

KneadToKnow–

I’ve never heard of the TDS name before. Maybe it’s a unit installed for the local Toyota dealer, by a subcontractor—Toyota Dealer Services? Or, more likely, it could simply mean Theft Deterrent System.

Anyway, you say the LED flashes when the unit is armed via the remote. (If the LED were on steady at all times, I’d say you accidentally disabled the alarm by putting it in Valet mode—but it sounds like that isn’t the case.)

Just for fun, try this. Roll down a window. Close the door and arm the system with your remote, then wait a few seconds. Much as a thief would, reach inside the open window, unlock the door, and “break into” the car. If the alarm is still working, you should get some kind of reaction-----the parking lights will probably flash on and off, and it should be impossible to start the car, even with the key.

If “breaking in” produces no reaction, something is wrong with the alarm, or you DO have the unit in Valet mode, but this particular brand doesn’t put the LED on-steady for some reason.

If “breaking in” causes the alarm to react, AND the horn to sound on and off, then the unit works fine, but the arm/disarm chirps have somehow been disabled. You’d likely need the instructions to turn them back on----but at least you know your car is protected.

If “breaking in” causes the parking lights to flash and the car not to start, but there is no sound, then just the “sound” part of the alarm has a problem, that should be able to be fixed. Here are some possibilities:
1: Did the alarm use the car’s regular horn, like if you push on the steering wheel, or did it make its own special sound? If it’s a unique sound, this means the alarm has its own horn—which installers refer to as a siren. Look under the hood; the siren may have fallen loose, rotted out, or a wire has broken.
2. If the alarm simply was using the car’s factory horn, you should test the factory horn, at least buy pusing on the steering wheel.

6

I’ve performed a similar test: I tried to open the driver’s-side door while the system was armed. The alarm works fine.

Sounds like I’m going to be calling Toyota on this one.