Removing old alarm system

On my 92 4Runner, I have an old Excalibur alarm system that I wish to remove. It has been on the vehicle for about 25 years now. Are they easy to remove or should I just take it somewhere to have it professionally removed? I can do radio installs and removals but have never touched an alarm system. Also, if I do take it in, how much should I expect to pay? Thanks.

 

I was in the mobile audio/video/security business for 25 years. You can definitely do it yourself. Every connection ( I solder and can prob assume they didn’t back then with the Excalibur ) is most likely “spliced” in other than the starter kill relay at the ignition harness. That has to be interrupted. You will have to reconnect that back or the truck won’t start. Other than that…. Straight forward.

if you were to take to a shop, they would charge most likely by the hour regardless if it takes that long ( It def won’t ). Will range anywhere from 60ish-100ish. Save your money though. Imho

 

Best way is to find an old manual if you can and just reverse the steps. That's what I did with a 2008 Mazda 3 dealer alarm that was giving me fits.

What model is it?

I found this: https://www.caralarm.com/Content/Manuals/EG-1200-1400-1600-1800ATV Dealer Manual_775_English.pdf

There are a bunch more here: https://www.caralarm.com/Content/Manuals/

 

Unfortunately, I have no clue which model it is as I lost the manual. Car electrical stuff scare me so I will see if I can find a place that will remove it and not charge an arm and a leg.

 

If you pull the under dash and drivers kickpanel and take pics, I can help you out. You can pm me for my number and see what we are working with.

 

To be honest, a shop will probably make a bigger mess than you will if you go carefully.

 

Thanks, I appreciate it but I appear to have bigger problems than a useless alarm. I have a major battery drain that I am gonna have to troubleshoot. More on that when I find out what is causing it.

 

Dollars to donuts that alarm is the battery drain.

 

^THIS ALL DAY LONG!!!
You need to have it removed to eliminate it out of the equation. Once it’s removed honestly I would replace the battery ( if old or not sure when replaced. Start fresh )any stereo shop can remove it ( for a charge ) and then charge to do a parasitic drain test ( for another charge ). I completely understand if you are hesitant to try to remove it now and even more so now knowing you have a drain. Just trying to save you some money and start with the first baby steps. Not much more I can do/offer. It will get resolved 1 way or another. Good luck!

 

I took the vehicle down to Autozone and they tested it and found the battery was bad. Replaced it and hopefully that fixes my issue. I will have to keep an eye on it due to the fact that the guy who changed it out hit a ground while tightening the positive post. Big sparks. Truck started up but hopefully he didn't mess up the battery.

 

Ok, so now I am attempting to find the control box of the alarm system. I have found 2 boxes and wonder if any of you have these in yours. I appreciate if anyone can check theirs for them. One is behind the lower cowl just in front of the shifter, the green one is above the fuse box on the drivers side.

 

You need to look into the second pic box. Those butt connectors are/should be for the aftermarket alarm. That 10 amp fuse on the white wire should be going to it. You need to follow those wires and should go to a black box.

 

Thank you very much. I found the black box. It was well hidden. Going to have to take off the cowling to be able to get to it so it looks like a weekend job for me as that is the only day I have free. I also sent an email to the maker of the alarm system and heard back. They said that all I have to do is unplug it and that will disable it. Hopefully that is the case.

 

Pmd you

 

Well I finally got around to removing the cowling and ductwork to access the black box. Once I did that, it was very easy to remove. I tied up the wires out of the way and it started right up. Hopefully that fixes my drain issue. I bought a trickle charger, and it would charge up to 14.5 and by the next day the voltage would be down to under 13.

 

That doesn't really show there is a drain issue. Where did you hear that?

Voltage drop after a charge is normal for a battery....and climate conditions can cause it too.

The only way to tell parasitic drain is to measure it by checking the current draw from a battery terminal to the disconnected cable terminal. Or by measuring a voltage drop across a fuse in the fuse box.

I mean, sure, if you have a charged up battery and after a day of sitting in the car, the car won't start...you have a parasitic draw. But fluctuation of voltage across the terminals isn't really a good test.

Just under 13v for a sitting battery is what I would expect.

 

OK, thanks. It has been sitting at 12.8v since last night. So, I guess the alarm was my drain since it would drop below 12v after a few days before.

 

Going to be attempting the same thing this week on my 91. Will update. Thanks for the great posts -