ScGiants28

Hey there guys, this is my first post. Thank you all in advance, as many threads here have been very useful to me. I have a question for my first post.

I have a 1979 t-top, I did not know that it had a factory alarm on it until yesterday. I went out to eat with a friend and I parked it Valet. When we got back to the car, the valet driver told me he couldnt unlock the car. So I had to go to the car myself and when I put the key in the drivers door, it wouldnt unlock. So then I went to the passengers side and I was able to unlock it through there, although it was hard to. I let my friend drive, and as we were driving, the alarm started going off, we had to stop and then close the door and put the key in the drivers door and after a few turns, it turned off.

When I got home I noticed, that my interior lights, lighter, glove box light AND power door locks all stopped working, the radio (original) also started acting weird, I could hear the engine noise through the speakers instead of the radio . My question is if any of you has an idea what this is and what I could start to check?

Thank you all.

ScGiants28

No help?

c3corvettes

Sounds like the alarm is being triggered... Hmmm. The experts will chime in soon for ya. Hang in there.

ScGiants28

Thank you. I will wait for an answer, no problem. The thing is, now I cant get the alarm to go off, maybe a fuse? but which one?

I'm Batman

Sounds like a weak battery or a really bad connection somewhere.

gbvette62

It's probably not much help, but the door not unlocking, is probably not directly related to the alarm problem.

Not being able to unlock a door is likely a mechanical issue involving a bent, broken, or disconnected lock rod.

The 79 alarm can only be armed by locking the drivers door from the outside with the key, and can only be disarmed by unlocking the drivers door with the key. I'm guessing that you armed the alarm when you tried to unlock the door. Strangely, when you got into the car through the passenger side, it should have set the alarm off right away, not after driving off.

I would get the drivers door panel off, and take a look at the lock, latch mechanism and rod. Replace or reattach the lock rod, and lube the door latch mechanism. While in there, check the control attached to the lock, that operates the alarm. It's made of white plastic or nylon, and may have cracked or broken. A broken alarm control might be causing your problem?

I can't recall if 79's had a relay, or some other control module, for the alarm system. I'm Batman (that just seems real weird to type) may be right that the problem is related to a weak battery, or there could be problems else where.

Now let me ask, why would you ever let a valet, drive your Corvette?????

73Corvette

Some help but not for your question...

#1 Never let a valet drive your car....
#2 Never let a friend drive your car.....

We do these things being "nice" and it usually turns out BAD.......
For instance who knows what the valet tweaked trying to get in? So, now you have no clue what was done or how to fix it........just sayin.

I would disconnect the battery terminals, then reattach and see if the alarm will reset......

ScGiants28

Thanks for the advice guys, I will try the things you guys just mentioned and see how that turns out, hopefully that does the job. I actually do think a weak battery could be a possibility, because it died a while ago, so we will see.

Regarding the valet issue, I actually did that because there was no parking around the area where I was going to be, and since I dont have any kind of anti theft protection on the car, I figured the valet would be the next best thing, and if something happened to the car, they can be responsible. And I let my friend drive after because I had a few drinks and was feeling buzzed. So yeah, I guess I had a couple of good excuses for that, haha.

Well, I will keep you all updated, hopefully others can comment on what they think I should try as well. Thank you all.

ScGiants28

Just wanted to update on this. It was actually just a fuse, I switched the fuse and now everything is back to normal. I am guessing I am just going to have to be careful with setting the alarm on again to avoid this problem. Thank you all for your help.

~Stingray

Glad you figured it out.