hey, my 2001 dodge ram 5.9l 360 4x4 alarm will not turn off. I had the truck towed to the dealership and they cannot bypass or disable for some reason. They have checked everything from wiring, hood pin, ctm. They are all puzzled. What should I do before I scrap this? My truck runs and sounds great. Have never had an issue until now.

 

Welcome to the forum, Kristina.

I'm assuming you have an aftermarket alarm since I'm not aware that Dodge ever had factory alarms on 2nd gens. Just the key fobs for door locks.

I installed my own Excalibur alarm a couple years ago and wired the constant power into the ignition power under the steering column. Pull the panel under the steering wheel and look for the large bright red wire running up the column. This is the factory ignition power source. The alarm should be spliced at some point into this red wire. Just remove or cut the alarm wire and it should be dead. Most if not all alarms get there power at that source rather than running it to the battery.

In the meantime, be sure to disconnect the battery negative. This will kill anything needing power like an alarm. Then you can find where its wired in. I find it hard to believe a dealership wouldn't know this. Is it just blaring constantly or what?

 

i have an after market alarm installed at dealer when truck purchased new in 2001. i have one working clicker left. if that clicker goes out i will be in the same position as the OP and i would have to troubleshoot, more or less, as indicated above. i have taken it to 3 dodge dealers (including the one we purchased it from) and none could figure out how to order me a proper clicker(key FOB) for that alarm. mind you that my clicker has the Chrysler 5 pointed star on it.. the clicker they sold me would not work because they could not program it to my alarm...the clicker had 3 buttons including a panic red button on it and my clicker only has two buttons (activate and deactivate alarm which also locks and unlocks the doors)....so it does not surprise me that dealer can't help you. i have my alarm constantly deactivated via lighted red button in dash and have my clicker tucked away and only use it when i disconnect the battery i have to use the clicker to deactivate alarm and resume business as usual. again, i hope nothing happens to my remaining clicker.

 

If it's an aftermarket alarm, it doesn't matter who installed it. There will be wires and a 'brain' tucked away somewhere under the dash. Especially from the 90s, it should be pretty obvious where it is being the components were much larger. Have you tried taking it to a custom audio/alarm shop?

 

alarm will be easy to bypass, the alarm will be wired into the ignition wiring and there will be relays down there for hte locks. a common place to stuff it is in the driver side door fender area. there is a large open area down there. if you cut it out its likley your truck wont start as the starter will will be cut but you can find it and put it back together easy enough. the factory alarm on the 2nd gen rams disables the fuel system and honks the horn/lights. you can disable that by going into your drivers door and taking the two wires (orange wite i think?) and twisting them together to simulate the key being in the door.