Hey,
I have a 2005 s40i, 206k, automatic (like that would matter). Have kept up on maintenance.
For the past year the trunk lid sensor has been going off and on, and when the vehicle was locked it would trigger the alarm. I thought it was a battery issue so replaced that within the past year. Nope. Now it's happening sporadically.
This past week I drove to work and the vehicle was fine, except the alarm was going off due to the trunk lid. All of a sudden the car won't start, not even to lock/unlock. Get a new battery for the key, no dice. Won't even take a jump. The only thing I did notice was the engine coolant was below minimum. It gets towed to the mechanic and they cannot figure out what the heck is wrong.
The vehicle drove fine that morning, but the alarm kept going off during the day.

Any thoughts?

Thank you!

P.S. Is there a way to get cds out of the player without the car starting? I have some good albums in the deck and don't want to lose them.

 

Normally if you have a good (charged) battery, it's pretty simple to check the two cables (the big red wire, and the small "signal" wire) and see if they're both doing what they should (big red wire is full-time battery voltage, and the small wire goes to 12 volts when the key is turned).

I'm thinking if the shop you had it towed to can't figure out what's wrong, you probably had it towed to the wrong shop. ;-) It's really just a matter of starting where you DO have good voltage, and working forward until you don't...

 

I've been taking it to these guys for years. They know my vehicle and have never steered me wrong. Even their other location is excellent.

 

Perhaps - but if they really said they have no idea what's wrong (and nothing else) then I have to question their expertise. Or maybe they gave you more info, but it wasn't passed along?

 

With an appropriate scan tool (vida would be the best choice) you/they/your tech can discover why the alarm is triggered and remedy the problem. Perhaps you could choose a service provider that has that capability.