Alarm going off randomly

Chevy Spark EV Forum

Help Support Chevy Spark EV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

scrambler

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 14, 2017
Messages
160
My Spark EV 2014 Alarm has recently started to go off for no reason when the car is parked.
Pressing open or close on the remote shuts it off

I checked the 12V battery which is a t 12.2V
I checked the remote battery which is at 3V

Has anyone had that problem before and figured out what caused the issue?
Thanks
 
12.2V is around 40% SoC for an AGM, starting to get low. Fully discharged AGMs will read under 11.8V and they'll start getting damaged much further beyond that. I'd recommend charging it up so it reads above 12.6V while the vehicle and all loads are off. Once you know your battery is at a high SoC, monitor to see if it continues.

You can charge the battery if you have a 3rd party battery tender, or keep the vehicle running for at least 2.5 hours up to 5 hours in Drive mode or Service mode (hold START down for >5 seconds). AGMs can't charge more than 0.4C and typically charge at 0.2C, which is problematic if owners DCFC, drive infrequently or make short trips, and leave the car parked at a low SoC for the high voltage lithium pack (<20% is typically considered low).

If you level 1 charge for a night, then that will also take care of the AGM, as the APM will provide 13.2-14.8V to the battery and contactors during charging, but I don't know your park & charging situation.

Can you provide more details about the parking spot? Is it in a driveway outdoors, on curbside parking, indoors in a garage/underground parking, etc? Are people able to walk by the car, does it ever park plugged in (likely not from the AGM info you gave, unless it has gone bad).

The only time my alarm goes off is when other drivers mess with my Spark during charging. They unplug me from public chargers because they're mad that all the spots are used up, or I'm the only one charging and they want to mess with EVs, which has happened to me at least 4 times in the past 2 months at the mall... Speaking of which, I finally caught one driver, who drives a Mitsubishi i-MiEV, thanks to a Tesla Model X's footage. Turns out the i-MiEV driver has their own level 2 EVSE at home! However, according to him, their son comes to charge in a 1st gen Smart ForTwo Electric, and so when it's busy at home or he prefers not to pay for electricity, he must come to the public chargers to charge his own car. Which is fine, until he starts unplugging other EVs...
 
So far it has happened unplugged in a parking where nobody was around, and a few times in my driveway plugged in with no one around.

I have exercised the Hood switch a number of times, in case it was the culprit, as I never open that hood... if it happens again, I will try increasing the GM battery, but that battery was replaced a year or two ago...
 
scrambler said:
.. if it happens again, I will try increasing the GM battery, but that battery was replaced a year or two ago...
Sorry for your problem.
I'm curious what you mean by this statement.
Are you saying you have a new HV battery pack or are you talking about the 12V battery under the hood?

As for 12V batteries, I like to point out just because you bought a new 12V battery doesn't mean its a good one.
If that battery had been sitting on a shelf some where unloved for ? 1 - 2 years without a trickle charge, it could be in really bad health. Lead Acid batteries have a self-discharge.
Also some/all should have a manufacture date code on them. It's sometimes a colored circle sticker with month and year.

Good luck! Keep us posted on this problem.
 
scrambler said:
My Spark EV 2014 Alarm has recently started to go off for no reason when the car is parked.
Pressing open or close on the remote shuts it off

I checked the 12V battery which is a t 12.2V
I checked the remote battery which is at 3V

Has anyone had that problem before and figured out what caused the issue?
Thanks
Just guessing, but...If the car is plugged in and the doors are locked, removing the charging plug without unlocking the doors first will set off the alarm. It may also be due to an intermittent door or hood latch sensor that the car thinks has been opened while the car is actually locked.
 
MrDRMorgan said:
Just guessing, but...If the car is plugged in and the doors are locked, removing the charging plug without unlocking the doors first will set off the alarm. It may also be due to an intermittent door or hood latch sensor that the car thinks has been opened while the car is actually locked.
Good Point!
Get into the menu for those settings and turn off all the "Alert" options.
 
Back
Top