"Service Theft Alarm" problems..battery replacement

[Expidia]

Anyone know where on the web that I can order two of these batteries for the theft alarm.

I'm in the U. S., but I saw a poster who got them in China for $18.

Anyone know of a substitute # or brand if the above battery is not available on the net?

[ron22]

Is this for the alarm key fob? If it is $18 is kinda high. The local Saab dealer sold me 3 for $12. So your best bet might be to go to your local Saab dealer.

[MI-Roger]

You need the CR17335SE-FT battery by Sanyo. See link for a Florida source at $6.60USD each. This one has the necessary three pin mounting configuration.

http://www.batterystore.com/Sanyo/CR17335SE-FT.htm

[Expidia]

No, it's not the alarm key battery. I've replaced that in the past. Be real careful when you push a pin into the hole to realese the door on the back of the key though. Mine snapped off when I pushed in too hard. Had to buy a new cover.

Yes, that's the battery I'm looking for. I'll pick 4 of them up 2 for each car. Do you know where the alarm siren sits?

[MI-Roger]

Someone needs to consolidate all these "Service Theft Alarm" postings and place the instructions in the FAQ section. I would do it if I thought I had the access rights. Oh well, last night's response again. The link at the end has detailed instructions with photographs on how to do this job.


This problem has recently achieved epidemic proportions with all 9-5's earlier than the mid-2001 model year. Apparently all the siren modules from 1997 thru mid-2001 were made at the same time, and everyone's batteries are going bad at the same time.

You have some reasonable to not-so-reasonable choices regarding replacement.

1. Replace the batteries yourself. Do a search on this board and you will find D-I-Y instructions by Daniel Saeuberli for replacing the batteries. This job will cost under $15 and take 90 minutes or so IF you already have equipment to perform circuit board soldering.
2. Have "Batteries Plus" install the batteries for you. Many stores of this franchise chain will solder in the new batteries for you. You may have to buy the batteries from them rather than a discount internet provider, and they usually charge a small amount for their labor, but you are probably still under $25 cost.
3. Have the Dealer or Independent Saab Repair shop deactivate the alarm. Instead of hearing chirps from the siren when locking/unlocking, you will hear short beeps of the car horn. Cost will be 1/2 hour to 1 hour of shop labor.
4. Have Dealer or Independent Saab Repair shop install a new siren module for you. Cost for this will be $300 to $400.

You don't want to do nothing. This choice will usually result in the anti-theft alarm suddenly screaming in the middle of the night when no one is around to tell you how to turn it off - since it will no longer respond to your remote control. (Hint - remove fuse #14 from the under hood fuse box, but you will lose your air conditioning too - and maybe the friendship of your neighbors!)

I hope this helps.

http://home.datacomm.ch/saeuberli/f...m_batteries.pdf

[Expidia]

Let's see $400 for each of my two Saab 9-5's at the dealer for two new alarm modules or do it myself for $20 bucks each . . . hmmm this is a tough one?

And best of all I get to use my new $20 cold solder iron that I bought at the Ratshack for $20. This thing works great.

Just bought 4 batteries from your other post for $6.60 each.

Thx for that link to those detailed do it yourself step by step pictures.

I'm in upstate NY and it's 59 degrees today but I just know by the time I get the batteries next week, it'll be 20 degrees out and I'll be freezing my @ss off in my backyard pulling out both units

[Expidia]

As requested by others: This thread should definitely be a sticky because of all the batteries now reaching 3-5 years old and starting to fail within the theft alarm system.

This sticky showing the links to places to buy the battery and MI's link to the detailed "do it yourself" instructions on how to replace it should be posted in other model forums as well that are having the same issues!

We will probably see more and more of this same question as the batteries fail.

Good idea to consolidate all the theft alarm questions into one thread too.

Thx

[Alpha]

Hello guys!
I'm from SAAB service facility in Bulgaria. The problem with a battery of the theft alarm sirren is a common one in 9-5 model as you know. Not only in MY 97- mid 01 as MI_Roger said but for all 9-5's. The other ones just don't know it yet. From our experience we know that the life of the batteries is between 5 and 7 years.
Inside the sirren there are 2 batteries SANYO CR17335SE (orange), but for example in some markets you can't get this batteries because they are not available. I this case we use this type of batteries

Li-Ion CR123 (3.7V, 600mAh) (They don't have the ferrules on both terminals and it is necessary to solder few cables).

But the effect with these batteries is only for few months. After that the message SERVICE THEFT ALARM appears again.

I think the main question is what happens when this message appear in the SID at all. The batteries in the sirren is used to ensure independent power supply in case of disconnecting the main battery of the car.

So if you change the sirren batteries with this ones CR123 or CR123A it is possible the SERVICE THEFT ALARM message appears again but if you try to disconnect the car battery you'll see that sirren will start with no problem.

[Pstone]

Well, I replaced mine yesterday in two 9-5's. The one I used were the Sanyo Laser Lithium CR17335SE (3v) and have 3 prongs. Batterystore.com might ship worldwide? One would have to check with them.

I hope these last over 3 months before the light comes back as they seem to be an exact replacement.

Well I'll report back in 3 mos. if I see the dreaded light. These batteries sure looked like and "exact" replacement! I'm sure if Sanyo also makes the orange ones (these were white) they must be available from some source somewhere.

Anyway time will tell how long before I see the light.

Here are a few tips I found while replacing them. Took me 30 minutes to do each car. Most of that was getting the wheel off and removing the 4 screws and one nut to peel back the inner fender. Two are torx's two are bolts and one at the top middle of the fender was a nut.

The module comes out quickly, one bolt (bottom) and one nut (top). The plug (which is a great design, just like the DI cassette'ss plug) pops off by prying with a screwdriver blade in the middle of the red part of the plug to start it moving and than it's easy to wiggle the red holder the rest of the way and plug pops off.

Both my cars had screws but I was prepared to drill rivets out on the 2001 if needed. I picked up a tube of Permatex clear silicone adhesive sealant #66B. Black would work too but I will use the clear for other projects.
Don't use an epoxy or glue because you may need to open it again later on.

KEEP THE ORANGE JUMPER IN FRONT OF YOU, because I was going so fast on the second car I of course forgot to put the jumper clip back on and sealed the case. Luckily I remembered it just when I started to screw the top nut on as I was putting it back into the fender .

The gasket on one car remained in tact. The gasket on the other one fell apart when I pulled the box apart, lucky I had the sealant to run a bead around the channel when putting it back together.

When desoldering it's helpful to use a thin blade of a screwdriver to light pry between the battery and the board while you are heating each prong on the other side of the board because the side like the two prongs are hard to heat both at the same time but when you heat one you can jump to the other and the solder is still soft until both prongs pop out.

The 2000 car had the batteries glued to the board by a small strip of glue on the bottom of each battery. They still popped off easily though. I did not use any glue to put them back.

Be sure to wiggle the batteries around when done to make sure you don't have a cold solder joint. If there is any movement with a prong, re-solder that one and add a little solder while you heat it back up.

That's it that's all! No lights either car now (for now).

If it appears that only the orange Sanyo's will be the proper batteries to use that can last for 5-7 years maybe we could get a GROUP PURCHASE from members of this and other boards and approach Sanyo for a group purchase of a similar composition battery. They make the exact same 3 prong design that I just bought. They should be able to supply a group purchase of the same OEM composition. Or maybe we could go to another battery company for them to make up batteries for a group purchase?

I plan to keep both cars another 5 years and don't want to replace the batteries every 3 months if these new ones don't last.

[metrognome]

Wow, I wish I had read this thread last night!

I have been preparing to do this repair for probably close to a year. I just bought the batteries about two weeks ago at a local battery store called Batteries Plus. They were an exact match, just a different brand from the stock batteries.

Last night my alarm went off several times for no reason. I had also gotten several "Service Theft Alarm" warnings in the last week. It was time.

I dove in last night without being totally prepared, but here are a few pointers:

1. This is NOT necessarily an easy, quick repair. This repair is NOT really ever intended to be done. The owner's manual says the batteries cannot be replaced. When you take your car to a dealer to have this repair done, they replace the whole siren box, not just the batteries. That's why it costs over $400.

2. My circuit board was VERY difficult to remove because it was glued in several places to one half of the box. I was terrified of breaking the circuit board, so this had to be done very carefully. There was glue on some of the sockets where the screws go in, as well as a liberal amount on the batteries themselves. This glue is very strong and requires being sliced/cut with a long, sharp knife. I used my wife's expensive boning knife to get to the glue on the batteries (don't tell her!).

3. These batteries are high voltage. Be careful. Mine were throwing sparks when I was trying to remove them.

4. Removing the batteries from their contacts on the circuit board was impossible with a soldering iron, and the warnings on the batteries about not soldering directly to them scared me from using the soldering iron at all on the direct contacts. My recommendation is to unsolder the contacts from the back of the circuit board. This is much easier. They will slip right out and slip back in later. When the batteries have been removed from the board, you can pry the contacts off the batteries or possibly go to an electronics or battery shop and have new contacts put in. Mine were extremely bent up when it came time to put everything back toegther, so getting good contact with the batteries was a problem. I may still take my unit apart again and see about having my battery shop reinstall the batteries. My batteries are currently being held in place with a goodly amount of carefully applied fiberglass reinforced tape. It seems to be working so far, but I don't feel good about it.

5. All this took me about three hours.

Apparently I was unlucky, as some descriptions I have read of this procedure (including the one I posted here many months ago) sounded much easier. Apparently all these siren units are not created equal. For example, my battereis did not have three prongs. Think hard about whether this project is something you can do before attempting. Make sure you have the time and the tools needed.

[MI-Roger]

Not to add to your misery, but the correct style (three prong) batteries are available from a supplier just down the road from you in Sanford FL.

Sanford Florida - biggest speed trap in the eastern US.

[metrognome]

No misery here. The batteries I bought were correct. They matched the originals except in color. No prongs in sight on any of them. They look very much like regular flashlight batteries.

That was kind of my point. Not all of these siren boxes are the same. I imagine it varies by model year.

Here are pictures of one of my original batteries. This is the Sanyo CR17335. It has a manufacture date of 98-04. I was incorrect when I previously said the batteries I bought were a different brand from the originals. They are both Sanyos.

[Pstone]

Sorry to hear about your 3 hour experience. In any case, look at it this way, you were being paid $133 an hour to do it

I did two 9-5's and it took me 30 minutes for each car and most of that time was spent taking the wheels off.

The correct Sanyo batteries for my year already came with the 3 prongs attached to the batteries, so there is no danger of overheating the batteries during the soldering process because you only need to touch each contact on the reverse side as you did with the soldering iron and each prong just pops out.

I too read through all of the threads here before I attempted this project and I did not read anywhere that it said you have to solder directly to the batteries. I worried about that too because I hate soldering, since I tend to destroy electronic parts with the excess heat from soldering irons.

But I found the new $20 "cold soldering" irons are the best now for soldering. They heat up in 2 seconds, touch it to the prong and it just pops right out. The only reason I suggested a screwdriver to help pop up the battery from the board is that it's hard to heat two prongs at once to pop up the side that has the two prongs.

Just didn't want your post to scare people away from spending $6.60 each for two batteries or about $13 plus a few bucks for shipping and do it yourself instead of getting ripped off at the dealer for $400 for a new siren module.

IMO, after two cars, I found it a piece of cake to do and I'm not really technically good at this stuff

[93-conv]

hi all, just returning all the help i get ,, for all saab owners in uk i found batteries at http://www.cellpacksolutions.com/Sea...=CR17335SE-C13


hope this helps

[TurboBlix]

i had the local indy replace the siren battery for me - $250 not including labor ($411 including). if you are confident iwth your soldering abilities, definitely give this fix a shot.

[magconpres]

I have gotten the service theft alarm message a few times, and once or twice my alarm went off, but tonight was it.

The alarme kept going off. It would stop after a few minutes, but then go off again. I was able to turn off the motion sensors, and I also pulled fuse 14.

I pulled the alarm module and opened it up. I measure the battery voltage at 2.9/3v. I was hoping it would be something less. Can the batteries still read 3V, but have a problem (i.e., maybe under load?).

I don't think it's too much to replace them and just see what happens, but I'd like some peace of mind knowing I am not just throwing away money.

Will a bad sensor trigger the STA message?

[robw]

Originally Posted by magconpres

Will a bad sensor trigger the STA message?

Yes, you could have a faulty glass break or tilt sensor. Only way to know the cause for certain is to have a mechanic with a Tech II check the codes.

[Alpha]

Wait, wait, and wait.
If I understand correct before few weeks there is a message SERVICE THEFT ALARM on SID. And after that your alarm is being self-triggering. Don't blame the sensors. In 95% of cases the reason for self-triggering of the alarm is not a sensors (tilt sensor, glass brake sensor or door switches). The low siren battery is the most common reason for self-triggering the alarm.

If you go to some service facility you’ll see that there is diagnostic trouble code B1785 in TWICE control module – “Siren. Low Battery”.



Bye for now!

[Pstone]

Originally Posted by magconpres

I have gotten the service theft alarm message a few times, and once or twice my alarm went off, but tonight was it.

The alarme kept going off. It would stop after a few minutes, but then go off again. I was able to turn off the motion sensors, and I also pulled fuse 14.

I pulled the alarm module and opened it up. I measure the battery voltage at 2.9/3v. I was hoping it would be something less. Can the batteries still read 3V, but have a problem (i.e., maybe under load?).

I don't think it's too much to replace them and just see what happens, but I'd like some peace of mind knowing I am not just throwing away money.

Will a bad sensor trigger the STA message?

You don't mention how old your car is? If it's over 3-5 years chances are its the batteries like the poster below suggests. Both my 9-5's 2000 and 2001 were giving "service theft alarm" messages and the 2000 started having the alarm go off at various times on it's own. And after 5 years or so you will need to change them anyway at some point so since you already were proficient enough to pull the module for $20 bucks with shipping you might as well pop in 2 new batteries. To go to a dealer and have them put the Tech II on your car they will probably hit you for $80 or so.

[magconpres]

Originally Posted by Pstone

You don't mention how old your car is? If it's over 3-5 years chances are its the batteries like the poster below suggests. Both my 9-5's 2000 and 2001 were giving "service theft alarm" messages and the 2000 started having the alarm go off at various times on it's own. And after 5 years or so you will need to change them anyway at some point so since you already were proficient enough to pull the module for $20 bucks with shipping you might as well pop in 2 new batteries. To go to a dealer and have them put the Tech II on your car they will probably hit you for $80 or so.

The car is a 1999 model. I went ahead and ordered the batteries. I first tried my local BatteriesPlus store. The guy at the counter said I was the 5th person in the last month to walk in with a Saab siren in my hand. He didn't have the batteries and recommended going on-line.

$20 for batteries is less than having the dealer check the codes, and as you mention, I already have the module removed.

I'll post the results in a few weeks.