Trunk opens spontaneously / alarm sounds

bhorn

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This morning when I went out to my car and the trunk was open. I figured I possibly pushed the button accidentally. But the trunk has popped open by itself (keys sitting on my desk) four times now, and the alarm sounds each time.

Called the dealership service dept. and I have an appointment for tomorrow morning.
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Bworks3

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Is the car locked up in your garage when this happens? Any chance it was someone trying to grab your electronic code?

Here's a story from Snopes about that sort of thing.

"I locked my car. As I walked away I heard my car door unlock. I went back and locked my car again three times. Each time, as soon as I started to walk away, I would hear it unlock again!! Naturally alarmed, I looked around and there were two guys sitting in a car in the fire lane next to the store. They were obviously watching me intently, and there was no doubt they were somehow involved in this very weird situation . I quickly chucked the errand I was on, jumped in my car and sped away. I went straight to the police station, told them what had happened, and found out I was part of a new, and very successful, scheme being used to gain entry into cars. Two weeks later, my friend's son had a similar happening..."

"The police officer said to be sure to manually lock your car door by hitting the lock button inside the car. That way if there is someone sitting in a parking lot watching for their next victim it will not be you.

When you hit the lock button on your car upon exiting it does not send the security code, but if you walk away and use the door lock on your key chain, it sends the code thru the airwaves where it can be intercepted."
 
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bhorn

bhorn

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Hmmm... I doubt that. I live in the woods. Closest neighbor is about 100 yds away.

The one thing that is different is we had our first rain storm since I've had the car. I wonder if the trunk pop mechanism got wet and was opening the trunk. It did it one more time after I posted, but it hasn't done it again since the rain stopped.
 

2006civic

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Not a good thing if your trunk can't handle a rainstorm. Hope this is not a common problem on this car...what a pain. Also, it could drain your battery if there's a trunk light.
 
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bhorn

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Back from the dealer with no resolution. They were unable to reproduce / see it happen.
 


RedTouringMA

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Do you have a cat or dog that could have been messing with the smart key?
 
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bhorn

bhorn

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Do you have a cat or dog that could have been messing with the smart key?
Both key fobs were sitting on the desk in front of me when this happened. Repeatedly. Also, the alarm went off. So if it was just something hitting the trunk button, the alarm should not have gone off.
 

RedTouringMA

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Both key fobs were sitting on the desk in front of me when this happened. Repeatedly. Also, the alarm went off. So if it was just something hitting the trunk button, the alarm should not have gone off.
Wow that is odd
 


dick w

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My first thought was a binding latch that wasn't completely closing when it should have been. Maybe a little use has spread the lubricant or ground off a burr or similar? The alarm is my key diagnostic.
 
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bhorn

bhorn

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My first thought was a binding latch that wasn't completely closing when it should have been. Maybe a little use has spread the lubricant or ground off a burr or similar? The alarm is my key diagnostic.
Yeah, it hasn't happened again, and we have gotten plenty of rain recently. I will certainly update here if it does occur again.
 

Gt1948

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This morning when I went out to my car and the trunk was open. I figured I possibly pushed the button accidentally. But the trunk has popped open by itself (keys sitting on my desk) four times now, and the alarm sounds each time.

Called the dealership service dept. and I have an appointment for tomorrow morning.
happened to me this morning for the first time.... will watch that one for sure
 

Aetheric Continua

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A little off topic but I've been wondering something: If a car's alarm goes off does it eventually turn off by itself? I'd imagine if this happened while at work it'd be terribly annoying for the ~8 hours it's sitting out there.
 
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bhorn

bhorn

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A little off topic but I've been wondering something: If a car's alarm goes off does it eventually turn off by itself? I'd imagine if this happened while at work it'd be terribly annoying for the ~8 hours it's sitting out there.
I believe I read in the manual that the alarm will only sound for 10 minutes and then rearm itself.
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