Door Will NOT lock when alarm is arm

[TX S3]

hey guys, I have not drove much of the car, it has been garage. I ve tried to arm and lock the car, but it will not do it. However, using the key, it will lock/unlock just fine.
Check the fuse and still good. It still has the factory OEM alarm.

[Braymond141]

You have a bad microswitch. Hood, doors, and the trunk all contain a switch. One of them is not closing. Hood is the most common, trunk and then doors.

Get out there and figure out which is bad.

[TX S3]

how do you test them? thanks

[Carpy2]

Does your alarm bwoop at you when you try to arm it? If a door or either the hood or trunk is ajar it should bwoop bwoop bwoop at you. Have you verified the red FOB light comes on when the buttons are pressed? The solder points for the positive terminal on the FOBs go bad over time, so sometimes even a new battery doesn't work. I just recently did this to my FOB and got it working after 5+ years of using the key lol.

If it is annoyingly bwooping at you, then as braymond mentioned it's probably a switch not being actuated, or that has gone bad. Hood sensor getting knocked off (next to windshield fluid reservoir), or the pin to actuate it isn't in the hood anymore, being the most common. The way to test them that I know of is to set your multimeter to continuity and you should get a beeeeeeep when the switch is actuated (depressed). There may be an easier method for the doors, but this is what I did to test my hood actuation switch before realizing I was missing the part on my hood to contact it.

[TX S3]

Does your alarm bwoop at you when you try to arm it? If a door or either the hood or trunk is ajar it should bwoop bwoop bwoop at you. Have you verified the red FOB light comes on when the buttons are pressed? The solder points for the positive terminal on the FOBs go bad over time, so sometimes even a new battery doesn't work. I just recently did this to my FOB and got it working after 5+ years of using the key lol.

If it is annoyingly bwooping at you, then as braymond mentioned it's probably a switch not being actuated, or that has gone bad. Hood sensor getting knocked off (next to windshield fluid reservoir), or the pin to actuate it isn't in the hood anymore, being the most common. The way to test them that I know of is to set your multimeter to continuity and you should get a beeeeeeep when the switch is actuated (depressed). There may be an easier method for the doors, but this is what I did to test my hood actuation switch before realizing I was missing the part on my hood to contact it.

let me check with the hood switch first.

[realjones]

I had a similar problem and it was the hood switch. I ended up just disconnecting it as the alarm system will work fine with the hood switch unplugged.

[TX S3]

You guys are badasses!!! The damn sensor on the hood to be the culprit. I press down the metal contact while the hood is up, hit the alarm and it lock. Great. I put a small rubber piece under the contact point so it will have more room to touch the point. It works!!!! for now.
Saw ECS had a new one OEM for 47 bucks, not sure if I want to get a new one. Anyone knows where the hood alarm switch cheaper?

[das borgen]

You guys are badasses!!! The damn sensor on the hood to be the culprit. I press down the metal contact while the hood is up, hit the alarm and it lock. Great. I put a small rubber piece under the contact point so it will have more room to touch the point. It works!!!! for now.
Saw ECS had a new one OEM for 47 bucks, not sure if I want to get a new one. Anyone knows where the hood alarm switch cheaper?

Steal one from a junkyard car. They're the same across all E36, and apparently shared with E32 and E34, so that's a decent amount of options that would readily be in a junkyard

Part number: 65 75 8 350 549

[Braymond141]

Bend the tab on it so it makes contact with the hood again.