Miata Mailing List: May 1993, Message #101
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   From: (none)
Subject: alarms
   Date: (none)

HI Folks-
	A while back I (and someone else) mentioned that we had problems in
heavy rains and our Alpine alarms falsing. When I washed my car this week I
took it upon my self to try to find the problem, and I did! Seems the hood
switch gets wet and shorts out. The switch is a simple plunger type (completes
ground loop when hood opens) and mounts where the row of bolts holds the
fender to the car. The installing dealer in MD saud to try to pack the switch
with Lithium grease and see if that works. I'm wondering if anyone else has
suggestions on how to waterproof the switch (including availability of a
waterproof switch). The dealer in MD said we could switch to a mercury switch
mounted on the hood itself, but I'm concerned the switch would also act as a
motion detector and go off any time the car rocked. The dealer here in WI won't
touch the car under warranty because they didn't do the installation, they will
be happy to charge me money to work on it (I think they came from the same
place as some these auto dealers we have problems with!).  Anywho, I welcome
any and all thoughts and comments.
-amp-