[Luke Plaizier]

Today's rant - Factory Car Alarm.

There was a spec of Mk6 Fiesta released that had some additional features - including a factory car alarm and deadlocking doors. The deadlock feature I'm not too fussed about, but the Alarm feature interests me. So, as we do, I started rummaging through the wiring diagrams and feature descriptions in the Workshop manual to try an understand what it does. And this is what i found.

(1) The GEM. There are 4 models of GEM according to the Workshop Manual, and each type of GEM supports certain features. The models are basially A, B, C and D. Pretty much all XR4's and the 1.6's sold in Australia come with the C GEM - which means all features bar the Alarm and Deadlock doors are available. And yes, this includes Powerfold Mirrors, Auto Lights and Auto Wipers. A and B are for lower poverty spec models sold in the Uk and Europe, I've never seen one of those here (yet). But the D model is basically a C with the addition of the two features in question. We know that every feature in the GEM can be reprogrammed - so you can get an D GEM from any Fiesta or Fusion, LHD or RHD, 3 Door, 5 Door, Van, UAV, Diesel, Petrol Whatever - and you can just reprogram that GEM for your 3 Door RHD Petrol Australian XR4 using Forscan. many of the Ford Fusions made up until 2012 have the D GEM and were sold in Europe, so I've seen a lot of them on ebay uk and ie. The Part number is 4S6T 15K600-DB (or D anything actually). be warned - the sticker on EVERY GEM says 'Control Assembly Remote Control Lock & Alarm' but ONLY the one's ending in D? actually have the Alarm.

(2) The drivers door lock - is a different part number. The Alarm can the set or reset when the drivers door lock is turned by the key. There are 3 extra wires use by the drivers door lock - pins 12, 13 and 14 in the A-Pillar connector, which are otherwise free - Alarm SET, Alarm RESET and DEADLOCK. Given that the alarm can also be activated by the Remote Control, I don't consider this to be an important feature. Drivers Door Lock has FINIS part 1372463 for RH, and 1372470 for LH

(3) Bonnet Latch - also has a different part number. There's a sensor in the Alarm models - plus an extra loom (Part 6S6T-971113-AB) would connect to an extral connector on the Body Loom - that connects to the GEM and detects when the Bonnet is opened. The Part for the latch with alarm is FINIS 1478992.

(4) 2nd tailgate switch - called the ATI Switch, for Alarm Tailgate Inhibit.I think it is an add-on part for the tailgate lock, and changes state when the tailgate lock is turned by a key - so that the normal 'trunk status' switch can be used to trigger the alarm as well as turn on the trunk light. the part for the 2nd Tailgate Switch is FINIS 1041290.

(5) There's an Alarm Line to the factory Radio, so if the Radio is stolen the alarm goes off.

(6) There are 2 x different kinds of alarm siren. One is driven directly by the GEM, so is vulnerable to disconnects of the main battery. The other is a battery backed siren, driven by a different pin on the Gem. I can't really find the parts for these in my references. From an interwebs search, I think the standard siren is shared with the Mk3 Mondeo and is 96BB 13832-AB, and the battery-backed siren is 5S6Y 19G229-AB - but given they are simple 3 pin alarms, the later 19G229 alarms from newer Fiestas are also likely to work.

(7) Body Loom - has additional lines for the Tailgate ATI, the Door, the Radio Security, the Bonnet Latch and the Alarm - all of which you could conceivably do yourself if you had the time and the patience. i wouldn't bother with part numbers, no-one ever seems to sell looms with part numbers on them in Australia. You can find people that do that in the UK, but then good luck finding anyone that ever came with Stabilty Control - that's a bit of a unicorn feature over there.

(8) The interior light - this alarm uses those two infrared sensors to the left and the right of the high specification interior lamps - the kind you find in every European Ford and even in many Ford Rangers. There's a heap of FINIS part numbers that match. For the normal part number you're generally looking for XXXS 15K069-YY. XXXX can by 2S7T or 5S6Y pr 6M5A or whatever.

(9) Roof Loom - to get the extra pins to the infra red sensors on the interior light, extra wires have to be run from the Body Loom up the A-Pillar and into the roof - just like you have to do for the Rain Sensor and Auto Headlights sensor up behind the interior mirror. Actually, I've found the best option for this will be the Ford Fusion high spec roof loom - as you can get it with the Rain Sensor/Light sensor lines PLUS it has some runs to over the rear seats for rear seat passenger interior lights - one on left and right. That model also came with an overhead DVD player which has a separate subloom to the rear right wheel arch to connect into the speakers. That magic loom has part number 6N1T 14335-DD or DE or FINISH codes 1384303 or 1526740. But good luck finding it. And if you do, get one for me!

For the fun of it, the overhead DVD Loom has part number 1384294, and the DVD itself part number from a fusion is 3N11-10E947-AD ....

Have fun!