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How do you shut of a malfunctioning car alarm without the fob that comes with a new jeep?

• I have a '96 jeep grand cherokee ltd that came with a factory alarm. I bought this car one year ago, but didn't get a fob with the car, so i assumed it was either lost or broken. Several weeks ago, the alarm activated in the middle of the night, so i used my key to open the door and start the car , which took care of the problem,until last night. I was leaving my girlfriend's place to go home, and as i unlocked my door ,the alarm went off. This time, i couldn't turn the alarm off by starting the car. It would turn over and immediately shut down, allowing the horn to keep blowing. Naturally our local boys in blue responded as though the world's largest doughnut shop had just opened for business,with everything being free for anyone who could display the best gestapo technique. I was assured by the leader of the pack that jeep did not have an alarm as an option, even though i was showing him the owner's manual that came with the jeep. I opened the hood and one of these brave souls disarmed my system by removing the horn's fuse from within the little black box on the passenger side of the engine compartment. That stopped the noise, but the jeep cannot be started (apparently the alarm is still activated). If i disconnect the battery and then re-connect it will the computer reset itself and allow normal vehicle operation? I would like to have this question answered by either a chrysler technician or an alarm technician, not someone who is just guessing, like myself.

• Answer:

  Here's the deal with the factory alarms: 1. They only arm if you lock the vehicle with the keyfob or the power locks. Lock it up manually, the alarm won't arm. 2. Generally if it's going off when you unlock the door manually, it's because the lock cylinder disarm switch has failed or become disconnected—at that point, all the vehicle knows is that someone's trying to get in with the system armed, and the alarm goes off (including activating the fuel pump kill). The disarm switch is pretty easy to replace, and it's a fairly cheap part. I'd guess if you had it done at the dealer, it would run you an hour of labor on top of the part. If you're comfortable working on your own vehicle, though, it's not bad unless you have fat arms. 3. Any of the lock cylinders will disarm the alarm as long as their disarm switches are working. This may mean you need to unlock the liftgate or the passenger door first. 4. You *cannot* bypass the alarm by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery; the system sees this as an attempt to steal the vehicle, and will activate the alarm and fuel pump kill. If you want to verify what the problem is, once you have the alarm disarmed, turn the key from OFF to ACCESSORY three times. This will put the alarm into diagnostic mode. At that point, turn the key to OFF, get out, and you can test each of the door switches and lock cylinder switches. Open door, wait, it should honk. Close door, wait, it should honk. Turn key to unlock in each cylinder and hold it, it should honk. Intermittent failures aren't uncommon when the lock cylinder switch is either failing or falling off, so try it repeatedly if you get a honk (or don't) the first time you use the key in a door lock. To exit the diagnostic mode when you're done, just go to start the vehicle.