In reading about the original sounders, there seems to be a consensus that they fail. Most people just disconnect them or let them fail until they are no longer an irritant.

Has anyone figured out a replacement or made something that can do the job more reliable?

I'd like to at least get some confirmation that my remote key fob locks/unlocks and it would have been nice to get some kind of confirmation when I was programming my key fob tonight. I've run into a couple of situations that audible feedback would have been handy.

How difficult can it be? It seems like the main purpose is to make noise. Ground, power, possibly a line to activate the noise maker through a relay. Wouldn't a Piezo alarm and possibly a relay fit the bill? It may not sense tilt & detect gaseous emissions of the passenger etc, but it would beep.

Does anyone have the pin-out and the purpose of the wires for the OEM? I'd be willing to lay-engineer something if I had the info.

 

First thing to check is the type of sounder you have. Most (all ??) UK and European cars have an "intelligent" sounder which contains rechargeable NiCad batteries which at over 20 years old, are probably totally corroded and useless. Most (??) North American cars have a "passive" sounder which looks the same, uses the same wiring loom and connector, but which doesn't have an internal power supply.

With the steering on full lock, and armed with a torch, you may be able to take off the access panel in the wheel arch on the right-hand side and see what you have got.



If "passive", you could try a straight exchange with a "known-good" one - I got one shipped over to the UK from the US and paid around $20 US for it.
If "intelligent", you can still do a straight exchange, but you then have to re-programme the security system using IDS to recognise the change.