Three short honks when powering car on

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by shtinkypuppie, Oct 21, 2012.

  1. shtinkypuppie

    shtinkypuppie Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2008
    41
    2
    0
    Location:
    Torrance, CA
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Howdy,

    109,000 miles into my 2009 Prius with no problems, I'm having an annoying issue with the alarm. Sometimes - about half the time, without any discernible reason - when I power the car on, it gives three rapid, very short honks. I can't relate it doing this to anything - doors can be open or closed, it can have sat for a week or have just been turned off, ect. I have the KARR factory alarm thing installed, but it seems to function normally. Anyone ever seen this before?
     
    #1 shtinkypuppie, Oct 21, 2012
  2. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2005
    29,110
    8,591
    201
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    If it's the actual car horn making the 3 honks sounds to me like it is in the the KARR alarm which was added to the car making the honks.

    Looks somewhere below your steering wheel, above the foot brake perhaps for a little module plug type thing. Push it back in, see if that works. Others in other forum with a KARR alarm dealer added into their car had this issue and that solved it from honking upon starting.
     
    #2 Paradox, Oct 21, 2012
    m.wynn and FioJake like this.
  3. samuraisd

    samuraisd Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2012
    28
    3
    1
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    hmm.... during power on of the car? Not while unlocking the car? meaning the moment you press Power button, it honked 3 times? How did the LED response to that? Was it flashing once, or continue rapid flashes?
     
    #3 samuraisd, Oct 29, 2012
  4. FioJake

    FioJake New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2017
    1
    4
    0
    Location:
    South Carolina
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I wish I had seen this thread earlier. I had the same triple honk on startup on my '08 prius, and no one could figure it out. I had a dealer look at it, as well as a mobile mechanic who claimed to know a lot about alarms. I have the KARR alarm, which I believe was installed at the dealer, and it is integrated with the Toyota keyfob.

    [​IMG]

    As Paradox said, below the steering wheel, around where your knees are, there is a thing with a blue button screwed into the plastic panel (the valet button). It usually blinks a blue light when the alarm has been armed. All that was needed was to plug a little wire (which came loose at some point) back into the valet button, and the problem was solved. I can't believe it was so simple, and no one could figure it out. I'm also thrilled it wasn't more than that, and the issue has been resolved. No more triple honk!
     
    #4 FioJake, Jan 25, 2017
    Autovati, m.wynn, xliderider and 1 other person like this.
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    111,181
    50,611
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    congrats and welcome!(y)
     
    #5 bisco, Jan 25, 2017
  6. Autovati

    Autovati New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2022
    1
    0
    0
    Location:
    Los Angles
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    This worked instantly!! I had kicked the wire out when I pressed on the e-brake.
    Thank you for sharing on here
     
    #6 Autovati, Nov 6, 2022
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)