[s-cars] alarm sounding or caution/warning system alert

[Tom Green]

You should probably say UrS4, Jerry, since many won't know or  
remember, and let's call this
an alert, not an alarm.  I assume by now you have pressed the  
autocheck button to do a light
bulb check on those caution and warnings and also looked at the owners  
manual to refresh
your memory on what lights should show when the key is first turned  
on, and what symbols
light up red (warning) or yellow (caution/advisory).  The buzzer  
mounted on the back of your
instrument panel produces one beep for a yellow caution or 3 beeps for  
a warning signal.

How many beeps you are hearing is significant.

So, are any lights missing?  The most common issue is a burned out  
bulb in the autocheck
or other places on the instrument cluster.

Second issue for 3 beep warning is oil pressure switch.  You have a  
gage also, right?

Third issue is driver's door light switch.  You may have other  
interior light clues, or not.  I have
chosen the drivers door because it is used more often by a ratio of  
100 to 1 on most cars.

Fourth and most useless caution is windshield washer tank level.  Do  
you have an intensive
tank with a fluid level sensor?

Knowing what warnings/cautions to expect can lead you to disconnect  
the sensors one at a
time to see if you find a malfunctioning sensor.

The problem may also be in the instrument panel itself, where  
connectors and/or circuit board
traces or solder points have broken or deteriorated from corrosion.  I  
saved that for last for a
reason.  If you have no problem, you can disable the buzzer.

Tom '95 S6
          '95.5 S6 avant
Knoxville, TN

On Wednesday August 29, 2013, at 1:17 PM,   "Jerry Scott" <jerryscott at wispertel.net 
 > wrote:

> Need help!  I am getting an alarm that comes on after the cars warms  
> up,
> while I am driving.  It sounds like the same alarm as when the radio  
> is on
> and the engine is stopped, with the key in the ignition.  There are no
> warning lights on, and the instrument gauges are all normal.  Any  
> idea what
> this could be?
>
> Jerry