Does anyone know if there is a way to have the interior movement sensor work on convertibles when the top is down? It's a great feature - but it would be nice to have it work even the top is down as well. Any suggestions would be welcome!

 

The reason it is 'deactivated' when the top is down and there would be MANY faulse alarms because the system would alarm at movement beyond the car perimiter.
But you car correct it would be WAY nice to leave the top and windows down when we walked away from our convertibles and the motion sensor help protect (ok give us a idea to look for something missing when we hear the horn honking and lights flashing) our interior.
05SDI

 

Actually I was thinking the same thing.The anti theft will work if the windows are down and the top is latched.I was told the interior was not motion senser but a change in interior temp.If so it would seem logical to bypass the latch.

 

The interior sensor is motion sensing not heat..... I have sat in mine with the alarm active and it will not go off untill I move. I would accually like to make mine a little more sensative though.

 

I saw some television show where they showed a convertible motion alarm system. It could differentiate between walking close by and actually reaching inside the vehicle. It would also give a verbal warning before setting the alarm off. I'm thinking it was a BMW system but not sure.

Since the Ford system isn't designed to do that, I bet it would be going off constantly if you disabled the top down check. It probably wouldn't be that hard to do with the wiring diagram. Just look for the top position sensor and short or disable it as needed. I'd (semi-wild) guess it's on one of the hydraulic cylinders behind the rear speakers and runs to the smart junction box behind the passenger side kick panel.

 

I asked my service guy at ford about it and he called the tech and was told that the stock motion sensors can not be adjusted either by sensitivity or direction. I was bummed since mine does'nt seem to work as well as many others have stated theirs did. Even had a new set installed and it still didn't work unless you were up on the sensors which defeats the purpose of them.

 

OK, let me understand this one. You leave you new Mustang parked with the top down and the alarm on and you want the motion sensor to work. Do you make sure the doors are locked when you do this, that should be enough to keep anyone from getting in you car. Never understood anyone leaving a convertible parked with the top down expecting it to be secure. The passive ignition system should be enough to keep someone from taking the car, however they may steal your seats, radio, steering wheel, engine, battery and wheels. Maybe I misunderstood exactly what you were expecting the alarm system to do with the top down.

 

To answer this for me;

It's an issue of putting the top and windows up to keep someone from reaching in and stealing the detector or sun glasses or anything that might be of some value. I don't live in a high crime area but maybe a horn honking might detour some low life thief from taking something that belongs to someone else. If I'm going to be inside or away from our car any lenght of time, YES I'll put the top and windows up and set the alarm but for quick trips it would be cool if the motion sensor armed with the top down.
05SDI

 

Thanks for all of the replies so far. I don't expect the Convertible to be secure with the top down (or really with the top up for that matter). As others have mentioned, it would be nice if someone reached in for the car to detect that motion so the alarm goes off. I don't leave much in the way of valuables in there - my wallet and sunglasses are usually with me - but that doesn't mean someone wont reach in and look through the console or glove compartment to see what you may have. Back in the day, I installed car security systems and used motion detectors on the inside which were adjustable for sensitivity and distance. If you left your windows/sunroof open and someone reached in it would set the alarm off. It would be nice to utilize the factory sensors for the exact same purpose with the top down since they are already there. I like the idea of finding where the top position sensor is and seeing what it would take to bypass or disable it. Anyone with a shop manual want to publish the diagram and I'll work to figure it out.

The alarms I used to install were Maxiguard and Black Widow. I did find this sensor on-line which shows what I'm talking about:
http://www.blackwidowsecurity.com/acc-MAS-6.htm

 

I'm guessing it would be the Convertible top ajar switch
It's located on the passenger side rear behind the kickpanel by the speaker. Here's the diagram.