I'll have disconnecting my SAFC-2. I take it temporarily cutting the power wire should work?
With regards to the "time & alarm" control box, I found out what it is. Its the ETACS unit. It seems to control the popup headlights as well the other functions listed here:
http://www.3si.org/wiki/index.php/ETACS
I seriously doubt it is in any way related to our problem as I can't see any inputs to the ECU in the manual. However, with that being said, I'm going to pull the unit and revamp any old caps (if there are any).