Annoying intermittent immobiliser fault

[CupraRobX]

For about the last 4 months i've had the most rediculously annoying intermittent immobiliser fault with my car.

The car normally starts first time, but if i then stop the car then try and start it (say for instance when getting diesel) the immobiliser cuts in and the car wont start. Sometimes, i can bash the dashboard just above the rev-counter and it works, and the car will start - but thats prob once in every 100 trys (so may be co-incendence). I just have to sit there like a muppet and keep turning the key till it works.

I thought maybe it was the key, but it does the same thing with all the spare ones as well. I did have a stealers look at it, and they said it was the pick-up coil on the key barrel - which they changed - but to no avail!!!

Now they tell me that it's the dash panel insert, which in normal talk it everything you see in front of you with a gauge!!! Its gonna cost about £450 to fix (plus the £180 it cost to have them change a non-faulty pick-up coil!!).

Has anybody else heard of any fault like this??? Nobody seems to have any answers at any dealers and VAG garages!! Even my mate who owns a garage had never heard of it and he specialises in VAG diesels!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!

 

[rashcupra]

ive never heard of this problem try a search if it doesnt help maybe going to a indipendant garage will keep the costs down hope it gets sorted soon mate

oh and welcome to the site

 

[yellowperil]

Please drop me a pm with your cars details i might have an answer

 

[goble]

either a key problem or dash panel insert problem

 

[Nath.]

get all of the keys deleted from the cars ECU memory then re program both of your keys

the stealers should be able to do this very quickley as long as they have both keys

 

[CupraRobX]

Thanks for the replies guys! I'm sure that they've already looked at the keys but weren't too interested in me phoning and telling them their job!! I even tried to tell them the ECU diagnostic codes from my 'garage' mates Sykes-Pickavant hand-held doobry but didn't want to know. Unfortunately, a cleaner threw away the bit of paper that had the two fault codes on it as well or i could have posted them here! One described an intermittent low signal from the key and the other was intermittent block on the ecu. I would understand if it was one key that it did it with but its both. I think i'm resigned to the fact that i have to stump up the reddies to pay but don't want too!!

Yellowperil, being a newbie, how do i PM you??!

 

[Guinness]

cant till u get posts lol clock up 10 I think

 

[yellowperilibiz]

Hi. I am having exactly the same problem with my ibiza tdi sport. I Have just had the pick up coils replaced but surprise surprise, that didn't work. Did you get yours resolved?
Bev

 

[CupraRobX]

Bev, I also had to fork out £180 for the stealers to tell me it wasnt the pick-up coils. I now know it was the dash-panel insert and its about £450 to fix. Problem is, i dont actually know the final cost cuz they cocked the first fix up and corrupted the mileage to make it read 499,999 so they have my car for a second time which i collect today.

I'm not pleased cuz its cost me half a days worth of holiday, and they still have the cheek to want to charge me a second time for the loan car and the petrol. Last time it was in, when i got back in the car, the test driver had gone thru all the door pockets and glove box to find a cd he wanted to listen to, and left cd's strewn everywhere Not pleased!!!

I'm gonna try and get discount today but not sure how far i'm gonna get!

 

[Ant FR]

You could always get a second hand one off ebay, there are a few on there, and then recode the keys to that, trouble is the milage will be different.

I remember this happened when i tried to use the Tdi Sport clocks in my FR, would turn over but not run so i gave up.

Other thing you lot should try more, and i know the Mini guys do this and BMW are very very helpful usually, ie if yiou can show that its a common fault, ie show them this thread then get the dealer to put in a good will claim, as it is a component failure and not wear and tear, the dash should'nt just stop working like that. I bet you will get some sort of assistance with the costs.

 

[dave99]

mine is have the dash replaced today for exactly the same fault (they also replaced the barrel first which didnt work - they seemed to suggest they will refit the original barrel and adjust the bill but we'll see later on...)

Oh - will the dealer let me keep the dash insert they are replacing? The price of the new one doesnt include returning the old one for refurb or anything does it?

 

[CupraRobX]

Tell me how much you pay when you get the bill because the first time (for the barrel) it cost £180, then third time round (as above - second time round they cocked up the fitting of the dash panel) about £450. I kicked off big-time and got them to give discount on the labour, but they wouldnt refund the barrel costs and wouldnt budge on the part cost either. I (eventually) got them to waiver the cost of the lease car and the two tanks of petrol i used in them. Seat wouldnt even meet half the cost of the parts with a goodwill gesture as the car is 02 and out of warrenty. I tried the whole 'its a non-wear and tear part and should never have broken the the first place' route but they wouldnt budge. Even tho i said i had evidence that it wasnt an isolated case. The bitches at Seat Sidlow wouldnt even admit that they broke my passenger door, when clearly i had two working doors to start with then one after.it was given back to me. That extra cost set me back about £120

 

[dave99]

I got a call off them this afternoon to say its all working fine now, but theres a problem...when they set the mileage their "machine" got it wrong and converted the number of miles to km - looks like I have done 93k instead of 58k. So it will have to go in again at a later date to have a new speedo put in (under warranty) - amazing

 

[CupraRobX]

Thats funny, Seat Sidlow did exactly the same thing to mine!!! Except mine went in with 49,000 miles and came out with 499,999 miles!!!!! They had to replace the dash insert for a second time 3 weeks later (only time i could get a lease car from them). They gave me a Peugeot 1007 - probably the most pointless car in the world......ever. Its a mini mpv with zero point in being an mpv. The only redeeming factor is cool for about 5 mins - the remote operated slidey doors. Cool if you remember - crap if its raining hard and you forget - like it did!!!!

 

[keirravn]

hey i have been having the same immob probs on my 52 leon cupra r, today i stripped the instrument panel down and re soldered the pins, il let you know in the next couple of weeks if this has worked, also if anyone else is having/still having this immobilser problem then check out this thread - =199145&page=2
(wont let this newbie post a link lol)

 

[keirravn]

yep that seems to have worked ok for me ^

 

[philsip]

STOP EVERYTHING

mine started do this a year ago, ocassionally it would start and turn off instantly, but unlocking the steering column and pushing it in fast and back out would sort it! i checked the wiring loom going into the barrel and found the contact that goes into the reader coil which picks up the magnet field that the key makes was half way out! i cable tired the barrel tight to the frame so no movement was possible, as instrusted by my fello colleges in my work place( audi dealership) which cured it instantly for a month! then it started doing it again! check the wiring again and found when i shaked the wiring going to the barrel it would fix it! so i cut the section of wiring out and rewired it using crimps and heat shrinks! then the car started straight away! 2 months on and its not done it again!


try this out first and relay it back before forking out vast somes of money

 

[gaffer1986]

Hello
I am new to this website and have been delighted with the amount of information there is on this immobiliser issue.
My story....... i have a Seat Ibiza Sport TDI 130 that has exactly the same immobiliser fault as above. I went to a SEAT dealership in colchester, essex and they said i needed a new ECU for £1200.

Shocked i went to two independant garages (inc ecu-testing) both of which told me my ECU was fine.

Before i fork out for a new dash insert (seedo, etc) i would like to try philsip's way.

Can anyone tell me how to remove the bottom section of the plastic surround for the steering column?
Also, where is the wire that takes the signal from the reader coil to the dash panel? When I take the top section of the steering column surround off i can see a single wire connecting to the ignition barrel and a pink plug on the end of ignition barrel furthest from the key.

Thankyou for reading my post and i appreciate any advice i can get.

 

[the_fbi]

Its also worth checking the multiway connector which goes into the back of the dash panel. The top row of pins can "pull" out slightly even with the latching connector firmly in place.

Either take off the fuse box cover (the one on the end of the dashboard which you can only get at with the drivers door open) then look at the back of the cluster, unclip the connector (there's a small hidden latch half way up which you need to press in the let the locking lever go upwards to release the connector) and then reseat it.

Or, once you've been here and know where you're looking/feeling, then you can do the same through the small coin cubby (where the ODB socket is) if you remove the cubby door (which just slides out).

After having my dash out to look at the temp sender/fuel sender issue, I managed to create the immobiliser issue but it was easily fixed by seating properly.

 

[Martin_FR]

I had a problem similar to this, but all my electrics went dead when I went to try and start it and would only start after leaving it 5 mins

Got booked into SEAT under warranty, and turns out one of the battery terminals was so loose you could pull it off easily by hand. I never though of checking the battery, but thne it was only an intermittent fault and happened 3 times in a month and a half, and also id never touched the battery in the 8 months of owning the car