Help / Advice much needed !! PLEASE
 

hey people, ive got a S reg EJ20 impreza.

Have a slight problem with what seems to be the immobiliser, i went to the cash machine turned car off, went to jump in car and drive home car ran and cut out.

Went to restart car and red immobiliser light stays on dash. Car turns over.
Is this a common fault.

Is it a fault with the chip in the key

Is it a fault with the antenna ring on the ignition barrel

Or could it be a fault with the immobiliser ECU.

Help much appreciated

Response
 

Hi All
its been round 3 weeks now since this fault occured and it has not happened since.

I parked close to a tesco store to use the cashpoint and then when i tried to start the car the immobiliser light stayed on which cut the engine out, upon tryin to get the car started for an hour before i then had to get the car recovered to my house at a bloody expensive cost of £85.

I got home unloaded the car and the car started and has everytime since. New keys cost approx £150 including programming by a subaru dealer.

I believe that there was some kind of interferance between the car and they key with no help to TESCO. this could be a one off, but i know of it happens again im goin to need to push the car away from tesco.

has anyone else had any similar faults with immobiliser interferance ??

I believe there has been reports that when parking in certain areas, Tesco carparks in particular there is an issue with the keyfobs working. I had issues locking/unlocking my car when at tescos. I think it is something to do with the mobile phone radio masts the often have there interfering.

Right, before someone piles in and tells you about the Sigma M30 alarm's well known susceptibility to radio interference...

The problem you've had here is, as you probably know, in the factory fit immobiliser system. This is not normally susceptible to outside interference as it works on such short range - the aerial is only an inch away from the transponder in the key.

As such it is most likely a coincidence that your car happened to be outside Tesco's when it happened, or that there was any external cause (or influence). As for what the problem actually was, if you want to find out you'll need to take your car to a Subaru dealer and have them diagnose it with a Select Monitor.

If you diagnose this via the black plugs the CEL will probably give you error 53. However there are actually eight variations on the error which a Select Monitor can differentiate - so whether it was the aerial, the immobiliser ECU, the connection to the main ECU or the key, you should be able to find out. However if it hasn't happened again, fingers crossed it was a one-off.

Edit, b*gg*r, Shmerman got in there while I was typing. ;) Again, to reiterate, the radio interference problem is related to the Sigma alarm becoming unresponsive to the keyfob when attempting to unlock the car. In this case, if the engine starts and then cuts out, with the red key symbol remaining lit on the dash, this almost certainly isn't a Sigma problem it's a Subaru one.

:P

Immobiliser
 

As of yesterday no further reoccurances. But after work the car ran then cut out, i checked the light on the dash and it was staying on. I tried a few times and it was turning over but would not run. I have tried to close the door lock and unlock using the key in the barrel but still would not start I did try approx 20 mins later and still no joy. The car was parked in a open car park and theres no radio masts that i know of. I left the car overnight, have gone back to the car and the car started first time. This is the 3rd time the car has faulted. How do i check the codes using the two black plugs under the dash which you mention. Many Thanks Nick

The wifes ex RAV-4 used to suffer from similar immobiliser interference. A neighbour across the road is a police detective and on 2 occasions came home in a police car and left it parked outside the house. Both these times the RAV-4 wouldnt start. The Toyota guy who came out to sort it out spotted it straight away and reckoned the radio wave frequency from the police radio etc. was interfering with the radio wave on the car key/immobiliser. Don't know how true this is but seems to make sense

immobiliser
 

Yes thanks for your reply i agree with you on that. The first two times the car faulted it happened to be at a supermarket which led me to believe there was some sort of interference. But the 3rd time happened at an usual location where there is no interference and its never happened there before. I only have a standard factory immobilizer fitted and this uses the chip in the key and the receiver around the ignition barrel. I have noticed that when the car does decide to play up the red light continues to flash when the key is in the ign barrel. I am thinking it could either be the chip in the key becoming weak or the receiver getting old ??? i only have one key for the car so cant try using the other to see if it happens again. Will have to keep an eye on it. Many thanks for your previous response. :wonder::wonder::wonder: