Freelander 1 Immobilizer. Issue. Run away or worth trying

Okay. Have a 3 door Freelander one facelift. Lost thw keys, land rover no longer supply replacement, and went through hell taking out dash, replacing control units and full set of locks.

Was looking for a doner, and come across a lovely black 3 door. Seller states...wont start, immobilizer issue. She turns over when taking power directly to the starter motor. Otherwise nothing. Not even a starter click.

Am i looking at the same **** as I had to do with mine, (if so, meaning i will only be stripping her for parts). Or if i have the key etc, is there another way of fixing the immobilizer?. She has off road tyres, lifting kit fitted, and generally good order. Liked the idea of getting her going for off roading fun. And for spares if anything major calved in my main squeeze.

Hi,

There is chances that you will end with 2 puzzled non starting cars.

With a keybarrel is sometimes possible to make a new key.

If you don't have the key chip. That is the small black chip held in the actual key head. Not the remote, that is different, then the vehicle will not turn over at all.

You would need a matching chip, immobiliser ecu and engine ecu as you found out!

Cutting the key is only half of the solution.

My son got his local (Bedford) car key expert to make new keys & fob for his 2004 facelift, so it is possible. No idea what kit he used though. Will ask my son to check.

New key is easier if you have 1 key already. If no keys then it is apparently possible but again, immobiliser ecu has to come out.

Unless you have found a genius ??

He had one working key, but no Fob. We had to replace the door lock, but re-used the original barrel.

The hard part was getting the doors unlocked to access it. I did it via the engine bay (usual bonnet catch tricks), and used diagnostics from there to open all the doors.

Yes OK.. so one working key gives you a transponder chip to clone.

No keys at all is much much harder !!

Thanks All. There is a Key and remote fob with the car, Key fits barrel, and turns, does the doors as well. Lights on dash come on, but she wont turn over. Key in ignition and take power directly to starter, she will turn over, but not start.

So, if I have the key, and the above happens, how hard is it to fix the immobilizer with the correct key/chip, or is it the same journey to hell as having no key at all.

Locally, no one, (not even land rover main dealers) can get a duplicate key made or ordered up. (Basing that on not having an original and my last experiences)

But if it is the immobilizer is it likely to be The key (chip) or the actual immobilizer.?

The immobiliser is not reading the key chip.

So it could be immobiliser.
Could be key chip.
Could be a simple fault and be the chip reader which is the coil around the ignition switch keyhole.

No way of telling I am afraid.

The key chip not only enables the starter solenoid but also sends a matching code to the engine ecu in order to make engine run.

We keep going round in circles with these immobiliser/locking issues.

This needs to be a sticky or in the technical archive...

A thread most informative

How exciting, a sticky thread by me !! Maybe, just maybe, I'll soon be one of the grown ups !

Still can't copy chips though !!!

Contact local specialists. My son’s mate use an Autel IM608. Apparently only genuine one work and is not cheap. £2500 for unit and £800 per year subscription.

There’s copies but they either fail quickly or simply don’t work.

Thanks, but im still no further forward.. looks lije thus ine is parts. The whol strip it all out and refit, one in a lifetime is enough for me..

I will rry checking the receiver at ignition, but thats just a chance it might be that.

GrumpyGel said:

We keep going round in circles with these immobiliser/locking issues.

Click to expand...

i almost started a thread " why does the cab immobiliser fail ? "
i.e. i'd like to know the answer.
mine started to 'eff up after i'd disconnected the battery numerous times,
whilst doing work on engine.
at some point, both fobs [new batteries] refused to sync up.
so then i were just using the key .. fobs were useless.
it sort of deteriorated over some months.

hd3 said:

i almost started a thread " why does the cab immobiliser fail ? "
i.e. i'd like to know the answer.
mine started to 'eff up after i'd disconnected the battery numerous times,
whilst doing work on engine.
at some point, both fobs [new batteries] refused to sync up.
so then i were just using the key .. fobs were useless.
it sort of deteriorated over some months.

Click to expand...

The topic is obviously quite a bit more expansive than just what can and can't be programmed!

Thanks,but its not the fob issue, its the chip not being detected to allow the key to syart the car.