blue_cheese · Thursday at 16:55

Hi all,

My 1999 has finally passed its MOT! But the garage said they can't start the car anymore. Dashboard says engine disabled. Was working yesterday, but not today. Dash and radio still light up, so don't think it's a flat battery.

I've encountered this before, and I just locked and unlocked the car with the Keyfob to sort it.

Just been down to the garage, and the Keyfob isn't responding. I also can't do the EKA procedure because of the broken lock barrell in the driver's door.

This is what I've tried

- Change Keyfob battery
- Disconnect antenna from RF receiver
- Connect booster pack

No luck so far. Any ideas what to try next?

Keyfob:

kermit_rr · Thursday at 17:08

Oh dear.
Does the fob have an LED to tell you it's working?
I can only think you can do eka by taking the door card off and manually connecting the the relevent wires to simulate the barrel turning.
I don't know which are the correct wires

Datatek · Thursday at 17:10

blue_cheese said:
Hi all,

My 1999 has finally passed its MOT! But the garage said they can't start the car anymore. Dashboard says engine disabled. Was working yesterday, but not today. Dash and radio still light up, so don't think it's a flat battery.

I've encountered this before, and I just locked and unlocked the car with the Keyfob to sort it.

Just been down to the garage, and the Keyfob isn't responding. I also can't do the EKA procedure because of the broken lock barrell in the driver's door.

This is what I've tried

- Change Keyfob battery
- Disconnect antenna from RF receiver
- Connect booster pack

No luck so far. Any ideas what to try next?

Keyfob:
View attachment 342083

EKA will do you no good if the dash is not asking for EKA.
You could try pushing the car up the road a bit as there may be RF interference blocking the FOB operation. Check the car battery voltage. The engine disabled message is an alarm function, it can be reset as you have found by a lock unlock cycle either with the FOB or the key, you are playing a dangerous game if the drivers door lock is not working as there is no way out if the FOB doesn't work. With the aerial disconnected, the FOB will need to be right up close to the rear drivers side window to work.
With the door card off. it's possible to do a lock unlock cycle either by manipulating the mechanism or using a jumper wire(s), a how to has been posted not so long ago.

blue_cheese · Thursday at 17:27

Datatek said:
EKA will do you no good if the dash is not asking for EKA.
You could try pushing the car up the road a bit as there may be RF interference blocking the FOB operation. Check the car battery voltage. The engine disabled message is an alarm function, it can be reset as you have found by a lock unlock cycle either with the FOB or the key, you are playing a dangerous game if the drivers door lock is not working as there is no way out if the FOB doesn't work. With the aerial disconnected, the FOB will need to be right up close to the rear drivers side window to work.
With the door card off. it's possible to do a lock unlock cycle either by manipulating the mechanism or using a jumper wire(s), a how to has been posted not so long ago.

Problem with pushing is there's a few ramps to overcome, and the guys at the garage were quite busy with other cars so I don't think they'd be too happy about spending time on mine now that I've paid the bill.

I held the key fob right up to the RF receiver box after disconnecting the antenna, and got nothing from it.
Garage said they would arrange transport of the car tomorrow, so I'll ask them to try the fob again after they get the car out of the warehouse and on to the road.

Not sure what's happened in the past, but the lock cylinder doesn't rotate at all, so it's either the wrong key blade or just jammed.

Oh dear.
Does the fob have an LED to tell you it's working?
I can only think you can do eka by taking the door card off and manually connecting the the relevent wires to simulate the barrel turning.
I don't know which are the correct wires

Annoyingly, the key fob has no LED on it. So that could also be a point of failure.

norseman · Thursday at 17:31

kermit_rr said:
Oh dear.
Does the fob have an LED to tell you it's working?

Not always, both the fobs with my old BM have non functioning LED's but still work fine, especially after renewing the rubber cover that incorporates the lock/unlock/boot symbols.

Datatek · Thursday at 17:40

blue_cheese said:
Problem with pushing is there's a few ramps to overcome, and the guys at the garage were quite busy with other cars so I don't think they'd be too happy about spending time on mine now that I've paid the bill.

I held the key fob right up to the RF receiver box after disconnecting the antenna, and got nothing from it.
Garage said they would arrange transport of the car tomorrow, so I'll ask them to try the fob again after they get the car out of the warehouse and on to the road.

Not sure what's happened in the past, but the lock cylinder doesn't rotate at all, so it's either the wrong key blade or just jammed.

Annoyingly, the key fob has no LED on it. So that could also be a point of failure.

You do like to live dangerously

blue_cheese · Thursday at 17:42

Datatek said:
You do like to live dangerously

I don't live this way by choice, this car has a to do list from here to the moon that I'm slowly tackling

Datatek · Thursday at 17:48

blue_cheese said:
I don't live this way by choice, this car has a to do list from here to the moon that I'm slowly tackling

Aye, but a dodgy FOB and no door lock alternative is not something for a "to do" list, it's something that needs sorting before the car moves again or you could end up in deep shyte miles from home.

kermit_rr · Thursday at 19:30

The ideal would have been to disable the immobilizer and eka before having this problem

Datatek · Thursday at 19:36

kermit_rr said:
The ideal would have been to disable the immobilizer and eka before having this problem

That would not stop this particular problem I'm afraid.

kermit_rr · Thursday at 19:40

Datatek said:
That would not stop this particular problem I'm afraid.

Ah i thought it was the immobilizer that put the engine disabled message up

marjon · Thursday at 19:45

Before they bring it home can you open a window?
If so do it, before you have to ask how to break into a P38.

J

marjon · Thursday at 20:14

kermit_rr said:
The ideal would have been to disable the immobilizer and eka before having this problem

Personally I have not understood this.

Datatek said:
That would not stop this particular problem I'm afraid.

kermit_rr said:
Ah i thought it was the immobilizer that put the engine disabled message up

The engine immobilisation is a function of mismatched signals from fob/latch to BECM and ECU.
I understand the switching off of the immobiliser function just stops the alarm going off.
Switching the EKA off has never made sense to me, as it’s a get out of jail card. Yet it’s turned off and you are stuck.
So I have still to get my head around the reasons.

2working fobs, a key blade (1at least) and working latches, is all you need. Now that doesn’t account for bodged/badly maintained cars that our now members are trying to fix and learn.

my thoughts are of no help to the thread but maybe I should learn the reason.

J

kermit_rr · Thursday at 20:24

marjon said:
I understand the switching off of the immobiliser function just stops the alarm going off.

That's a different setting, i just checked.. in nano, you can set immobilizer enabled/disabled and separately, alarm enabled/disabled

kermit_rr · Thursday at 20:26

kermit_rr said:
That's a different setting, i just checked.. in nano, you can dry immobilizer enabled/disabled and separately, alarm enabled/disabled

Sorry just thought, the above is for petrol but assume diesel too as it's set in the becm which i understand is the same for both?

blue_cheese · Thursday at 21:10

Luckily there's no risk of getting locked out because the driver's door has never locked properly. I've also got one of those inflatable cushions and a metal hanger just in case

Ideally I'd like to get a new lock barrel and key (flip preferably) made, is this a dealer only job?

kermit_rr · Thursday at 21:32

The dealer can get you a key, but i think the place in north Wales can do new fobs too now. Not sure. Also can't remember the name of the place and i can't find it in emails

brianp38dse · Thursday at 22:07

Less edwards, classic rides north wales is the other place for keys, your key looks like one of his replacements.

Datatek · Friday at 07:43

marjon said:
Personally I have not understood this.

The engine immobilisation is a function of mismatched signals from fob/latch to BECM and ECU.
I understand the switching off of the immobiliser function just stops the alarm going off.
Switching the EKA off has never made sense to me, as it’s a get out of jail card. Yet it’s turned off and you are stuck.
So I have still to get my head around the reasons.

2working fobs, a key blade (1at least) and working latches, is all you need. Now that doesn’t account for bodged/badly maintained cars that our now members are trying to fix and learn.

my thoughts are of no help to the thread but maybe I should learn the reason.

J

I don't have time now but this evening I will explain, but for the moment let me say that the alarm ad immobiliser are 2 separate but linked systems.

blue_cheese · Friday at 12:03

Update:

They pushed the car out of the garage and it started to behave normally again. Keyfob works and engine starts. Perhaps an issue with RF interference.
It's now sitting pretty on my drive

I'll have to check if I have the updated RF receiver fitted, and buy one if not.

Well-Known Member

Very

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Very

Well-Known Member

Very

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Very

Very

Well-Known Member

Very

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Similar threads