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Immobiliser problems - Golf 1.9 TDI

4275 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  chittychittybangbang, 
knapdaleltd
Our loyal family Golf 1.9 SE TDI has let us down after nine years in our family.

Starting the car - engine runs for upto 2 seconds before shutting itself down with a flashing immobiliser light. We have tried two different keys the emergency plastic job and a real one. Both used to start the car fine a few days ago Because of the age and value of the car (little money - but we want to keep her as she's sound as a pound still).

I suspect a problem with the immobiliser system. We have the SKC and ideally would get the garage to re-code it and check it daignostically. The cost of lifting the car to take to the dealer is about £100 and the garage bill will not be cheap. On balance, it would be best to deactivate the immobiliser and live without it if this is possible. I'll check the forum out and see if someone has advised if this is poss and how it can be done.

Cheers all.

Ian Mac
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chittychittybangbang
Yes but you have to use chip tuning which would be more expensive than having a garage fix it. My suggestion is to see if there is a local place which will scan the codes for free. Many auto parts stores in North America do it for free. Then it will let you know what the problem is. Then fix it. The issue could be in the instrument cluster, ignition coil antenna, or wiring. It doesn't sound like the key. And sometimes leaving the car on for a while with the key in it will reset it.

Good luck and please post a follow up post with any codes or what you decide to do.
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knapdaleltd
Wey-hey! fixed - cost ZERO thanks to your site..

After reading the helpful posts of others, I noticed the advice to try leaving the ignition switched on for a while. I did this for 20 mins and all was back to normal. I came to update my post and noticed that you had suggested exactly this in your reply. Thanks v much for this and the quick response. I hope others find a quick fix too. I just know that this would have cost a shed-load at the garage.

There is a battery charger on it now and maybe a new battery might be a good investment as it has been weakening a bit recently.

Oh, for the old days when mechanical devices were simpler and more fixable (and designed to last too)
- I seem to spend most of my free time doing just this sort of thing rather than living.

Thanks to all - especially yourself.

Ian Mac
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R
Don't you love VW electrics? They've taken the place of Lucas Electrics for most random failures.:panic:
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chittychittybangbang
knapdaleltd said:
Thanks to all - especially yourself.

Ian Mac
Click to expand...
You're welcome! When I glanced at "cost ZERO thanks to your site.."I saw Zero in capitals and thought you were saying zero thanks...:D Any thanks are always appreciated.
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V
I am experiencing the same problem with my 2001 Golf. Turned the ignition on for 20 minutes but no success... A friend made a scan and got 2 errors, one in engine - imobilizer and other in instruments - key. Any ideas?
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chittychittybangbang
Post the exact error code numbers. You could try this: Free EOBD II Error Codes software to figure out what the codes mean.
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