Hello All,

Does anyone know how much Skoda charge to replace the immobiliser?

The reason I ask this question is that I have recently had trouble starting my car on numerous occasions.

When the car fails to start the Immobiliser indicator on the dashboard flashes as I attempt to start the car. Eventually the car does start and I'm able to drive away.

I took the car to my local independant garage who has access to some enginemanagement coding equipment. He said that the reading(s) he obtained from the engine management system indicates that the system is sending a code out to force the engine not to start, and this may indicate a problem with the immobiliser, the coded key or something else.

He advises that I take the car to a Skoda dealer to get it checked out. I will do this but thought I would ask if anyone on this list has had similar problems?

Best Regards,

PAO72

do you have 2 keys ?

if yes, when you go out to the car to start it, make sure you have both with you, if the immo light flashes with the first key, try the second key, if it still flashes, then you have ruled out a key fault

its a pity you haven't got the fault code print off

The faults will almost certainly be:

17978 - Engine Start Blocked by Immobilizer

01176 - Key

07-10 - Signal to Low - Intermittent

It could be the key (unlikely), reader coil on the ignition barrel (unlikely), wiring to the instrument cluster from the reader coil (likely) or instrument cluster itself (quite likely).

We have replaced clusters for many cars with similar faults, as we have to ability to fit second hand clusters to cars rather than having to pay hundreds for a brand new one.

Let me know if we can be of help.

if the engine starts eventually it's not likely to be a coding problem, more likely to be a duff reader coil as said above

Hello again,

Thanks for your quick responses.

I have just picked my car up from the independant garage and can confirm the following fault codes:

17978 - Engine ECU blocked intermittant

P1570

Does the P1570 mean anything to anyone?

Best Regards,

PAO72

it's the same thing. one of the codes is a vag proprietary number system, and iirc the other is a generic obd code but they both refer to the same fault

And indeed the code that I predicted.. the problem is that it doesn't actually tell you any more than you already knew - your engine won't start because the immobiliser is activating.

This time last year my Skoda Fabia (52 plate) did the same thing. Went to a Skoda dealer who charged me £600 for a new ignition switch. This seemed to do the trick for a year, but now its doing it again.

Its weird in that it seems heat related. First thing in the morning, its fine, but lunchtime or evenings, it won't start and as above, the immobiliser light just comes on. Eventually it will start, but I haven't worked out what 'fixes' it.

Shark_90 - would be interested in your replacement cluster solution.

Its weird in that it seems heat related. First thing in the morning, its fine, but lunchtime or evenings, it won't start and as above, the immobiliser light just comes on. Eventually it will start, but I haven't worked out what 'fixes' it.

I have experienced the exact same problem! When its cool, no problem, but in the recent heat wave we've just had, the engine would fire up, rev to about 1300rpm, then smoothly slow down till it stalled...

On attempting to fire up again, the orange immobiliser light flashed on the dash, sometimes with the battery light, and wouldn't start... However if you leave the keys in the ignition, then try again in 30 seconds... its fine!!!!

Any ideas? :/

Edited 3 June, 201214 yr by t_j

I've had exactly the same symptoms as you guys except tonight the car just wouldn't physically start, mines paired with the flashing glow plug light!

Shark_90 you have a pm

I am currently facing the same problem. I've replaced the ignition barrel, bought new set of keys and re-coded the keys, wiring checked, still no solution. The only thing I am yet to try is to change the dash panel I'm told cost £500.

Can anyone help to get a second hand one because I have no intention to buy a new one for my 2002 fabia 1.4 mpi 8v

To follow this topic up, had to do a 500mile round trip recently during which the battery got a good charge. Seems to have been the root cause of everything, a simple £50 fix!!!

Everything seems fine now!

Edited 13 June, 201214 yr by t_j

We've had the same problem today, though ours will not start first time when hot its a pig .

Has anyone found the answer the cars not worth spending £500 or more.

Spoke too soon, the brief hot spell... happened again :/

It definitely seems to be heat related... Any solutions anyone?

Probable cause for DTC 17978 is

• incorrect or damaged key.
  
• incorrectly coded
  
• ECM/immobilser replacement without coding
  
• wiring
  
• immobiliser defective.
  

SN

Probable cause for DTC 17978 is

• incorrect or damaged key.
  
• incorrectly coded
  
• ECM/immobilser replacement without coding
  
• wiring
  
• immobiliser defective.
  

SN

Hmmmm I cant see any evidence of the ignition barrel being changed, so I believe both keys I have are original...

Either way sounds expensive to fix...

Hi Everyone,

Add another person to list of this happening too. My 2002 Fabia 1.4 MPI has started doing what is described above. Has anyone been able to resolve the issue? Shark_90... IM for more info please?

Cheers

George

Hi ive been looking online for days about this topic. cant find any solution my estate diesel keeps doing the same, fortunately enough i had the 4 digit code to log in so it started. is this the keys code? i was told by lookers its around 900pound to replace clocks but i wont be paying that. tried to see if i can get a new receiver ring on ignition but i believe its fixed to it. Ive found that when parking up if i put some right steering and let steering wheel lock secure wheel it helps, call it crazy but with out it im logging in to dash. how do you get to the clocks to check the wires arent the fault (bad connection)

Hi

 

Does anyone have a solution to this?

My Fabia 1.9 sdi has the classic fault: immobiliser prevents car from starting.

 

I had some little wiring harness in/near the ignition lock replaced, and then the key reader & barrel. I now have a new key to start it.  Changing the wiring harness didnt work, the problem returned after a month ot two. Changing the reader + barrel seemed to do the trick; solid starting for months.  Then yesterday it failed to start after I cut the engine in a traffic queue. The total cost of my very good local garage has been ££££s.

 

I think the next stage is a binnacle swap? But thats too much, in every sense.

 

Is there an alternative - some kind of emergency PIN code? Or bypassing the immobiliser with a switch or something? I may be dreaming here ......

 

My Fabia has been fab - I've had it for years & only got 85000 on it. I'd hate to pass it on to some poor soul who drives it for weeks then has the same problem.

 

What are my options? What is the solution?  

thanks AJ

Solutions are all above, the only thing that hasn't been mentioned is disabling the immo all together, this has security and insurance implications but having seen someone demo the stand alone kit to disable the immo in under 2 minutes it's not exactly hard to see why it's a lot less effective than we'd like to think.

Edited 25 April, 201412 yr by Avalon

_{My wife's car seems to have this issue, as it wouldn't start and the warning light was flashing in the cluster. Tried both keys and still non start. So seems like immobiliser issue.}

 

_{Looked in the Handbook and on Page 58 (2002 Fabia 1.4) it mentions about enetring a four digit code which is obtained by 'scratching the key fob'??}

 

_{Anyone know how to get hold of this code from the fob?}

 

_Thanks.

Edited 17 September, 201411 yr by Robe49

you don't get the code from the key fob! They came with a plastic tag when new that has the codes on it. Most of them get thrown away or lost. So if you haven't got it then the only way to get the code is plug VAG software into it & read it from the cluster or ECU

I have seen this on a couple different forums perhaps it can be of help to someone  these are both copy and pasted from different sites

 

I mailed earlier but it seems to have disappeared, so here goes again.

The fact that your car starts from the key and the fact that you've had a new key coded to the vehicle that hasn't rectified the problem indicates to me that the keys are OK.

The immobilisor system generally consists of a key, a reader coil, and an immobisor control unit that is contained within the instrument cluster.

The fact that the car does start confirms that the code contained within the key is good, so the problem must lie elsewhere. The Volkswagen group do have issues with instrument clusters but before that avenue is taken the reader coil wiring and instrument cluster wiring must first be checked for poor connections, high resistances etc.

The instrument cluster being part of the anti theft device is an expensive job, around the £500 mark, this would involve replacing the unit and recoding it to the vehicle and then recoding the keys to the vehicle. A lot of computer work.

If the immobilizer is just lazy (slow to read the key code) then leaving the key in the ignition with the ignition lights left on for a while (10 mins+) may allow it more time to switch off the immobilizer.

The first place to go would be to get the fault codes read out from the instrument cluster, this would just confirm an immobilizer issue though, weak key signal, no key signal etc.

I hope this helps, please let me know

 

Fixing the immobiliser on a Skoda Octavia mark 1 

Hi all,
Not asking for help, just posting some advice on how I fixed Tash\'s today which could save those of you running mark 1 Octavias or similar vehicles (Golf, Passat etc) some money and headache.

The symptom was that when she (or I) put the keys in and turn the ignition key so all the panel lights came on (ie just before the position to start the engine) the Immobiliser light would stay flashing instead of going off (it\'s a yellow light with a picture of a car and key on it).
If we tried to start the engine it would fire and run for a second or two then shutdown (which is what the VW immobiliser does). As the immobiliser is in the ECU it is not easy to bypass.

It reads a signal from the transponder in the key via a reader coil around the ignition switch. This is connected by a twisted pair of wires (one black and one green) to two pins on the back of the instrument pack. They are pin 32b/2 and pin 32b/17 which are located on the green multiplug behind the speedo as opposed the blue one behind the rev counter.

It is, apparently, a common fault on the Octavia for these cables to go faulty which results in a poor signal from the transponder and the car failing to run.

I bought a new cable from my local Skoda dealer. It was £6.50 and a complete unit with two pin socket on one end to fit the side of the ignition barrel and has two pins on the other end which need to be fitted into the correct positions on the multiplug. Skoda part number is 1U0971809

Fitting is quite easy - take off the steering cowl and remove instrument cluster. The original twisted pair are within a wiring loom about as thick as my finger but it is obviously a known fault as the replacement part is just a twisted pair of wires.
Plugging into the ignition reader coil is just a plug and socket job whereas the instrument end is harder.
You have to remove the two pins from the multiplug connected by carefully bending back the locking tabs on them and pulling them out. The replacement pins just push in their place.

I did this today and it has totally fixed the issue. There was lots of talk from Skoda of various sensors, replacement ignition barrels (which means new keys which then need to be coded to the car) and other scary prices. The reader coil is part of the ignition lock barrel and not available separately.

Strangely enough, the Skoda parts man had not heard of the repair cable until I gave him the part number, which he typed into his computer and looked shocked. Maybe that is because they dont like a £6.50 repair when they can charge hundreds for fixing it.

A VAG-COM scan on the engine showed \'Engine start blocked by immobiliser\' and a scan of the Instruments showed \'Reader coil fault\' and \'Key - low signal\'.

So, if you have this issue appear and similar codes showing up then this is how to fix it for less than a tenner and an hours work.

 

I bought a new cable from my local Skoda dealer. It was £6.50 and a complete unit with two pin socket on one end to fit the side of the ignition barrel and has two pins on the other end which need to be fitted into the correct positions on the multiplug. Skoda part number is 1U0971809

did this on my seat ibiza 18 months ago and it was improved but not cured    you can get the coil/ariel  on flee bay, the old one (from memory) would be destroyed  to get it off,  it is quite variable -doesn't like being parked in the sun--will gib 6-8 times on my key and go first try with the second one,   it also seems to prefer to either be inserted and or turned allowing the lamp to go out first--not a problem if waiting for the glow plugs,   putting in the key and going straight to starter nearly always fails    p.s  the instrument cluster end of the wires  is "anchored" to some extent whilst the coil end suffers from column adjustment --going to try "gluing" the connectors at that end with silver paint