Hi all,

Please could somebody help. My wife's 110 Tdi Octavia 1 (1998 T plate) has started playing up with the immobiliser.

When the key is put in, 99% of the time the immobiliser light (yellow with a key and car on it) starts flashing. Try to start the car and it will run for 1 second or so then shutdown (which is what the immobiliser does of course).

Turning the key on and off a number of times (between 3 being the fewest so far and 30 being the longest) eventually ends up with the light going out and the car will then start and run fine till it's switched off again when the problem returns.

I have searched the forums and followed the suggestion of buying a new cable to go from the ignition switch reader coil to the instrument pack and fitting that.

Whilst fitting went well enough, the problem is not cured and in fact appears worse as now any number of attempts at putting the keys in and out will not get the immobiliser to go off.

A scan of the instruments with VAG-COM shows codes for reader coil and key low signal and a scan of the engine controller shows Engine start blocked by immobiliser.

Clearing the codes and trying to start it again just give the same codes logged.

Do I assume that is now likely it is the reader coil unit on the ignition switch?

I have found from the Haynes manual how to remove the lock and reader coil which I have done to check it comes out easily. If I need to get a new one (which I assume is a Skoda dealer part) then do I need to get a new barrel with new keys etc or can I just get the reader coil unit (anybody have a part number?)

If I do have to get a new barrel and keys, how do I then get these coded to the immobiliser so the thing will work again?

I am getting quite annoyed with her car. Mechanically it's really reliable and a great car but the electrics have been a pain with electric window and central locking issues (all now fixed).

Many thanks in advance

Jules

No need to worry now - I have sorted it.

It was the cable after all.

When I removed the green and black wire from the pins in the 32b wiring plug on the back of the instruments, they pulled quite easily off of their pins when I was trying to remove the pins from the body of the plug. That probably accounted for the poor signal from the coil. I could have sworn that they were connected to pin 1 and pin 17 so, that is how I put it back.

After loads of head scratching, worrying about costs etc, I had a closer look at the wiring diagrams in the back of the Haynes book of lies - and saw that the reader coil actually connects to pins 32b/2 and 32b/17. As soon as I moved the green wire to the correct terminal position it started working perfectly - and has done now for 20 starts in a row.

Bit of a stupid error really but now it's sorted, and all for the price of a £6.50 cable

Good to hear you managed to sort it.

glad you fixed it - these are great cars but can have their niggles

Thanks guys - I kind of felt a bit stupid when I finally worked out what I had done. At least I didn't spend money on other parts before realising.

A big thanks to this forum for actually identifying how to fix the problem in the first place and for providing the part number as the local Skoda dealer would not believe me there was a repair cable till I gave him the part number!

Thanks for writing this post julesandtash, my Octavia (just turned 100,000 miles) stopped working on friday

 

A quick google and your post popped up, fast forward a day and I have fixed it!!!!

 

Turns out all mine was a loose connector on green/black twisted wire on the ignition barrel...

 

Still took ages to get to the connector, but a push in and a dob of superglue to fix it in place and the job is a good'n

 

Thanks again. . 

 

Edited 23 August, 201411 yr by Ed.