ive heard there is a way of resetting the immobiliser settings/code in the ECU to '0000' effectively turning the immobiliser off. it involves removing a chip from the ECU and with a bit of solder? Is this correct? i have an intermittent immobiliser problem that seems to seems to not recognise the key when it wants. i know the key is fine as it sometimes works on on spare key as well. I have had the connections checked. the only other thing is to replace the dashboard but the cost of that is too much. the car is an 02 plate and only worth £1200. Any ideas anyone?

The immo is part of the instrument cluster, and cannot be bypassed at all. It is possible to immo defeat the main ECU but this requires the car to effectively be remapped with immo defeat code. It cannot be removed by any hardware means at all, otherwise thieves would have a field day.

And any modification to the immo will need to be notified to your insurance company as you'll be making the car easier to steal.

A far better solution is to fix the source of the problem you have, which will either be the key or the transponder pickup close to the ignition barrel. You don't need a whole cluster, its most likely something simple.

thanks for the quick reply. i have had the garage go over the wiring to be if they can find a reason it is happening and all the connections work fine. no problems there. both keys work fine so its not a problem there. 90% of the time the car starts fine. when it decides to play up it can happen with either key.

the fault code that comes up is too vague. 'immobiliser error'

what would be the next step? im consious of the amount of money im putting into the car.