So I bought a 2002 Fabia Classic 1.9 sdi at 88k miles, to replace our 2002 Fabia Classic 1.9 sdi at 150k miles, because the old one was starting to cost more than it's worth spending. Took the car for a test drive, drove exactly like the old one did, so no surprises, happily parted the cash and phoned the insurance company up to change the details.

 

Went to start the car in the garage, and it refused... the immobiliser kicked in and stopped the car. The car has previously had issues with the immo before by the looks of it, as it has separate keys for the ignition to the locks, and these keys come with the 7 digit SKC. Garage says that they'll get it fixed for me, and a few days later, I phoned and it was ready to go.

 

Started/Stopped/Started/Stopped all fine, switched to spare keys, repeated the process, started with no issues, so I drove it home. Later that evening went to the car, and it refused to start. Immobiliser light flashing on the dashboard, no joy in starting (the starter motor kicks in, starts and you can rev to near redline, but then cuts out immediately). Tried both keys, tried shuggling the key and barrel up/down/left/right/in/out/shake it all about. Tried waiting until the morning when the car would be colder, no luck.

 

Phoned up the garage who said that they'd take it back in to repair it, but offered me an emergency repair that wasn't using the 4 digit code I've read elsewhere (that I can't seem to convert my SKC to 4 digit code and I don't have a VAG-COM device), and this may be of use to others.

 

"Leave your key in the ignition, in the switched on state (i.e. the one just before the starter motor), and leave it for 10 minutes, it should start up fine". I found it was closer to 20 minutes, but sure enough, this emergency fix seemed to have temporarily worked around the problem, enough for me to get the car back to them.

 

Offering this bit of advice for others who may still have this problem.

A couple of videos I shot showing the problem. 

and

Usually the problem for this is down to the wire connecting the barrel and the cluster IIRC.

 

A quick fix that I found is to unlock the steering adjustment and give it a wiggle in out up and down and it will eventually find a spot where the signal kicks in and lets you turn the car on again.

 

There is someone which has made a custom loom to fix the problem, i believe he has a thread showing you how to make your own too.

 

Regards,

Jack M