mk1 vRS refusing to start

[octaviavrs170]

hi folks

 

not posted for a while as been really busy with work but some work has commenced on the car. So far the car has had a droplinks, track rod end, wishbones, cv joint changed, steering knuckle changed, a full service with all filters, mods include r32 FARB and polybushes, turbo-back milltek hi flow system and less than 50 miles ago i changed the suspension to AP shocks and springs with 35mm and all the mounts and bushes on the suspension to polybushes. about a week ago the car refused to start and I was led to believe it maybe the toad alarm system that was fitted not de-activating the immobiliser to the fuel pump. spent £270 to remove that by an auto electrician then it still refused. just spent another £280 yesterday and the mechanic, who is a VW specialist, changed the crankshaft sensor. after he changed it, it still wouldn't start so he put some easy start into it and he says it started after a bit of coaxing then it started again everytime. he even took it home and it started next day. I drove it back from the garage and it started perfectly. then just now I went out to the car to go out and its doing the exact same thing again. It started for about 2 seconds then cuts out then refuses to start. EML on again too. I'm seriously at my wits end as I now have NO money to get it repaired. I'm completely broke as ive spent I reckon £1500 in the last 2 weeks repairing it. can someone please point me in the right direction if they understand what I mean and if they have had similar problems. if I cant fix it I may break the car and sell the parts. but I'm unsure at the minute.   

[nige8021]

Starting & running for a few seconds is classic immobiliser cutting in and killing the engine, a VCDS scan would show this.

 

There was a similar problem a few weeks ago and it turned out the connector on the speedo wasn't properly seated ?

[pauldazzle]

EML is indicating that there's fault code stored, which should be tell you what's wrong. Have a look on the VCDS forum for a member near you.

[Breezy_Pete]

Do early Octies suffer the same problems as mk1 Fabia with cracked solder joints on instrument cluster connectors?  Can't see them being wildly different.  Immo coil looks to go to pins 2 and 17 of the green connector on black and green wires.  There's a description of how to access and inspect on a Fabia in post #59 here (there may be enough similarity to be worth a read).  Pin numbers are slightly different, it's 1 & 17 on Fabia. Check them all.

[octaviavrs170]

problem being though when the mechanic scanned the car it showed no faults present. then after it started it showed him throttle body pressure valve or something like that.

[KenONeill]

So it's had a TOAD removed and is still giving symptoms that look like "factory immobiliser says no"? I'm afraid that leaves me with the feeling that there is an issue with the factory immobiliser.

[octaviavrs170]

I hope so kenOneil. l really do as if its anything more serious like a throttle body or anything like that i just cant afford to splurge more cash on it so will be seriously considering my options for the car. is the immobiliser a common fault with these cars. a few weeks ago I dropped my keys and ever since its failed on me twice. the first time it happened last week and I had the crankshaft sensor changed and TOAD removed etc. I may even go down the route of changing the key and fob and getting it reprogrammedbut who knows needs scanned first and foremost

[Saints92]

You get the problem on Hondas when the key loses its code. Stupidest thing can cause it.

[octaviavrs170]

i really hope its something stupid that can be fixed but you never know. cars are a mystery to me and at times a painful experience to the pocket. lol

[pauldazzle]

Does sound like a key recognition issue, but IIRC you should get a green flashing key symbol on the dash when the immobiliser doesn't recognise the key. You really need to get VCDS diagnosis before you throw any more money at it.

Edited 24 December, 2016 by pauldazzle

[octaviavrs170]

absolutely paul and hopefully will be doing that soon. spoke to a member via messenger and he is pretty close to me in london and is wiling to assist with the scan so hopefully a diagnosis will come of it and the wheels will be turning once more.

[octaviavrs170]

does anyone know ifi can have the factory immobiliser deactivated. I'm considering getting a new key as I dropped the key onto a railway track (I work on the railway as an engineer) a few months back and then it started playing funny beggers. maybe damaged the tranponder unit inside the key making it unreadable sometimes to the factory immobiliser? if that fails then deactivated the immobiliser. after that i don't know. Also have spoken to a VCDS owner from this forum and he can look at it. also I tried to start the car a couple of days ago and it started first time and ran perfectly. no EML on dash either. bloomin weird. any more thoughts and opinions would be most grateful 

Edited 3 January, 2017 by octaviavrs170

[octaviavrs170]

right folks wee update.

 

many thanks to Claudio who came to my aid with vcds to my place and scanned the car for me. its gave me a better idea of what the problem is. however the car wouldn't start after vcds so I called my recovery and he had a Delphi scanner. car started like the other day no problem. it was just a flat battery. tbh that Delphi kit is a snazzy piece of kit and it threw up an immobiliser fault in the system. he reckons if I get the code for the immobiliser I can get the key re-programmed again and it should clear the fault of the key not talking to the system etc. if not its another avenue looked at I suppose. so does anyone know where I will get the code to reprogramme the immobiliser to the key. failing that I'm gonna replace the immo reader coil loom and possibly have the cluster repaired. need to find the casue of this and slowly but surely I'm getting there.

Edited 4 January, 2017 by octaviavrs170

[nige8021]

You need Vag-Tacho, to get the PIN code from the speedo, then you can re-program a new immob transponder, with VCDS The VagTacho lead & new trandponder chips can be found on ebay

 

Here's some info http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Immobilizer_III_Immobilizer_Swapping_(Instrument_Cluster)