Remote central locking and immobiliser hell!

1st June 2010, 10:28

ok guys, not happy.

bought a VTR the other day, had a few niggles with it. but nothing major.

2 of these are the remote locking and immobiliser.

my remote locking seems to have no range on it what so ever.

if i put the fob right next to the sensor/receiver it unlocks fine. but anywhere other than virtually touching it and nothing happens.

i changed batterys, now i am thinking its the receiver. i pulled it out and tapped it to the windscreen so i can lock it from outside the car. but when i pulled it out i noticed it has 2 pins missing... is this normal?

also, if i grabbed one from the scrappers, will this just plug in and work?

also,

everytime i try to start my car the immobiliser light flashes and i cant start the car, i have to re-insert the key a good few times to get it working.

any quick way around this?

was going to disable to immob, but thats a last option at best!!

1st June 2010, 10:35

Not a clue about this but i'm getting my Toad Alarm/Immobiliser looked at today by some guys where i live and they charge about £35 p/h i'm sure if you found somebody near you they'd give it a look?

1st June 2010, 10:53

Yer, thats not a bad idea. some1 also suggested just buying an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser...

would that work? or does the manufacture one have to be fully operational 1st?

1st June 2010, 11:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newtz07

everytime i try to start my car the immobiliser light flashes and i cant start the car, i have to re-insert the key a good few times to get it working.

any quick way around this?

was going to disable to immob, but thats a last option at best!!

I'd recommend getting an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser for this.
Mine used to do it, and one day it jammed on.. Took me a solid 2hrs of taking the key in & out to get it started so I could take the immobiliser out completely.

1st June 2010, 11:02

I've got a TOAD Compact in mine not sure how much they cost or how much they cost to fit..

1st June 2010, 11:37

hmmm, nice.

well if i was to disconnect the immob, how would i go about doing that?

guessing, i start the car, and find the immob (dunno where it is, under the dash, near the glove box am guessing. theres a black box there, thinking its that) then unplug whilst the car is running?

and it will no longer need it after that?

is that correct?

1st June 2010, 11:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newtz07

hmmm, nice.

well if i was to disconnect the immob, how would i go about doing that?

guessing, i start the car, and find the immob (dunno where it is, under the dash, near the glove box am guessing. theres a black box there, thinking its that) then unplug whilst the car is running?

and it will no longer need it after that?

is that correct?

Yeah it's a black box, not difficult to find. There's a guide on here somewhere on how to do it.

1st June 2010, 13:18

Wrt. the IR receiver I think that has to be matched to the ECU, so you can't just replace it - I may be completely wrong though. They are also rarer than rocking horse sh*te so good luck finding one. I also recently bought a VTR with a dodgy sensor (damaged by a previous water leak from the sunroof). I just use the key.

1st June 2010, 14:04

yer, kinda thinking this now,

i have looked everywhere, cant find the sensor... phoned citroen, they said it was coded. so thats not an option. but i think mine is defo damaged.

if you have ever seen one they look like a small box, with 8 black prongs in sets of 2's, but mine has 2 of the black prongs missing, unless there supposed to be like that.

dont know if any1 can confirm?

and the immobiliser thing, i have found out it works better if i press the key in really hard as i turn it, maybe the chips gets that little bit closer or something, dunno. seems to be working at the moment!

1st June 2010, 14:38

I would have given you my old sensor if you'd asked 24 hours ago - it's now in a bin outside Tescos though after I cleaned the car out and decided, having not had it fitted for 2 months, that it could go. Wasn't sure when I first took it out if it would affect the immobiliser at all so didn't chuck it immediately just in case.

Have you only got one key to try? Was wondering if you had a second key that worked better, in which case it could be the chip in the key, or if it was just as dodgy you might need a new ignition barrel? If I were you I'd just immobilise the immobiliser.

1st June 2010, 14:50

hahaha, yer, thats what am gonna do. until i put a clifford on there.

any ideas if your sensor had 8 black prongs, not 6? mine has 6, and what looks like the start of the other 2, but there missing,

but not sure if thats how there supposed to look

i have read about how to immobilise the immobiliser!

and you just start the car, unplug the immobiliser, then turn it off and start it back up and it will be fine.not too sure about thsi though, seems a bit easy! if i disconnect it, then it doesnt work, can i reconnect it and it will be back how it is? or will it lose its settings and stuff?

1st June 2010, 16:57

Think that's the way to do it - as long as you only disconnect it when you have the engine running you should be fine.

Sorry I don't have any pics of the IR receiver to refer to wrt. the number of pins. Are the connections on the plug that align with the missing pins wired?

Also, are all 3 of the IR Light Dependant Resistors (LDR) (square black things on legs in the middle of the receiver unit that look a bit like black LEDs) present and correct?

2nd June 2010, 09:42

it has 3 sets of black "LED" looking things, and 1 set where it looks like there should be 2 more "LED" style things...

Is this how its supposed to look?

2nd June 2010, 10:05

bump????

2nd June 2010, 12:53

Looks like you're missing an LDR there, and perhaps the fact the circuit is now open is stopping it from working properly - don't understand why entirely as you mention it's a range issue as opposed to it not working at all.

If you point the blipper at the receiver from the side (use a side with an LDR installed) does it work better? The receivers are effectively pointing outwards in a circle so it relies on it being installed on the ceiling to receive a signal frmo someone stood away from the car.

2nd June 2010, 13:30

yer thats what i thought, but i have positioned it so that i can lock/unlock it from outside the car. if i put the fob next to the sensor, virtually touching it it works. so i have tapped it to the screen so i can lock/unlock by using the fob right next to the exterior of the windscreen.

it only seems to unlock at really close range, thats why i thought maybe the 2 thast are missing operate the devices range?!

just done the stupidist of stupid things aswel... tried putting some wheel spacers on, and the nuts have snapped inside the hole! x2!!

on one rear wheel i have 3 stoods and the other i have 2 (opposite sides) would it be an easy job to replace the "hub" that they screw into? or are they one unit with brake disk attached? any ideas?

could drill them out, or get some1 else to do it... suppose

2nd June 2010, 14:02

on the disc, there are the 4 bolt holes for the wheel, and there are also 2 other screws, both star screws, if i undone those, then the calliper, would the disc come off revealing a bit of the screw so i can get some mole grips on it?

not sure about how safe it is to drive with 2 bolts in one wheel. i drove with 3 for about 2 years, but not sure about 2!! they are diagonal sides, so thats a start

2nd June 2010, 16:51

Bumpage?

3rd June 2010, 11:22

bumpage plz.

3rd June 2010, 16:47

right, incase any1 was wondering, i have sorted the snapped wheel bolts!!!!

KINDA :-S

all i did was remove the wheel, remove the disc brake and calliper, then molegripped the scews out. i now have 3 stoods in each wheel not 4, but thats a damn safer than 1 or 2!!