Cannot deactivate immobilizer, about to purchase bypass.. thoughts?
12-20-2022, 02:02 PM
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Cannot deactivate immobilizer, about to purchase bypass.. thoughts?
Ok let's get some stuff out of the way first. My thoughts are a bit scattered here, but i think anyone who has dealt with this and has good knowledge of the system will get the point.. I am trying to eliminate people saying "clutch switch" "jump the start lock relay" etc... (and yes, i do know there are two switches on the clutch.. the scanner shows the relays activating/deactivating..)
Just over a week ago i drove the car out to the place i do work at and didn't mess with anything (luckily i parked in the barn)
When i started the car to leave, no start... I got a ride homne and came back next day.. went over everything that is "typically related to no crank/no start" and the car started ... 5 times.. so i drove my rental home and got a ride back to pick up my boxster.. no crank no start... . so a ride back home and i've spent the past week working on little things every day.. wiring, fuses, relays, everything..
I am getting W-lead and K-lead codes continuously from alarm box and DME.. DME reports immobilizer as "ACTIVE"
The central locking unit works, the unit is not wet, i am getting ZERO errors except that the immobilizer is active.
I did change the ignition switch because it needed done and I WAS getting the issue where power was not cutting to the dash lights and the steering wheel wasn't locking.. i lubed this up with graphite and it's working 100% again.. Steering wheel locks every time and the little doorway thing on the ignition slams shut.. good.
The DME and Alarm box are reporting just fine... I have without a transponder i put in just to test if the system was working right, and i got the "wrong rfid or key" code from the alarm box.. so that part is working.. Every test i give it to see if something isn't working in the system comes back as "the immoblizer should deactivate"
I have also bypassed relays to make sure it cranks.. i was able to activate the fuel pump with my foxwell scanner just fine... I cannot find a reason for this car to not start.
The only thing i can think of that I didn't do last night is "shut the frunk" -- Is this what i missed? Does the immoblizer need to see that the frunk is closed to deactivate?
I do not know every condition that needs to be met with this thing.. I am at the end of my rope...
Promotive will flash the ECU for less than $600 to bypass the immobilzer.. they don't need the CLU or keys or anything else.
I know if i take this to anywhere capable of fixing whatever issue is wrong, 600 dollars is likely going to be way less than whatever a major shop or dealer is going to get me for... and i will still have this aging system that will leave me stranded at any time.
Again, I can see through the dme scan that the immobilizer is "ACTIVE" ...
I just want some thoughts of what i may have missed or if there's some secret thing i need to do with buttons /keys that will convince it to deactivate before i ship the ecu out .. I'm at my wits end with this thing.. I've been working on cars (including wiring) for 20+ years and have never been so at a loss on how to fix the issue in front of me.
Appreciate any help here that isn't in every other thread on the internet about this situation, because i have read more about this than I read for a thesis and still came up short.
Just over a week ago i drove the car out to the place i do work at and didn't mess with anything (luckily i parked in the barn)
When i started the car to leave, no start... I got a ride homne and came back next day.. went over everything that is "typically related to no crank/no start" and the car started ... 5 times.. so i drove my rental home and got a ride back to pick up my boxster.. no crank no start... . so a ride back home and i've spent the past week working on little things every day.. wiring, fuses, relays, everything..
I am getting W-lead and K-lead codes continuously from alarm box and DME.. DME reports immobilizer as "ACTIVE"
The central locking unit works, the unit is not wet, i am getting ZERO errors except that the immobilizer is active.
I did change the ignition switch because it needed done and I WAS getting the issue where power was not cutting to the dash lights and the steering wheel wasn't locking.. i lubed this up with graphite and it's working 100% again.. Steering wheel locks every time and the little doorway thing on the ignition slams shut.. good.
The DME and Alarm box are reporting just fine... I have without a transponder i put in just to test if the system was working right, and i got the "wrong rfid or key" code from the alarm box.. so that part is working.. Every test i give it to see if something isn't working in the system comes back as "the immoblizer should deactivate"
I have also bypassed relays to make sure it cranks.. i was able to activate the fuel pump with my foxwell scanner just fine... I cannot find a reason for this car to not start.
The only thing i can think of that I didn't do last night is "shut the frunk" -- Is this what i missed? Does the immoblizer need to see that the frunk is closed to deactivate?
I do not know every condition that needs to be met with this thing.. I am at the end of my rope...
Promotive will flash the ECU for less than $600 to bypass the immobilzer.. they don't need the CLU or keys or anything else.
I know if i take this to anywhere capable of fixing whatever issue is wrong, 600 dollars is likely going to be way less than whatever a major shop or dealer is going to get me for... and i will still have this aging system that will leave me stranded at any time.
Again, I can see through the dme scan that the immobilizer is "ACTIVE" ...
I just want some thoughts of what i may have missed or if there's some secret thing i need to do with buttons /keys that will convince it to deactivate before i ship the ecu out .. I'm at my wits end with this thing.. I've been working on cars (including wiring) for 20+ years and have never been so at a loss on how to fix the issue in front of me.
Appreciate any help here that isn't in every other thread on the internet about this situation, because i have read more about this than I read for a thesis and still came up short.
12-20-2022, 03:18 PM
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I lost my key and had to not only purchase a new key, but an immobilizer. Was about a $2,000 mistake that I wouldn't wish on anybody
12-20-2022, 03:26 PM
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I think there's maybe a chance that not shutting the frunk is not allowing the immobilizer to reset... i think all the "control points" have to be closed to allow it to.. that's my only running theory
testing in an hour or two... i'll check back here,going to ship ecu out tomorrow if i can't find a working solution to this one... the immoblizer is just too much of a headache anymore and isn't getting bettter with age.
testing in an hour or two... i'll check back here,going to ship ecu out tomorrow if i can't find a working solution to this one... the immoblizer is just too much of a headache anymore and isn't getting bettter with age.
12-20-2022, 06:39 PM
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Sending the ECU to protomotive for a bypass.. ~$575 and they only need the ecu/dme .. No need to send in the keys or alarm box/immoblizer/CLU. They also have the option of removing the alarm box completely -- though you lose remote fob funtionality when you do this. All the buttons in the car will still work. You do have to jump the K-line at the CLU
With both options you do need to jump the start-lock relayl -- but if you've worked on a boxster very much at all you've probably already jumped this relay at a few points in your diagnosis
Unless anyone else has a better option, I think it's long overdue i just get rid of this thing if i plan to keep this car in the long term...
The alarm box is more of a liablity these days than anything else. I don't think anyone else does it this way, directly coded into the ECU, and the cost is digestable.
I feel that as these cars age, the immoblizer system on these cars FAR more likely to leave you stranded than the IMS could ever dream of.. and it will jsut keep getting worse as time moves forward. Better off cutting this piece of crap loose for good.
With both options you do need to jump the start-lock relayl -- but if you've worked on a boxster very much at all you've probably already jumped this relay at a few points in your diagnosis
Unless anyone else has a better option, I think it's long overdue i just get rid of this thing if i plan to keep this car in the long term...
The alarm box is more of a liablity these days than anything else. I don't think anyone else does it this way, directly coded into the ECU, and the cost is digestable.
I feel that as these cars age, the immoblizer system on these cars FAR more likely to leave you stranded than the IMS could ever dream of.. and it will jsut keep getting worse as time moves forward. Better off cutting this piece of crap loose for good.
12-20-2022, 08:45 PM
#6
Sending the ECU to protomotive for a bypass.. ~$575 and they only need the ecu/dme .. No need to send in the keys or alarm box/immoblizer/CLU. They also have the option of removing the alarm box completely -- though you lose remote fob funtionality when you do this. All the buttons in the car will still work. You do have to jump the K-line at the CLU
With both options you do need to jump the start-lock relayl -- but if you've worked on a boxster very much at all you've probably already jumped this relay at a few points in your diagnosis
Unless anyone else has a better option, I think it's long overdue i just get rid of this thing if i plan to keep this car in the long term...
The alarm box is more of a liablity these days than anything else. I don't think anyone else does it this way, directly coded into the ECU, and the cost is digestable.
I feel that as these cars age, the immoblizer system on these cars FAR more likely to leave you stranded than the IMS could ever dream of.. and it will jsut keep getting worse as time moves forward. Better off cutting this piece of crap loose for good.
With both options you do need to jump the start-lock relayl -- but if you've worked on a boxster very much at all you've probably already jumped this relay at a few points in your diagnosis
Unless anyone else has a better option, I think it's long overdue i just get rid of this thing if i plan to keep this car in the long term...
The alarm box is more of a liablity these days than anything else. I don't think anyone else does it this way, directly coded into the ECU, and the cost is digestable.
I feel that as these cars age, the immoblizer system on these cars FAR more likely to leave you stranded than the IMS could ever dream of.. and it will jsut keep getting worse as time moves forward. Better off cutting this piece of crap loose for good.
Seems like a great option at that price. I had to pay close to $1,000 for a new immobilizer, and paid another $250 to a local tech to come to my house (my car was inoperable) to code the key to the new immobilizer.
12-20-2022, 09:14 PM
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Yeah, I can't believe I never saw their page before, but I think they'll get a lot of business with such a simple solution to a problem that we're all going to experience at some point.
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12-20-2022, 09:19 PM
#8
This is an issue I foresee a lot of new Boxster owners facing, not realizing how expensive their newly purchased cheap* cars actually are to repair. One thing I will add, if you lose your last key, and the alarm is triggered, and one of the original keys which are programmed to the immobilizer are not there to disarm the alarm, the immobilizer in the car becomes useless. It is imperative that one of the original keys is present to unlock the car once the alarm has been triggered, otherwise you are spending $$$
12-21-2022, 03:13 PM
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This is an issue I foresee a lot of new Boxster owners facing, not realizing how expensive their newly purchased cheap* cars actually are to repair. One thing I will add, if you lose your last key, and the alarm is triggered, and one of the original keys which are programmed to the immobilizer are not there to disarm the alarm, the immobilizer in the car becomes useless. It is imperative that one of the original keys is present to unlock the car once the alarm has been triggered, otherwise you are spending $$$
Yeah and I have 3 keys that are still working with the alarm box just fine. The RFID is being read correctly in my keys. The immoblizer still won't deactivate.
This solution ensures that never happens again