FTO Drivers Club, Western Australia

Guest · Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 12:22 pm Post subject: Central locking problems?!?

Hi all!
I am new to this site and am not registered but I really need some help here. My friend left me her car namely an fto to take care while on holiday. Recently, I was about to bring the car out for a short drive but it seems that there was a problem with the transmitter for the alarm/immobolizer. At first I thought that the thing was loose as I had been told but after I tightened it and changed the batt for it, the whole car is not responding at all now. I will sure like to get some help on this as I know nuts about fto. Thanx in advance and really appreciate any help avaiblable!

Cheers
Alvin

BASSULA · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 196 Location: perf

need a little bit more infomation...

do you know what sort of alarm it is... can you get the car to start at all???

if you have a digi cam take a pic of the remote for us so that can help in the diagnosis.. it seems like the remote may have lost its coding...

cheers

RichardH · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 804

Hi Alvin.

If the transmitter was 'loose' before, perhaps a dry-joint or wobbly battery terminal in it? Those key fob things aren't very long lasting! Sad

Both of mine (quality alarm system) are held together with sticky tape these days. Pathetic.

Is there a LED that is supposed to light up on the transmitter when you press the button? If there is one, is it actually lighting up?

- Rich

Guest · Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 8:37 am Post subject:

Hi all,
What do u mean by the transmitter lost its coding? Ok ... the transmitter led is still working and does light up when I press on it. The thing now is the car does not seem to response to it. Before, the first press was to unlock the car while the second press on the button was to release the immobilizer. The last time I tried before I changed the batt ... the LED was working and I could unlock/lock the doors. After changing the batt, luckily the car was in the garage and was unlocked, I still cld not release the immobilizer and worse off the doors cant be locked nw. I did made a small mistake of not checking the batt polarity while changing and it was relatively warm before I realized my mistake. That should not affect anything rite? Everything is still intact and there's not burnt smell that says tat something got "fried". I hope this helps to illustrate the problem better.

Cheers
Alvin

RichardH · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Posts: 804

eek. Something might indeed be unhappy in the transmitter - but I wouldn't jump to conclusions about it being due to incorrect battery polarity on replacing it.

Maybe Graeme Bassula will recognise the type of alarm (two press system sounds pretty unusual). Then you might be able to find out who to ask...

- Rich

BASSULA · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 196 Location: perf

it definately sounds like the remote has lost its coding for the immobaliser...

I really need a pic of the remote so I can try and work out how/if/who can help you fix this problem...

What sometimes happens for no apparent reason remotes "can" loose there coding to main module.. hence nothing works.. but usually you can do a procedure to "recode" the remote. but this is usually only known by people in the industry...but I may be able to help.. Smile

cheers

Guest · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 1:14 pm Post subject:

Hi again!
I was asking my friend about it and we think it might be that the remote has lost its coding. Also I managed to test the voltage on the car batt and it reads only 2.2V. Is that normal for a car that has not been moving much? I was thinking it mite be that the car could not react well enough due to the low voltage at the first place and with the change of batt, the remote lost its coding. Is it possible for the remote to lose its coding just after a change of batt? Yeah I have taken some pics of the remote and am looking for a site to post it up. I also will like to check that if just running the engine for about 20 mins per wk is enuf to maintain the batt of the car? Hopefully I can post the pics asap so that we can get the car running free again. Very Happy

Really appreciate it! Wink

Guest · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 1:18 pm Post subject:

Hi again!
I was asking my friend about it and we think it might be that the remote has lost its coding. Also I managed to test the voltage on the car batt and it reads only 2.2V. Is that normal for a car that has not been moving much? I was thinking it mite be that the car could not react well enough due to the low voltage at the first place and with the change of batt, the remote lost its coding. Is it possible for the remote to lose its coding just after a change of batt? Yeah I have taken some pics of the remote and am looking for a site to post it up. I also will like to check that if just running the engine for about 20 mins per wk is enuf to maintain the batt of the car? Hopefully I can post the pics asap so that we can get the car running free again. Very Happy

Really appreciate it! Wink

BASSULA · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 196 Location: perf

if the cars battery under the bonnet is 2.2V then that is your problem.... NOTHING in the car will work at that voltage....stick a batt charger on it overnight and see how ya go in the morning..

cheers

Guest · Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2004 5:36 pm Post subject:

Hi Bass,
I finally managed to get a batt charger and it's working now. Everything's fine. Thanx a lot for the advice and all! Appreciate it!

Cheers
Alvin