[Durzel]

I went out to move my car a minute ago from the multi-storey, disarmed the alarm, got in, turned the key and.... nothing. No display, nothing lit up.

At first I thought it was the immobiliser/alarm (Sigma) that kicked in, but pressing the alarm fob did nothing. I got out the car and tried locking and unlocking it with the fob - but it didn't do anything.

I assumed then that the battery was flat somehow, but on further inspection I am able to put my hazards on, and my lights and they are no more dim than usual - certainly the battery isn't flat.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the car prior to me parking it this morning - no warning lights of any kind, nothing untoward at all....

Can anyone think of why my car refuses to show any signs of life? I'm getting really worried here.

 

[RoboPope]

Durzel,
If its not the battery then do you remember your code to manually disarm the alarm with the key? Do you have a LED on the alarm remote and does it work when you press it as the battery in that may be dead.

 

[Durzel]

Hi Guy

There's definitely no problem with the battery since the lights/hazards etc work without problems. Absolutely nothing comes on when you turn the key, no sign of life at all.

What is bizarre is that the alarm fob worked when I opened the car, but now it does absolutely nothing.

The only thing I have had done recently was have the head unit from my old Astra fitted in place of the Alpine unit, but this has been working without problems since I had it done (3 days+).

It seems as if its just completely died on me.

 

[Durzel]

Durzel,
If its not the battery then do you remember your code to manually disarm the alarm with the key? Do you have a LED on the alarm remote and does it work when you press it as the battery in that may be dead.

The alarm fob does nothing at all at the moment (there is an LED on it and it does light up) - I press it but nothing happens. The car is currently locked using the key.

 

[RoboPope]

have you had a peek in the fusebox? all the big circuits are switched through smaller ones by relays and you may have blown a fuse

 

[RoboPope]

Durzel,
Did using the key activate the central locking? or did you have to lock both doors manually ?

 

[Durzel]

Durzel,
Did using the key activate the central locking? or did you have to lock both doors manually ?

No.

Basically - I walked up to the key, pressed the key - the alarm disarmed (as it normally does), got in and turned the key and nothing happened. The key does nothing now - doesn't arm or disarm the car. I had to lock the car using the key itself.

Whereabouts is the fuse box? I noticed some fuses in the battery casing but they all appeared to be fine.

 

[RoboPope]

Durzel,
right hand side of the steering wheel low down, vaguely triangular panel in an R33 dont know about other models

 

[Paul.GTR34]

ELECTRICS

Take the panel off under the steering wheel.There is some electrical connector plugs going into the ignition barrel.Make sure they are all plugged in well for I had a similar problem not too long ago on my R33.Just fiddle around under ther for it sounds like its a loose conection if you are lucky!

 

[Durzel]

I'll go and check now - I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Durzel]

No joy.

Couldn't find a blown fuse. I didn't check every single one because I wasn't even supposed to be out of the office - but I couldn't see anything wrong.

I presume the alarm/immobilisor has a fuse - is it possible that this could've blown, thus rendering the immobilisor inoperative (and therefore the engine lights/starting inoperative?). Turning the key in the ignition to "on" does absolutely nothing but there's obviously electrics getting to the car's internals because I can put the interior lights on, put the hazards/indicators on, put the lights on etc.

The air conditioning unit doesn't come on however in any key position.

Anyone have any ideas (besides fuses) that could be wrong with the car?

 

[Smootster73]

does the alarm fob

have an immobilizer built into this like the old virtual keys?
If the fob is knackered then it will not be sending out the signal to the immobilizer to deactivate itself.
Seems a strange fault and you might want to call someone out unless you have a spare fob with you??
Just a thought as I had this wiht my 33 when the fob packed up and had to use the spare.
Also is there a battery inside the fob? Is that out? The fob might need to be preprogrammed as well?

Nick

 

[RoboPope]

if it is the alarm then that will prove to be a pain to bypass to get the car moved in the short term. id speak to the people who fitted the alarm if you had it installed. There may well be a fuse on the alarm itslef though did you look at the alarm module under the bonnet?

 

[geezajob]

Apologies for speaking the obvious, but have you tried calling the AA/RAC ?

 

[Ian SuttoN1]

Just may be worth a try.

I had a similar thing happen to my STI 5 a whlie back. I replaced the battery in the key fob (watch battery) and it all worked okay!

Same thing happened , enough power to open car but not enough to deactivate the immobilizer.

Worth a go.

...Ian

 

[Smootster73]

Good shout on the battery

in the key fob durz.
It has happenend to many and it will happen again. See if you can open the fob as it might be sealed.
You might want to put it near to the ignition or near to the immobilzer location as sometimes you can get the fob to pick up the signal if you wave it to and fro.
But get that battery changed straight away.
Nick

 

[Durzel]

I haven't spoken to the AA/RAC yet, I intend to shortly however. I need to get the car home regardless of whats wrong with it.

I don't recall seeing a keypad in the glovebox Guy? - I will have a look later on.

I am hoping that the problem definitely is related to the alarm/immobiliser - all I know is that it disarmed the car, and then subsequently gave up the ghost. The LED on the fob does light up when I press the button however, and there had been no indication before of it starting to lose power.

Either way I'm very concerned

 

[Ian SuttoN1]

Send the lad out to get the battery changed in the fob before calling the RAC/AA.

Could be as simple as that!

 

[Durzel]

I bought a new battery (same type) for my radio remote yesterday, and I just tried that in the alarm fob (there's two of them in the fob) to no avail. The red LED on the alarm fob is lighting up ok - so it doesn't look like it is that. Also, there was no problem at all with arming/disarming the car previously so it seems unlikely that the battery wore down that quickly.

The question is - would the immobiliser stop all power from reaching the car systems? I know from experience that when the alarm LED has switched off (after disarming the car and not starting the car within a certain period of time) that when I have turned the key to the "on" position, none of the engine warning lights came on. Only when I pressed the alarm fob button did everything spring into life - I believe this is the usual case with immobilisers.

However, I cannot remember whether or not the immobilisor stopped all power/electronics (i.e. aircon unit, radio, etc) from coming on...

I'm going to get a lift to Halfords now to get two new batteries for the alarm fob, if it doesn't work then I'll have to enrol to the AA/RAC and get towed home.

 

[RoboPope]

can you not get hold of the alarm code to manually deactivate it?