Hello,

Have owned 02 2.5l manual petrol x-type for 3 years now and have had issues with what I believe is the immobiliser throughout that time.

It has seemingly been activated if stalled very soon after being started and just recently when the key fob battery ran out after the alarm was activated when I didn't realise I needed to turn the key in the ignition when the car is unlocked manually without using the fob.

When turning the ignition I am left with "clicking" but the engine will not turn over. In the past I have always used one of my parents cars on the drive to jump start the car (even though there is nothing wrong with the battery this always works).

Tonight while doing the weekly shop the fob battery died and the alarm went off after I unlocked the car manually. This caused the car not to start (just "clicking" when attempting to start) and I had to get a kindly stranger to help me with a jump to get going (again there is nothing wrong with the battery...). This was annoying but I still did not know how to prevent the alarm sounding and so caused the alarm to sound at 3 in the morning and now the engine is apparantly immobilised again.

So my question is: Is there a way to fix this without a jump start?

Hopefully I won't get my self into this situation again now I know I need to turn the key in the ignition within a few seconds if I use the key (not the fob) to open the car. But this does seem to happen if I stall the car and try and restart it very early in my journey. This has happened quite a few times as my parents have a very steep driveway and I'm not a perfect driver...

I have also got out of this by bump starting after stalling at the top of a hill and rolling down it. I now do not live on a hill or have access to the cars I park around so bump or jump starting is no longer an easy option.

Much appreciation to anyone who has read through all of this.

 

Wedge, first off, welcome to the forums. I think you will find a lot of useful information around here and lots of people willing to help. We try to pride ourselves on being a different car forum. We like to keep things lively. We also tend to like to get to know each other too. So, if you would, please stop by the "New Member" section and introduce yourself. This will give you a chance to meet the movers and shakers of the site.

As for your issue, if you are getting clicking from the starter, then the immobilization feature is not engaging. This will block all power from getting to the starter to allow it to roll the engine. Odds are, your problem is actually stemming from a bad cable coming off of your battery (could be either the positive or negative cable, even both). So, what happens is you go out when the car is acting up, you move the cables a little bit and you happen to affect the bad spot in the cable. This causes the cable to go back to normal. You can take a multimeter and with a heavy load on the car, connect the multimeter in parallel to the cable to see how much voltage drop the cable is causing. If you are not electrically knowledgeable, do not worry, I can help you that way too. I would just need you to get your hands on a multimeter and I will tell you where to put the probes. I would also look at the battery terminals and make sure that they are tight and clean (clean if necessary). We have also seen where loose/dirty connections lead to what you are seeing.