Alright here goes (may get a bit messy and confusing):

On Friday my magna (1997 TF)worked fine in the morning (to uni, from uni). but in the afternoon when i was leaving the gym, my car would not start. This was not a new problem *history explained below*

------ Past problems-----------------

ok, my magna started acting up the day i tried my 2nd key (i regret it deeply to this day).

it would randomly not start on occasions. most times (I'd say 85%) the car requires me to wait 1 hour with the key out, then it would start again.

my local mechanic and several RAA guys have pretty much narrowed it down to:
- immobiliser
- transponder
- sensors
- keys

now my mechanic (who is also a family friend, so i trust him a lot), has done the following (i'm not really a technical car guy so these may be wrong):
- replaced/fixed transponder
- brought the car to a Mistub dealer to fix immobiliser, recode and get a fresh set of keys


------------------------------------------

my car was fine for a month or so, which made me somewhat happy because i thought my car was fixed, and now the symptom is back.

so i left the car for an hour (as proven to be effective), and it would not start. left it for another hour, would not start.

So now i called the RAA, the guy came and did the usual (crank, poked around with a light on a stick thing, disconnect battery for a while etc.). and he was not able to see what was causing the problem.

wrote me a page of possible faults to give to a mechanic, and called a tow truck.

contents of the possible faults page were (word by word):



No go - no injection pulse and security light flashing on crank. Possibly immobilser/ECU fault. Requires further testing & repair


i would like to ask if anyone has encountered anything remotely close to this before, and maybe possibly point me in a direction of what i should do next.

thanks

when u start the car(turn the key), did you hear any clicking noise??

hmmm, my car does a similar thing on the occasion but i cant even turn the key. and no the steering wheel is not locked. i usually just keep trying to turn the key and it lets me anywhere after a few minutes later to about 15 minutes later.

you can turn the key right?

when u start the car(turn the key), did you hear any clicking noise??

not sure, i dont think so


hmmm, my car does a similar thing on the occasion but i cant even turn the key. and no the steering wheel is not locked. i usually just keep trying to turn the key and it lets me anywhere after a few minutes later to about 15 minutes later.

you can turn the key right?

yeah, the engine would (turn? crank?) but won't start

oh so the engine actually cranks and turns?? we can rule out the starter motor then.
was it a really slow crank?? i

who ever you take it to. make sure they find the problem before replacing everything.

some places will have a flat charge of X ammount to tell you what is wrong and X ammount to repair, make sure you get it in writing what is wrong before they replace anything.

best thing to do is take it to mitsu dealer and ask them how much to tell you what is wrong, and make sure they stick to the price.

the mut 3 tool should be able to pick the problem up in no time

Which key are you using? Cause FWIW, I have two keys, and one of them won't disable the immobilizer. Everything goes as normal, but the immobilizer doesn't disable and so it doesn't start. Check you're using the black key, not the gray key.

magnaSE, crank seemed normal

03TL, yeah i've asked at a local workshop, but they said it would cost $X per hour just for them to find and diagnose the problem, and then $X more to fix it. thats why i'm hoping that someone here would know a little something about this problem

Zedd_D1abl0, yeah the keys black but the security light still flashes on cranking

hmmm...that's strange, because if you use the second key (could be the one without the security chip), and it wont engage?? because from what i know some cars come with a second key which can open doors/boot etc, but could not start the engine.

O ok. Is one key thicker than the other? If so, what happens when you use it?

So let me get this straight, when you can't start the car, you turn the key and nothing happens at all?

If thats the case I would put it down to the immobilizer or the transponder in the key. I would look at the immobilizer first because thats exactly what happens when the immobilizer kicks in. The key should disengage the immobilizer, but if it doesn't you need to wait a while for the timer to disengage it (if thats a feature of the immobilizer), which is where the 1 hour thing would be coming from.

:stoopid: :P

Which light flashes while cranking?? The vehicle doesn't have an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser hooked up has it? If so, rip that out straight away!
Now, to all the people who have problems understanding how the key system works,

THE BLACK KEY (MASTER KEY) IS A CHIPPED KEY, MEANING IT NEEDS TO BE CODED TO THE VEHICLE FOR IT TO WORK. THE GREY KEY (VALET/SERVICE KEY) IS A CHIPPED KEY, IT NEEDS TO BE CODED FOR IT TO WORK! THE GREY KEY CANNOT UNLOCK THE BOOT OR GLOVEBOX, BUT CAN, I REPEAT, CAN, START THE CAR!

dont pay X for hr find a place that charges X to tell you whats wrong

O ok. Is one key thicker than the other? If so, what happens when you use it?

from what i can see, the key that i got from mitsub (new one) is slightly thicker. thats the one i've been using for a while and it seemed to worked


So let me get this straight, when you can't start the car, you turn the key and nothing happens at all?

If thats the case I would put it down to the immobilizer or the transponder in the key. I would look at the immobilizer first because thats exactly what happens when the immobilizer kicks in. The key should disengage the immobilizer, but if it doesn't you need to wait a while for the timer to disengage it (if thats a feature of the immobilizer), which is where the 1 hour thing would be coming from.

it cranks but no start

and yeah, thats what the mechanic and RAA guys said too. but the problem i think is that the car would start 1 hour later, making it hard to know if they truly fixed it or not


Which light flashes while cranking?? The vehicle doesn't have an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser hooked up has it? If so, rip that out straight away!


its the security light thats on the radio (red). nope, no aftermarket alarm or immobiliser