Hey guys

I'm having some immobiliser issues at the moment. It's the common issue where you go to start the car, it turns on but dies, won't re-start as the immobiliser cuts the fuel pump. It's happened to me before, but it went away. Now it's back and I'm not sure what's causing it.

My issues started up about a week ago. My mate tried about two dozen times to start it, and eventually got it going out of sheer persistence. Worked fine for a week. On Saturday, I got back in it after going for a drive, and it wouldn't start. Fiddled with the key and it started fine. Skip to yesterday. Same thing happened. Tried about two dozen times to start the car and it wouldn't. Got a mate to bring over a spare key/remote and it still wouldn't start (my mechanic said it could be an issue with the chip inside the key, so to try the spare if it happened again). Got RACQ out and it got to the point where he was recommending a towing service to me. Then, using my spare remote, he locked the car and unlocked it again. Car started perfect. This is despite the fact that I had locked/unlocked my car numerous times while waiting for RACQ to come (twice with my main remote and one with my spare).

My battery is a three year old Century heavy duty, but I got Battery World to run a check on it and it came back perfect. I wouldn't have thought the connections between the ECU and BEM would be causing issues either. I spoke to my mechanic when the issue first started occurring (about 18 months ago). He checked all the ECU/BEM modules and they were fine. He also checked the connections and sprayed them with some sort of conductor for good measure.

What's got me beat is why sometimes it only takes another go to start the car, but other times it won't go at all. I'm also completely beat as to why locking/unlocking it would make it work? Surely if the car unlocks fine it shouldn't make the immobiliser cut the fuel? I'm basically at a loss as to what to do next to stop it from happening again, and I would appreciate any advice. Cheers

What is happening is that the immobiliser system part of the BEM is not sending the correct signal to the ECU.

There have been numerous posts about this.

I had this problem twice. Dopey dealer changed the BEM, and keys. Lasted 3 months then occurred again.
Second repair resulted in the Key sensor circuit connector being removed and new direct wiring between the BEM and the ECU.

First, take the trim off above your right knee.

Find the 2 wire circuit that leads back from the clear plastic moulding around the ignition barrel.

Break and make this connector a few times.

Next are the connectors into the BEM. Carefull as the pins in the BEM circuit board look a little fragile.

Take the connectors off. Look at the metal ends with a good magnifying glass. Are they all undameged?, do they all sit in the same position.

Try starting.

I found that if the wiring / connectors into the BEM were gently wiggles then the car would start.
My problem only showed itself when the car was warm.

I have a suspicion that the crimping between the wire and one of the connectors was not 100% gastight or that one of the connectors was probably damaged when tested at the wiring manufacturer.

These things can take many years to actually cause a problem.

In the UK I was in charge of the Electrical Task Force on a leading commercial vehicle. My findings were that almost 80% of vehicle electrical faults at the time were actually caused by the harness testing methods actually damaging the circuit terminals. I even had a problem after 3+ years on my Capri Injection for exactly this reason.

Gerry

immob. wire making bad contact.... from ignition barell going down behind steering column

been covered heaps of times guys.. thats all it is

extremelly common magna problem

do a search youll find the guide how to fix it

yeah tape the plug that comes off the back of barrel, heres a pic, this fix cost me $5, for the tape.
http://i694.photobucket.com/albums/vv302/robssei/Pic0529.jpg

i read on a site yesterday coz i have the same problem atm and mitsubishi couldnt help me...there is the wire harness that robssei pointed out and apprently the other problem (which is mine i think) is there is a brown wire coming from the BEM to the ECU for the immob and this doenst connect proply so it stalls the car...ill find the site for you

EDIT: http://martybugs.net/articles/magna-stall.cgi there ya go

EDIT: http://martybugs.net/articles/magna-stall.cgi there ya go
Been there, done that - I even printed it out and gave it to my mechanic, who followed the info on it. That's why I'm confused, because it shouldn't be the connections between the BEM and ECU.


from ignition barell going down behind steering column
I've searched for immobiliser issues previously but haven't heard of that one before, but it makes sense... I'll give it a go, thanks. Thanks for the instructions too spud100.

i have the same problem, its really embarrasing when u keep tryinng and people are just staring at you and your car, some quick fix things for me was to quickly undo a battery connector before the ECU resets and connect it back that usually worked for me and locking and unlocking my doors also worked but ehh im gonna take it to a mitsu dealer one day and tell them to fix it

Check this thread

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?p=566539#post566539

Cheers

Mike

Did you end up getting the wires cut out and soldered? Did it make a difference?

I gave the wires under the dash a wiggle the other night and it hasn't done it since, but I'm looking for a more permanent solution than that...

Did you end up getting the wires cut out and soldered? Did it make a difference?

I gave the wires under the dash a wiggle the other night and it hasn't done it since, but I'm looking for a more permanent solution than that...

i did the same thing with the brown wire, i reached up and pushed it into the harness and haven't had a problem yet, i want it to not start so i cant find out if that is actually the issue. I rang Mitsubishi about it they said about 150 to fix it, considering its just soldering a wire i reckon thats a bit steep!

Anyone had any luck removing or bypassing this key sensor around the barrell and still be able to start. Apart from taking chip out of key and putting it on the sensor

Can't be done - not much of a security setup if it could be bypassed easily. Taping a spare key to the sensor and hiding both away under the dash, or an ECU reflash are options.