S40 V40: Car won't start (immobiliser)

[V40 Owner]

Argh!

Only got the car a few days ago, and now it won't start. Immobiliser light flashing...

Of course, part of this may be my own fault. Yesterday, and today, I was seeing how far away the fob will open the car and then all this happens. I read in the helpful owners manual:

Do not try to operate the doors from too great a distance or you may trigger the immobiliser

Among further weirdnesses, I noticed the other day that the rear fog lights don't work. I got a Haynes manual with the car (Is this a good or a bad sign?!) and looked it up ... Fuse 4 in the bulkhead - horn, alarm, rear fogs. Funnily, the horn doesn't seem to work either. Perhaps the fuse has blown or the previous owner disconnected it. Haven't dared look yet unless I unearth a whole series more of problems ...

So. It looks like I have a car that MAY have an alarm problem, and the immobiliser seems to have tripped. How do I reset the immobiliser?

Some reading around here and there suggested going through the lock/unlock cycle five times with the remote should reset it. No joy there. How exactly are you supposed to do it? I mean, people say 'lock/unlock' which implies one must first unlock the car; so is there anything special I should do in that respect? i.e. should I unlock it with the key or the fob? Should I relock it with the key first? I dunno ...

Other posts on here suggest that faulty bonnet switches and/or faulty wiring under the radiator can cause the immobiliser/alarm to trigger; same story for boot. At the moment I haven't had a look at any of that as it was suggested elsewhere that if left for five hours the immobiliser would reset, so I am trying that just now ... unless anyone has any better ideas?

Hope someone can provide some helpful suggestions, thanks ...

e2a: Forgot to clarify - the car is an S-reg (1998) 2.0 V40 ... anything more exact than that, then I'd have to go downstairs and look at it ...

[V40 Owner]

Hmm, for the curious, I got the car to start (eventually) by closing/opening the doors five times with the remote, then ignition off-II-off-II-off-II and then click-click-click-click on the remote to re-pair the immobiliser and fob. Overall, not a good sign?

Although I did get it going that way, when I subsequently stopped at services after a wee thrash, it did it again. Second time I stopped, it seems to have stayed 'paired' OK.

Wonky aerial?

e2a: I mean drive, sorry. One doesn't 'thrash' a V40

[samoilis1970]

Originally Posted by V40 Owner

Argh!

Only got the car a few days ago, and now it won't start. Immobiliser light flashing...

Of course, part of this may be my own fault. Yesterday, and today, I was seeing how far away the fob will open the car and then all this happens. I read in the helpful owners manual:

Do not try to operate the doors from too great a distance or you may trigger the immobiliser

Among further weirdnesses, I noticed the other day that the rear fog lights don't work. I got a Haynes manual with the car (Is this a good or a bad sign?!) and looked it up ... Fuse 4 in the bulkhead - horn, alarm, rear fogs. Funnily, the horn doesn't seem to work either. Perhaps the fuse has blown or the previous owner disconnected it. Haven't dared look yet unless I unearth a whole series more of problems ...

So. It looks like I have a car that MAY have an alarm problem, and the immobiliser seems to have tripped. How do I reset the immobiliser?

Some reading around here and there suggested going through the lock/unlock cycle five times with the remote should reset it. No joy there. How exactly are you supposed to do it? I mean, people say 'lock/unlock' which implies one must first unlock the car; so is there anything special I should do in that respect? i.e. should I unlock it with the key or the fob? Should I relock it with the key first? I dunno ...

Other posts on here suggest that faulty bonnet switches and/or faulty wiring under the radiator can cause the immobiliser/alarm to trigger; same story for boot. At the moment I haven't had a look at any of that as it was suggested elsewhere that if left for five hours the immobiliser would reset, so I am trying that just now ... unless anyone has any better ideas?

Hope someone can provide some helpful suggestions, thanks ...

e2a: Forgot to clarify - the car is an S-reg (1998) 2.0 V40 ... anything more exact than that, then I'd have to go downstairs and look at it ...

Hi my v40 used to have the same problem with the immobiliser,I recon you have a loose connection under the steering collum.Give it a knock with your hand,I did the same on my and it is fine now.Also if that doesn't work take the cover off and look out for a loose connections ,I Hope that helps.

[V40 Owner]

Update: So far the status is:

- Got the car going (or know how to get it going).
- Fixed the horn/foglights (blown fuse)

However, the alarm seems to be disconnected (a relay is missing). Now I'm just fine with leaving it disconnected since in the unlikely event the car was nicked (presuming they could bypass the immobiliser) the fact that the relay was missing (making the alarm inoperative) would not be seen as unusual if the vehicle was recovered ... From reading about on here it's likely the alarm's gone faulty at some time and I don't know if fixing it is worth the trouble.

Is it worth my time trying to get the alarm working again (once I conclusively sort my immobiliser problem)?

[S40nTexas]

Good Day! I just purchased a 2005 Volvo S40T and the 2 "constants" in all the on-line reviews I read reference 1) problems with the engine immobilizer and 2) an issue with oil shortening the lifespan of the timing belt. What I would like to ask of members on this forum is can the immobilizer be bypassed altogether and, if so, would you be so kind as to provide the steps? Thank you in advance.

[gatos]

Originally Posted by S40nTexas

Good Day! I just purchased a 2005 Volvo S40T and the 2 "constants" in all the on-line reviews I read reference 1) problems with the engine immobilizer and 2) an issue with oil shortening the lifespan of the timing belt. What I would like to ask of members on this forum is can the immobilizer be bypassed altogether and, if so, would you be so kind as to provide the steps? Thank you in advance.

Hi. I am afraid you have posted in the wrong section. This section is for the MK1 1996-2004 S40 and V40. Try posting a new thread here: http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=58 and hopefully they will be able to help you with your problem.