A Perfect Storm (Ignition Switch & Immobilizer)
#1
02-26-2015, 05:15 PM
A Perfect Storm (Ignition Switch & Immobilizer)
After installing a new head unit and having my battery run down, I charged my battery over night and when I went to start it, I was getting no response...no engagement whatsoever from the solenoid, starter. Had the car (2001 a6 4.2) towed to my mechanic who futzed around with the ignition switch, cleared codes and got it started, but he still has no idea why it wouldn't start before and what caused it to clear up.
Here is the backstory:
I recently installed a new stereo. I do not drive much, so while setting up the stereo, I managed to run the battery down (less than 2 years old). Everything was working fine for a couple of days, but when I ran the stereo without the engine running for even a few minutes, the battery wear down pretty quickly. I was working on fine tuning the stereo and had grabbed my spare key to turn the ignition to Accessory. After about 5 minutes the battery died, so I figured I would give it a good overnight charge using a 2 amp charger.
The next morning I disconnected the charger, the battery had plenty of juice, but when I turned the key...nothing. Not even a clicking sound. All of the dash lights would come on as well as the headlights if i had them switched on. Called my mechanic, and he suggested that I try going back to using my spare key. Still nothing. Ended up having it towed to my mechanic. His diagnostic tool wasn't able to communicate with the immobilizer, but he thinks it is because of the age of the car. He got some error codes from the central locking module which he cleared, then used a method of jiggling the key and returning it to the start position. After doing this a few times it finally started. Since then it has not failed to start, but he is still not 100% sure what the issue was and/or what caused it to fail in the first place.
I don't know if it was just a perfect storm of the sequence in which I charged the battery, used the spare key then not used my primary key to somehow cause the immobilizer or theft deterrent system to trigger a no start. My mechanic says he is 99.9% sure that it was not the immobilizer or related to the new stereo.
So throwing it out there to see if anyone else has any theories on what may have occurred.
Thanks
Here is the backstory:
I recently installed a new stereo. I do not drive much, so while setting up the stereo, I managed to run the battery down (less than 2 years old). Everything was working fine for a couple of days, but when I ran the stereo without the engine running for even a few minutes, the battery wear down pretty quickly. I was working on fine tuning the stereo and had grabbed my spare key to turn the ignition to Accessory. After about 5 minutes the battery died, so I figured I would give it a good overnight charge using a 2 amp charger.
The next morning I disconnected the charger, the battery had plenty of juice, but when I turned the key...nothing. Not even a clicking sound. All of the dash lights would come on as well as the headlights if i had them switched on. Called my mechanic, and he suggested that I try going back to using my spare key. Still nothing. Ended up having it towed to my mechanic. His diagnostic tool wasn't able to communicate with the immobilizer, but he thinks it is because of the age of the car. He got some error codes from the central locking module which he cleared, then used a method of jiggling the key and returning it to the start position. After doing this a few times it finally started. Since then it has not failed to start, but he is still not 100% sure what the issue was and/or what caused it to fail in the first place.
I don't know if it was just a perfect storm of the sequence in which I charged the battery, used the spare key then not used my primary key to somehow cause the immobilizer or theft deterrent system to trigger a no start. My mechanic says he is 99.9% sure that it was not the immobilizer or related to the new stereo.
So throwing it out there to see if anyone else has any theories on what may have occurred.
Thanks
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