C180 Immobilised and Key will not unlock car.

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Hi All,

I just drove down to Winchester to Rescue my Little Sister and am having a nightmare with my dear old C180 Espirit.

The one button Key fob will no longer open the car and so the immobiliser is on. The lights on the Rear view mirror do not seem to be working but in truth I am unsure as to when I last saw them operate.

I have been through the threads as best I can and have tried taking apart the key, It is missing the red filter piece but has worked like this for the last three years, when held up to my digital camera i see a square flash and the red led comes on if I press and hold so this seems fine.

Merc have quoted me 200 for a new key but I am loathe to do this as it seems that it may well be another issue as the key worked before- I have replaced batteries in any case- no joy.

I have tried replacing fuse 27 in the engine bay and the fuel pump relay fuse seems ok. Would it be worth replacing the rear view mirror array and would this be possible for an electronics idiot like myself to attempt? Is there a way to remove the immobiliser and just use the key to open the passenger door and then the key to start and drive so that I can get back on the road?

I really need to find a way to get the old girl back on the road for a hell of a lot less than the hundreds of pounds merc seem to want to charge me....

Thanks so much in advance for any help/ideas.
 
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Dec

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There may be an immobiliser chip glued inside the fob below Red lens as illustrated in picture, this chip could have fallen out as the Red lens is missing.

attachment.php


If your key fob had this chip then the car won’t start if it is missing.

If your ignition lock looks EXACTLY like the one in below picture then you don’t have the chip inside the key fob as illustrated in above picture.
IGNb.jpg


Dec
 
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mine is without the chip- as in the pictures, the key worked 5 minutes before it stopped working and there is no chip in it.
on checking the secondary key(not working)there is also no chip.

Thanks

Andy
 

Dec

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Remote definitely passes the camera test when viewed through a digital camera like video below.
[YOUTUBE]zQhwvjw29NA[/YOUTUBE]

Dec
 
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the key doesnt look quite as bright as in the photo and the glow seems to be a square but it passes the test as best I can see. Synchronising doesn't work as far as I can tell, i jump started someone a couple of days ago If this could be an issue and the positive terminal clip came off, but the battery has been ok, its quite new and the locking worked fine for the next few days
 
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looking at the video, my key only seems to flash once, could this be a problem?
 

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Forgot to mention, have you checked any fuses related to central locking/infrared etc.
You say the Red lens is missing so perhaps your fob light will look different.

Has the car an alarm?
The immobiliser is under the passenger foot rest, the foot rest is secured with 3 plastic nuts, see if it is integrated/wired into an alarm box… if you have an alarm?

The remote in the video is working perfectly, note the button is being continually pressed so gives a continuos Blue/White light.

Dec

Edit; are ALL car battery terminals TIGHT
attachment.php

KeyfobAndBatteries.jpg
 
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I have tested the fuses for the central locking/infra red, they seem fine. The car battery terminals are tight.

On the key again I only get a single flash if pressed constantly, if all merc keys are supposed to give a continual signal it could well be that, there seem to be people who will refurb keys, could this be an option do you think, it still seems to cost £70 though

the switch is soldered to the board, is there another fix that could get me a consistant signal perhaps?


There is no alarm btw, to be honest I would only cause problems if i started playing with the immobiliser i guess lol
 
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It’s a signal from the remote key fob that disables the immobiliser/ unlocks the car and allows it to be started.

There now seems to be some doubt about whether your remote is working properly, the video above does demonstrate what you would see through a digital camera when the button is pressed.

A brief press of the button is all that is needed to produce a Blue/White light which should disables the immobiliser and unlock the car, holding the button down for more than 1 second will produce the Red flash which is just a battery test light, as you don’t have a Red lens in this remote you cant see the Red flash, you should transfer the Red lens from your other non working key fob to this one so that you can test it properly.

If the remote is faulty, to repair the remote I would suggest that you print out anywebs guide to fixing a remote key fob… see, … http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=26895 …and bring it to someone who is in the business of repairing electronic equipment like Mobile phone repair/computer repair shop, might only cost about £20… maybe?

An experienced person can identify what’s at fault and has the skill to repair it, if it were the switch that’s at fault then you MIGHT? get luckey and manage to get it to work one time so as you an start the car.

You could try operating the remote button out of its case like the guy in the video below, you will need to hold both batteries in contact with the Positive+ and Negative- contacts on the remote PCB while you point at the receiver in the rear view mirror and press the button… I’m assuming here that one of the legs on the button might be broken.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCqfivH9-Dg&feature=player_embedded

Dec

[YOUTUBE]?v=lCqfivH9-Dg[/YOUTUBE]
 
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Thanks Dec

the legs are all in place and I have tried the fob outside of its casing but with no joy. the key probably works but I think trying to get the other one fixed may be the plan for now, this way i can rule out the key and concentrate on other possibilities. The red led does flash which means the switch is in order and I can't find other repairs that I could possibly carry out but the broken(definately) spare fob is not getting power so possibly I can reflow the solder on the legs on that one.

I will let you know the outcome.

Has anyone heard of the sensor going wrong on the rear view mirror though?
 

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That’s a better plan, get the other fob working, like you say, you can’t do any thing until you establish for sure that the remote fob is not the cause of the fault.
Regarding the rear view mirror, it has been shown on here in the past that a non working Red led in mirror doesn’t stop the enabling or disabling of the immobiliser, the Red and Green on the mirror are, as far as I can know, purely a visual indicator of the locking/unlocking process and there failure would not cause the immobiliser to fail to disable or enable.

Get a good strong magnifying glass to use to examine the joints, be careful, there is some skill needed to solder.

Dec
 
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no joy unfortunately, both keys now seem to be working but neither will unlock the car. the car is locked and snowed in anyways but I think I may have to get a look at the sensor.
 

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the last resort is to bypass the imobiliser

some experts here will give u the info via private message
 

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I just unplugged mine when I had problems with the key / alarm.
Well actually it was more like a yank as it was 11.30 pm :rolleyes:
 

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Those keys can be reset by inserting in the ignition and pressing any button on the remote twice within 4 seconds.

I have known those keys to not operate the car, though it is sending out a beam
 

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If you want a rear view mirror I have several in the garage I can send you one for free just pay postage

A thought for the future
 
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If you want a rear view mirror I have several in the garage I can send you one for free just pay postage

A thought for the future

that would be brilliant. I think the keys are ok so that seems the most likely fix if I can try to fit it, no idea how i will but i guess i can find a diagram on the net.
 

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We had another thread last night with the same type of key where it was confirmed that the key had failed even though sending out a IR beam,,,, I have had many do the same, they seem to drift off frequency
 
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We had another thread last night with the same type of key where it was confirmed that the key had failed even though sending out a IR beam,,,, I have had many do the same, they seem to drift off frequency

is the only option in this case a new key?
 

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