Faulty Immobilisor Car Won't Start

[DaveBloke]

I have a Ford Focus 1.8 Titanium tdci on a 56 plate. I went to go shopping and I started the car. It ran for 5 seconds before cutting out and it wouldn't start again. So I called the rac and he couldn't get it started. He connected it up to his diagnostic machine and told me that it could be the fuel pump gone because there was no pressure in the fuel line.

Got it towed to a local garage and it sat there for a week before they looked at it. When they did look at it they told me that it came up on the diagnostic as a faulty immobiliser and that the Ecu needed reprogramming and only a ford garage could it and it would cost around £95

I then got it towed to my nearest ford garage which is 11 miles away. They told me they would run their own diagnostic. They diagnosed a faulty immobiliser and told me that they needed to send the instrument cluster away to be refurbished to the cost of £450 and it takes a week to come back.

When they got it back they fitted the cluster only to find that the problem was still there. They sent it back to the refurbishers only to be told that they tested it and it was working fine. They then ordered a new cluster which when fitted will cost me around £600 and fitted that only to find that it had already been reprogrammed to a different car with 70,000 miles on the clock.

I didn't want to take it to a ford garage because I had been ripped off before by ford.

I have been without my beloved Focus for three weeks now and have been relying on workmates for lifts to work.

Does anyone know wether this problem with my car could be something other than the immobiliser? I'm hoping that it would be a cheaper fix than £600.

Thanks in advance :-)

[artscot79]

has anyone looked at the key theres a chip in the key that if faulty will not start the car the fact ford diagnosed it as a cluster means if you call ford uk or the dealers you shoulkd expect the refund of the cluster since it was not faulty or at fault so thats fords mistake also a new cluster wouldnt have been programmed already so it wasnt new it was second hand and even then if youre car has 70k or more on the clock reprogramming it to youre car shouldnt be an issue so far ive heard nothing about checking the actual chip in the key if you have a spare key for the car try to see if that starts it

[DaveBloke]

I never even knew about the chip in the key fob. I was asked by the rac man to get my spare key and he did try and start it. Unfortunatly that didn't work. The cluster was ordered from Brunel Ford in Swindon and the garage told me that they put their returned stock straight back on the shelf without checking it. Maybe I should call Brunel ford and have a few words with them to see what they say. maybe they will have a better understanding of the problem i'm having with my car.

[Stoney871]

Have they checked the transponder ring around the ignition barrel or resyncing the keys with an IDS module?

Surely they should have started with the bacics before jumping on the expensive parts?

[artscot79]

exactly what im thinking stoney seems a heck of a jump to assume its the cluster without checking transponder chips ignition rings etc first 70k on a cluster isnt returned stock thats at least 5 years old

[Stoney871]

If they have a new cluster programmed to 70k in stock then it's obvious they've tried fobbing someone off the same way before and got stuck with it so tried passing it on to someone else to recoup losses as they can't send it back up the supply chain.

Probably had it gathering dust on the shelf waiting for the next poor sap to turn up that they could palm it off on.

[DaveBloke]

So heres the latest on the saga of my ford focus. Ok since the garage have fitted the used cluster they have since fitted a brand new unit only to find that it did not solve the problem. They then got an autoelectrician to come in and check the wiring on my immobiliser and he could'nt find a problem. They then told me it could be the keys so they ordered them in and programmed them. And guess what. It still did'nt solve the problem.

They are left scratching their heads on what to do next. They are now telling me me that they are going to get a ford troubleshooter in to see if he can find the fault. And that the garage will call me at the end of the week to keep me uopdated.

Now heres the interesting bit. I asked him what price i'm looking at and he went through the bill and the total was £570. And my car is not even fixed. Am i right in thinking that i don't have to pay this because i would say that this was a misdiagnosis of the fault?

I've been without my car for 4 weeks now and i think they are taking the biscuit.

[artscot79]

not really you may have to pay for it im afraid

[Stoney871]

You can ask them to replace the original parts but will likely still need to pay labour costs.

[johnH]

I wonder if anyone has tested to see if the fuel pump and rail is priming to start the car, or in other words an air lock in the fuel system.

From what you remember, does the immo light in the middle of cluster go out when you try and start? if so the immo is fine and will be fuel/starting issues.

[Richardsclark]

Was there a solution to this issue ?