stuzbot
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2021
- Messages
- 472
OK. This is going to be a bit of a vague "How long is a piece of string"? type question. But here goes:
Having endured nothig but rain for about the past fortnight here, I went out to give the engine a turn over today as, the battery was pretty flat last time I started it.
Anyway, the batttery was dead, so I started the truck off my jumper pack and drove it up and down the lane for a bit. Just to get the juices flowing. When I pulled up and stopped and blipped the key to lock the doors, nothing happened. I then noticed that the immobiliser light wasn't flashing on the dash either. So I put in the key and turned on the ignition.... Nada. Not even a single light on the dashboard. Completely dead electrically.
So, thinking the battery had really died this time, I went off to fetch the jump pack again. When I got back to the truck, I noticed the immobiliser light flashing again as normal and, when I tried my key fob, it locked/unlocked the doors, also as normal. I got in and turned on the ignition and got all my lights back on the dash. Even started the engine, though it was a bit reluctant, due to flatt battery.
When I switched off again, the same thing happened. No immobiliser, no lights at all on the dash and no keyfob locking. I went off to put the jump pack away again and, when I got back to the truck, the immobiliser light was back on and everything was working properly again. It was like the car was completely electrically dead but, if I left it a few minutes, everything would come back to life again.
So, my question, not knowing much about immobilisers and their mysterios ways; does that sound like something any of you have experienced with a flat battery / immobiliser scenario?
I've taken the battery off and put it on my smart charger, which suggests it was on about 12.2 volts and somewhere around 50% charge. So it was fairly flat. But I wouldn't have thought the immobiliser circuitry would need more than a trickle voltage to operate. And it was also weird that there was totally nothing electrical showing at all. Not even a light on the dash, when the ignition was on.
Most peculiar!
BTW -- the immobiliser isn't an OEM one. But was fitted by a previous owner. So that adds the potential for random spaghetti wiring into the mix.
Having endured nothig but rain for about the past fortnight here, I went out to give the engine a turn over today as, the battery was pretty flat last time I started it.
Anyway, the batttery was dead, so I started the truck off my jumper pack and drove it up and down the lane for a bit. Just to get the juices flowing. When I pulled up and stopped and blipped the key to lock the doors, nothing happened. I then noticed that the immobiliser light wasn't flashing on the dash either. So I put in the key and turned on the ignition.... Nada. Not even a single light on the dashboard. Completely dead electrically.
So, thinking the battery had really died this time, I went off to fetch the jump pack again. When I got back to the truck, I noticed the immobiliser light flashing again as normal and, when I tried my key fob, it locked/unlocked the doors, also as normal. I got in and turned on the ignition and got all my lights back on the dash. Even started the engine, though it was a bit reluctant, due to flatt battery.
When I switched off again, the same thing happened. No immobiliser, no lights at all on the dash and no keyfob locking. I went off to put the jump pack away again and, when I got back to the truck, the immobiliser light was back on and everything was working properly again. It was like the car was completely electrically dead but, if I left it a few minutes, everything would come back to life again.
So, my question, not knowing much about immobilisers and their mysterios ways; does that sound like something any of you have experienced with a flat battery / immobiliser scenario?
I've taken the battery off and put it on my smart charger, which suggests it was on about 12.2 volts and somewhere around 50% charge. So it was fairly flat. But I wouldn't have thought the immobiliser circuitry would need more than a trickle voltage to operate. And it was also weird that there was totally nothing electrical showing at all. Not even a light on the dash, when the ignition was on.
Most peculiar!
BTW -- the immobiliser isn't an OEM one. But was fitted by a previous owner. So that adds the potential for random spaghetti wiring into the mix.