HELP! Immobilizer Hell

[Phreak]

Can somebody help me out... I was connecting my dash cam using a tie in connector with the windshield wiper fuse and after I had cleaned everything up the car wouldn't start. When I hit the power for the radio it started flashing "IMMOBILIZER FAULT - SERVICE IMMEDIATELY"

So far I've tried disconnecting the battery, I also removed the tie-in to see if that would help.... nope. I am at a total loss as to what I can do here.

I called Ford, who recommended I tow it to the dealership... you know, instead of just telling me how to reset it

I've read if I disconnect the battery for 24hrs it will reset, but that is a serious PITA and no guarantee of working.

Does anybody know what the button/pedal combination is to reset this stupid thing?

 

[D1JL]

Well you have managed to do something I have never done.

Put your car back to normal.

Call Ford Road Side Assistance.

Don't say anything about what you tried to do.




Dave

 

[Phreak]

Pretty much... going to leave the battery disconnected all night, then tomorrow I will see if it will fire up. If not... out comes the dash cam, and a call to Ford to come tow it away.

Guess the lesson here is disconnect the battery if you ever change fuses

 

[Phreak]

Yeah it is hooped... I removed the dash cam tap, left the battery disconnected for an hour and then after reconnecting it I just let it sit for about 15 minutes. Car does not want to start, it just keeps flashing that message at me.

I can hear something clicking away behind the glove box though when I try to start it

 

[Sekred]

Check all your fuses including the fuses located in the engine compartment, my vehicle had a similar problem when I had a blown fuse (engine compartment).

 

[Phreak]

Do the wipers tie into another fused system? Maybe the fuse-tap I have is faulty and it tipped another one

 

[Sekred]

Do the wipers tie into another fused system? Maybe the fuse-tap I have is faulty and it tipped another one

I do not have a wiring diagram so I can't tell you, I blew a fuse on a circuit that seemed to be unrelated to what I was doing at the time.

 

[Phreak]

I checked all of the fuses under the hood, they all look good

I started going through the fuses behind the glovebox... so far so good. I will try again to start it tomorrow after leaving it disconnected all night, then finish checking those fuses before I make the road service call.

 

[koozy]

how about trying your other immobilizer key fob?

 

[Phreak]

Was the first thing I tried

I phoned roadside assistance... they had me jiggle the steering wheel, didn't work. So there is a tow truck coming now

 

[lildevilx]

Was the first thing I tried

I phoned roadside assistance... they had me jiggle the steering wheel, didn't work. So there is a tow truck coming now

That sucks man... hopefully you get that fixed soon man

Keep us up dated!

 

[Phreak]

Ok, so they fixed it

Apparently it was a blown ignition fuse... not sure how that could have happened though

 

[rexdriver85]

Glad you got it resolved. You said you checked all the fuses so I wonder what the real story is unless you accidentally missed one?

 

[westcoaST]

The interior fuses have fuse 1 as your ignition switch and fuse 11 as your wiper switch. If you pull a switch when the battery is live, and then put it in, with one blade touching the fuse block, you may short out the ignition switch. Checking fuses requires physically pulling the fuse and looking for signs of a blown fuse. Modern fuses cannot be examined without pulling them, like the older ones, as there is typically no sign a fuse has blown. I would recommend pulling the negative terminal of the battery and wrapping it in a clean cloth to prevent accidential contact with the battery before you work on anything electrical. Last thing you want is having to trace a burnt or fused wire in the dash.

 

[FordServiceCA]

Can somebody help me out... I was connecting my dash cam using a tie in connector with the windshield wiper fuse and after I had cleaned everything up the car wouldn't start. When I hit the power for the radio it started flashing "IMMOBILIZER FAULT - SERVICE IMMEDIATELY"

So far I've tried disconnecting the battery, I also removed the tie-in to see if that would help.... nope. I am at a total loss as to what I can do here.

I called Ford, who recommended I tow it to the dealership... you know, instead of just telling me how to reset it

I've read if I disconnect the battery for 24hrs it will reset, but that is a serious PITA and no guarantee of working.

Does anybody know what the button/pedal combination is to reset this stupid thing?

...

Ok, so they fixed it

Apparently it was a blown ignition fuse... not sure how that could have happened though

Glad to hear it's been repaired, Phreak. Feel free to reach out if anything else comes up.

Mariel

 

[Phreak]

^^ Thanks!

The interior fuses have fuse 1 as your ignition switch and fuse 11 as your wiper switch. If you pull a switch when the battery is live, and then put it in, with one blade touching the fuse block, you may short out the ignition switch. Checking fuses requires physically pulling the fuse and looking for signs of a blown fuse. Modern fuses cannot be examined without pulling them, like the older ones, as there is typically no sign a fuse has blown. I would recommend pulling the negative terminal of the battery and wrapping it in a clean cloth to prevent accidential contact with the battery before you work on anything electrical. Last thing you want is having to trace a burnt or fused wire in the dash.

I want to say that it is possible I shorted it out, but I had the fuse tap completely insulated prior to plugging it in

I still think what happened was the fuse box was live because I had the key nearby and when I was installing the ground I temporarily shorted it out


Anyway, moral of the story is new cars need to have the battery totally disconnected before touching any fuses... not just turned off

 

[westcoaST]

Yeah, based on the key being close, your ignition was hot. This changes everything. You are correct. Surge to ground. I've personally never experienced anything like that because I disconnect the battery before I do any electrical work.

 

[rexdriver85]

This is very good info. And it does change things a lot. The big truck world I work in doesn't have this kind of technology, thank god.

It's good to know these things now while the vehicles are new to us to avoid problems.

Of course you should still always disconnect the battery when doing any kind of electrical work, but the addition of these keyless ignition systems requires being extra aware when you are doing things.

 

[Phreak]

Yeah I've never really worried about fuses too much in the past, and certainly never had an issue like this. However the keyless aspect changes everything, you never know what system is active anymore and even something as simple as removing the wiper fuse without disconnecting the battery seems to be risky now.

I was looking at it though, I actually checked the #1 fuse to see if it was blown... it wasn't visibiliy blown when I looked