Immobiliser

Hi, I have a 2014 Jimny and I’m having a problem with what I think is the immobiliser. He just randomly won’t start! I’ve had a brand new battery and changed my key. It’s been to the garage a few times and first they were saying I was the key and then they said the car side of the immobiliser and now that have said they don’t know what’s wrong 🤷‍♀️ any help/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks 

Most often when the Key is not recognised by the ecu there is a yellow blinking light with a padlock on the dash.
Any warning lights on the dashboard?
When it Does not start, is there a studder or is it completely dead?


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The padlock light is there but doesn’t blink. When it starts it just starts normally, no stutters or anything. When it doesn’t start everything lights up and comes on except the engine ☹️

Marie25 wrote:

The padlock light is there but doesn’t blink.

This suggests that the problem is NOT immobilizer related.

Tell us what happens when it does not start - is this a no crank scenario or a crank but no fire scenario?

What lights are on on the dash, be specific, Charge? Oil? Check Engine?

At the moment it is working so there are no lights on the dash. When it’s not working it doesn’t click, stutter nothing! Everything turns on, radio etc but then nothing else. You turn the key, not even a little click! The mechanic said he hasn’t got a clue and it will probably keep doing it which is absolutely no help at all! No engine management lights, no oil nothing like that.

Marie25 wrote:

At the moment it is working so there are no lights on the dash. When it’s not working it doesn’t click, stutter nothing! Everything turns on, radio etc but then nothing else. You turn the key, not even a little click! The mechanic said he hasn’t got a clue and it will probably keep doing it which is absolutely no help at all! No engine management lights, no oil nothing like that.

I'm going to ask this question again, because the answer is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.  If necessary, put a pencil & paper in the car, maybe use a cell phone camera, wait for the next time it won't start, and make a note of which dash lights are on when you're trying to start it.

The ones I am interested in are the charge light, the oil light and the check engine or engine management lights.

Moving on - an immobilizer issue will not prevent the engine from cranking when the key is turned - let me rephrase that - a problem with the factory immobilizer will not prevent the engine from cranking - with an immobilizer issue, you'll turn the key to on, the usual dash lights will come on, including the charge, oil pressure & check engine, the immobilizer light will be flashing and when you turn the key to start, the engine will crank but not fire.

You say you're not getting even a click when the key is turned - that points to an electrical problem.  If you are correct and the charge, oil & check engine lights are not coming on, that is a problem with the power to the ignition circuit, that along with the no crank suggests the ignition switch itself may be the issue.

You might need to have an auto-electrician look at this rather than a mechanic.