1996 300TDI Immobilizer

[HHP]

Can anyone tell me where the engine Immobilizer ECU is for my 1996 300TDI it's acting up and won't recognise the key code, I suspect it might be wet but I cant find it. :(

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Regards Alan Beale.

[BigA]

Alan,

isnt it in the drivers side footwell, side kickplate bit?

[Ricky]

Passenger footwell, behind glove box, should be a green box for 96, this site might be of use
http://www.remotekey.co.uk/cars/land-rover/identify-your-ecu/

[landroverkeith]

Alan,

isnt it in the drivers side footwell, side kickplate bit?

No cos thats where i drowned my disco at whaddon luckily it eint in there  [-o< cos there was rather a lot of water inside that day  :shock: :oops:

[davidlandy]

Lol

i remember that - if it was there Keith would had drowned it big style!

[bilge rat]

sure you dont mean the dreaded spider unit behind the dash, either wont turn the starter or fire up. ?.....

[BigA]

i thought it was one footwell or the other 

[stageonesimmo]

On my 96 XS its a light green placcy box with a silver sticker on the side, piggy backed onto the side of the ABS ECU in the passenger footwell, over to the left, but not behind the grey side trim panel.  The spider is a separate unit to the ECU and as far as I'm aware has nowt to do with the alarm signal/key code side of life - it just gets told what to do by the little green box - which by the way can be a right pain the 'arris to get off - mine only got 3 of its 3 nuts holding it on as a result of it messing with my mind......

[HHP]

Thanks for the replies

I have checked both foot well side kick panels and found lots of relays, all wet of course, I did find a green box up on the left side next to the window lifter control box but it had ABS on it and a label all in a foreign language. it had a tide mark half way up it so it was wet.

Any way latest news is that she is cranking over but the battery is shot so not enough umph to turn her over fast enough to start so still don't know if any more serious damage done to the engine or if the immobilizer is still cutting the fuel.

But I will keep trying and keep you posted.

Alan Beale.

[Frankie-Boy]

Good luck with it Alan, I hope it doesn't turn into something expensive.  :'(

[Ricky]

The green box is the alarm ecu ABS relates to the material its made from

[Guardian.]

 :lol: :lol: :lol:
not confusing then!

[Disco Matt]

If it turns but won't fire, the alarm spider is a likely candidate. Mine did this a couple of times before I found out what the problem was. Given the first time was while waiting to join a busy roundabout I wasn't inclined to risk it happening again!

[stageonesimmo]

Was the 'ABS' marking moulded into the plastic?  If it was it means the type of plastic its made from! 

The label on mine is written in German - its the EU Radio Frequency (RF) rules compliance sticker that gives the frequency it works at and states its conformity to the relevant regs/rules so as far as i can remember thats the right box of trickery right there.......  If its got that kind of info on it then its the right box as its the only one with any RF implications on the truck.

easiest way to rule out the thing, (and test the system without interference from the spider and stuff), is to run a feed direct from the battery to the solenoid, or if you've got no wire handy just unscrew it, (bit fiddly but can be done in a couple of minutes with the right size ring spanner), remove the plunger from inside and re-fit the thing with out it - you'll need to stall it to stop it if it does start though........

Beaten to some of this but I'll post it anyway!

[ben_haynes]

Passenger footwell, behind glove box, should be a green box for 96, this site might be of use
http://www.remotekey.co.uk/cars/land-rover/identify-your-ecu/

they are clever guys and will sort your ECU out, my dads P38 died with Imobiliser faults, we took the BECM up to him and he reprogrammed it and supplyed a new keyfob for it

[Ricky]

Not only clever but helpfull as well. i have used them a few times.
i drowned my 95 disco, water upto the steering wheel :'( Mine was the earlier black alarm ecu which is no longer available and mine literaly melted, they made me a short loom adapter so i could fit the later green ecu. they also do a postal sevice

[ben_haynes]

Not only clever but helpfull as well. i have used them a few times.
i drowned my 95 disco, water upto the steering wheel :'( Mine was the earlier black alarm ecu which is no longer available and mine literaly melted, they made me a short loom adapter so i could fit the later green ecu. they also do a postal sevice

yes the only people we could find (my uncle recomended them as he works for liverage 4X4, who must use them a-lot) who knew what we was on about when we explained the faults :clap: :clap:

[stageonesimmo]

Mmm, folk sing remotekey's praises but when my fob failed I got a new one  from the dealer, had it programmed and an old spare programmed as well for the same price as remotekey wanted for the same for one fob with no waiting on the postman, to me the waiting bit clinched it - same cost, no wait - dealer won...........

[ben_haynes]

Mmm, folk sing remotekey's praises but when my fob failed I got a new one  from the dealer, had it programmed and an old spare programmed as well for the same price as remotekey wanted for the same for one fob with no waiting on the postman, to me the waiting bit clinched it - same cost, no wait - dealer won...........

my dad went up there nd got it done and chacked while he sat in the reception, he was even shown his own BECM on there computer system and shown the key fob being programmed in  :D that is very helpfull

we are going over there soon to sort my mums disco key fobs out, and will keep using them and Recommending them to people as they are a tons cheaper than Dealer prices

[stageonesimmo]

Hey, whatever flicks yer switch - Ha! geddit?.............   :lol:

[landroverkeith]

Lol

i remember that - if it was there Keith would had drowned it big style!

still trying to forgot it here dave lol

[Jake]

If it is the 'spider' it'll be the whole centre dash out to get to it
I know this because i changed mine recently
Its not that bad though, i did it in my lunch break  :D

The black box with the black wires coming out of the right is the imobiliser spider (a switch unit which gives power to every thing on the security circuit, or not if its broken  :roll:)

Good luck
 

[Disco Matt]

You have two choices when you get to it:

Bin the offending part and fit a bypass plug (an official LR part, AMR4956)

Or pop the spider box open (the end by the socket unclips) and resolder the dry joints that cause the problem.

[HHP]

Hi Chaps

Thanks for all the advice, you were right it was the green box passenger foot well, so got a new one from Remotekey and two new fobs, they also supplied me with a bridging plug to bypass the spider so I would not have to get it programmed, apparently the spider forwards the signal to the fuel pump.

So Tuesday evening aremed with the new bits I pulled out the centre dash binnacle, and that's were it all went pair shaped NO +%**ING SPIDER, not there, gone, vanished, missing, AWOL, empty space, no nuffing!!!! :?. So Wednesday back on the phone to Remotekey, "Oh" he said "are yes" he said "you must have the fuel pump with the code reader in the black plastic box on the back of the pump, Landrover made about 6 of them, you got two choices get the pump reprogrammed to the new green box or smash the unit off the back of the pump and hot wire the solenoid.

So I have got to make the choice, can't say I want to take a hammer to the most expensive part on the whole engine so I guess it's get it reprogrammed, anyone know anyone who could do that for me?

Oh what fun. :?

Thanks again lads.  Alan....

[Dr Neil]

You could take the pump off and take it to a diesel specialist and have them remove the box!Then all you need is an ignition feed to the stop solenoid.Might be worth a thought??

[HHP]

Hi Folks
Car is all fixed now, I decided to knock the unit off the back of the pump and it actually came away very easily so all is well, solenoid wired through the ignition so stops and starts OK alarm works so does central locking, but last week the starter gave out so had to get a new one of them. :(

Still let that be a lesson to us all, walk an unknown course first look out for the hidden nastiest and most of all know where your immobilizer unit is and move it up higher.

Happy off roading chaps :D