[Flyinfool]

today I headed out for a bunch of errands. As soon as I left the house I noticed an unusual yellow icon illuminated on the dash. I had to head for the Owners manual to figure out what it was. Turns out it was the "Immobilizer Light". Proper operation is that it should light for a few seconds after you start the engine along with all of the others that light for a few seconds. It SHOULD then turn off along with the rest. But today it did not turn off. According to the owners manual if it is on the engine should not be able to be started, it is part of the theft deterrent system. BUT mine was lit thru going to 5 different stores. The car ran normal thru all of this trip. After the last stop I was going to drop off the wife at home and then run the car to the dealer to check it out. Of course as it always happens on the last start to head home. the light went off just like it should, I have not been able to get it to malfunction again.
I do have concerns since if this feature malfunctions it is designed to render the car immobilized. I hate to bother the dealer with something that is working as it should and I can not reproduce, cuz I know they will just send me back home. But then since this able to render the car immobile, I worry about the wife driving it in this frigid weather.


Arrrrgggggggg.................

 

[beeguz]

I would write it off to a glitch, I would stop by the dealer, tell them the immobilizer light came on, just to get it on the record.(in case it screws up when the warranty is almost gone)

I would have the service guy write it up, if it does screw up you have a piece of paper saying this thing screwed up once before.

If it is as cold where you are as it is here in the northeast it could be the cold that caused the fault, or if you used a key other than the one that came with the car may cause the light to go on.

 

[Flyinfool]

I thought about the key.
The key I had that day is a third one that I had bought from dealer with the car (we need 3 keys). BUT the same key did work correctly many times before, it is the key I always use, and did work correctly on the last leg of my days shopping. Yes it is cold here to, temp was about 0°F, wind chill around -15°F. I am in Wisconsin, When I get sick of the weather here I send it on east to the North east part of the country for you to enjoy.

I think I may have found a possible clue.
When you unlock the car with the remote, pushing unlock once will unlock the drivers door and a second push will unlock the rest of the doors. I wonder if I was hitting the unlock button to fast to also unlock for the wife to get in and it had not finished the full unlock sequence to fully disarm the Immobilizer? Gonna have to do some experimenting.

I hate when I can think or act faster than the puter........................

 

[BowTie]

But then if she interrupted it, theoretically it wouldn't have opened the door..? Or would it? I'm really not 100% sure, I'm just trying to aid speculation here.

My typical experience with malfunction theft deterrent systems is if the light keeps flashing, the car would turn over and then shut off immediately. Every time. So this is different and I would like to know what's going on as well !

 

[beeguz]

My typical experience with malfunction theft deterrent systems is if the light keeps flashing, the car would turn over and then shut off immediately. Every time. So this is different and I would like to know what's going on as well !

That is what is designed to do, the car will attempt to run but then the fuel pump is shut off when it doesn't see the right key or the car thinks its being stolen.

That 3rd key is probably the culprit, I hate the new keys with transponders in them, aftermarket keys are never the same as the manufacturer keys.

I saw people on youtube taking transponders out of their original keys, then taping them to the steering column so they could use a regular cut key, that way they didn't have to pay 50 dollars for a key.

 

[Flyinfool]

This 3rd key that I have is NOT aftermarket. It is OEM purchased from the dealer as part of the sale. There is no way to tell the 3 keys apart other than the serial number. If the weather behaves I will try some more experiments this week end. So far it has continued to work as it should.

It might even have something to do with the sub zero F temps last Saturday.

 

[Tracking]

Hm... it has never gotten that cold around there before ??

 

[5457]

I've noticed the infotainment screen takes a longer time to come on when it's around freezing temp, which isn't often here in SoCal. Also... there's a setting in the infotainment menu where you can set all door locks to unlock on the first press of the remote dongle, I like it more than the default setting where you have to press it twice.

 

[beeguz]

Cold tends to put a damper on everything, wish I could get my body to respond, when it gets near zero.

 

[Flyinfool]

It has gotten a LOT colder than zero around here, I just never drove the Trax when it was sub zero before. Wife only has learned to look at speed and gas, the rest is meaningless to her.

I will have to look for that door unlock option.

 

[Tracking]

So then maybe it was just that. Perhaps on one of those days, try to take it out and see if the same thing re-occurs. If it's been alright so far since, I doubt you have anything to really worry about.

 

[Flyinfool]

Well it needs gas again so I will be "allowed" to drive her car this weekend. Funny how it always needs gas when it is my turn to drive it around.
I will do some messing with it to see if I can reproduce the light.

 

[beeguz]

Wish I could give my car to someone else when it needs gas, that would save me a ton of money.

 

[Tracking]

Lol it's the give and take. You provide the gas and you get a turn to drive it around...you also don't get in trouble lol.

 

[Flyinfool]

I can always get in trouble. She seems to have issues with me always wanting to drive sideways in snow.

I did some messing with it over the weekend, I am still not able to reproduce the error. ARRRRgggggggg, I HATE intermittent stuff. Now it will be a while before it needs gas again.

 

[beeguz]

I can always get in trouble. She seems to have issues with me always wanting to drive sideways in snow.

I did some messing with it over the weekend, I am still not able to reproduce the error. ARRRRgggggggg, I HATE intermittent stuff. Now it will be a while before it needs gas again.

I hope it was a one of, and that is the last time you see it.

 

[Flyinfool]

Nope it is not a one off error.
The stupid light is coming on most times that I drive it now, It is due for an oil change so I will be taking it to the dealer and have them check out the light also.

 

[Flyinfool]

Well dropped the Trax off at the dealership last night and they will be working on it today.
They checked for any codes and there were none. Of course the stupid Immobilizer light was on for the whole drive to the dealer. It never fails, the light went off for when the dealer looked at it. They will take the car for a ride today to see if it will come on, and they will be doing several start stop cycles moving it around for the oil change. Here's hoping that the light comes on for them.

They did look for any pending recalls and there were none. The looked for any service bulletins and there were none. So of course the standard answer is that this is something no one has ever seen before.

 

[Flyinfool]

Well I just got a call from the dealer.
Even though they were unable to reproduce the Immobilizer light staying on, there was a "hidden" code in the BCM computer that the standard code reader could not see, and there is a service bulletin for this issue. They had to reprogram the BCM. I sure hope this makes it go away and not just work correctly by killing the engine.

The service guy said that all the details are on the work order for me to read.

I pick the car up tonight, we will see how it works.

 

[Gustav]

My mom is having the same issue. Do you have any of the info from the work order so i can have her tell them what to look for?