In an attempt at murdering her car and her youngest child at a single stroke, my daughter allowed the nipper to suck the remote key/fob thingy. As a result the remote didn't work, and attempting to open the car using the key just set the alarm off. Today an RAC man told her that the car had a Toad aftermarket remote/alarm on top of its own immobiliser; that Toad alarms are 'a nightmare'; that when anything goes wrong with them they arm the factory immobiliser; and that the latter takes 'three computers' to reset and can only be dealt with by Renault who will charge £300.
Apart from confirming my view that remote key fobs containing a battery are stupid fussy unnecessary things guaranteed to be a PITA sooner or later, these events have immobilised my daughter. Her fiance, who obtained the car secondhand (it's a very nice little roller skate too), is working dawn-to-dusk at present and can't grapple with it.
Anyone got a short-cut answer? I doubt it. But fingers crossed.
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But the blipper in the airing cupboard for a couple of days fit a new battery then try again?
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Seem to remember my father in law having a similar problem with an immobiliser. Don't think he had been sucking his keys but may have got them wet somehow. This was pronounced incurable without considerable expense. He removed the immobiliser which of course left the car more vulnerable and would almost certainly have caused his insurance company to suck their teeth but the car functioned again after the surgery.
It was, however, a Proton so may have been less likely to be attractive to thieves than a Clio.
Couple of years later it was involved in an accident which led to it being written off but no mention was made of the missing immobiliser. I have no idea how you go about removing immobilisers or even where to look for one but someone might.
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 04/04/2009 at 18:08
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Thanks to both of you. Daughter's fiance is a real no-nonsense car nut (almost makes me ashamed of my own dilettantish, theoretical approach and failure to put money where mouth is) and will probably be midway through the mfarrow solution, which is the most logical one, right now...
He knew the car had an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser but didn't know what kind it was. If there's a straightforward way of disabling the device(s) he will be able to do it.
Edited by Lud on 04/04/2009 at 19:21
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I expect the keyfob is pretty chewed-up about the abuse it received.
You might be able to revive it by opening it up then gently cleaning and drying.
Use a soft toothbrush and neat water, preferably de-ionised or filtered, to clean up the pcb, battery and casing. The contact surface on the rear of rubber membrane type keypads is often just a light coat of graphite so take extra care there.
Dry it with a hairdryer (not too hot).
I have successfuly revived a video remote this way after it had Fanta spilled over it.
Kevin...
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Have a look at Remote Key Ltd.
They may have an answer.
www.remotekey.co.uk/keyfob-FAQ/
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The toady thing has wires going to both door lock circuit and possibly crankshaft senser or fuel pump or ignition circuit or all of them.All the toad does is spliff into these type of circuits and link them to the toady box where they get turned on or off by relays when you push the blipper
Any man who had a mechano set an easy electronics set for boys and knows how to wire a 3 point plug could unravel these cables and rejoin the original factory wires to their un chopped in state
Unfortunately most people under 30 wouldnt have a clue so an expensive car electrician engineer with epauletts on his ovvies is probably needed
remember the idea of toady is to put off the burglar so connections in and out ar toady secrets
sorry
but it is pretty easy if you have a smouldering iron and patience
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Thanks to all of you. Advice duly passed on.
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