1996 Rav4 ? Immobiliser Problem

Hi all. I am new to this forum and do hope that you can help me.

I have a 1996 (n) Rav4 GX auto. Had it for almost two years now with no problems at all.

About two weeks ago it started fine in very cold weather and I drove it about a quarter of a mile and stopped for a while. ( getting the morning paper on way to wk!) Got back in the car and would not start. Starter motor didnt turn. Plenty of Battery power there though. Got a mechanic to look at it and he changed the starter motor saying that all was well. ( they arent cheap are they?!)

The following morning I drove to work as I did previously and the same thing happened again!! I turned the key and nothing was there. I called the mechanic again ( he wasnt happy!) and he took another look at it. The inhibitor switch is working fine. According to him, the voltage stayed high after attempting to start the car.

Eventually he tried alarming the car( factory fitted TTDS system 5000 and system 2) setting the alarm off - and disarming it and the car started first time!!

(I actually havent used the alarm since I bought the car because I found it rather annoying and unreliable. The car locks with the key.)

Following this I managed to find a key that fits in the black box on the bulkhead and turned it to switch the alarm side of things off. After this all has seemed to be well, the car only misbehaving once in almost two weeks and then it worked after arming and disarming the immobliser.

Today however it refused to start at all, despite our best efforts with the immobiliser on and off etc. My OH did try to locate the wiring for the immobliser in the hope that he could remove it but without success.

Strange thing is .......after all the fiddling around with the car he decided to top up the Battery power. Afterwards the car started!!

Can anyone throw any light on this? and does anyone know where we can locate the wiring for this damned immobliser?!

Hi and welcome.

Just a wild guess

How old is the Battery? it may be that this is what needs replacing if it is on it's way out. They usually show up faults in the colder weather. Has the Battery been properly checked? They don't last forever.

Hi and thanks for that!

We will check the battery- funnily enough this happened in the cold..........

do you have any advice on the immobiliser?

I will get back to you on the state of the Battery - thanks again

Hi and welcome

sorry I've had a kind of busy 3 days, coupled with a little hassle.....

I'll reply properly tomorrow but if i don't then pm me.

The 5000 alarm has served it time and best to get rid of it. Its a fairly simple fix, but fiddly to find the right wires to remove the immobiliser bit. Funnily enough my 2nd RAV seems to have developed a fault on its system. The number 1 had its alarm removed 3 years ago, and I helped a young chap in Ayrshire remove his alarm earlier this year. Its a matter of cutting out the alarm unit and reconnecting 2 wires which have been split by the alarm installation.

Its a wee bit late here and as I say, I'm too tired to post up the detail just now......... a tad too much cask strength malt and a crap nights sleep last night.....

Hi

Freezing cold this morning!

Checked the Battery and it appears to be fine. Car doesnt start!

Bothwell Buyer I hope you are ok this morning! I look forward to your help with this.

Here we are - showered and still in jamys......

I posted this in the rav4world.com forum earlier this year -

Lucky you - not! The co that made these alarms went bust 13 years ago. The fob you talk about reprograms itself to the alarm system by you holding the black button down for a spell until the frequencies synchronize. Thats assuming the car Battery is ok and the fob Battery is ok too. Its when one of these goes flat that the probs start.

My RAV had that system and we ended up getting it ripped out. I've just ripped out another same system from a RAVr in Ayrshire whose system had set the immobiliser off and wouldn't reset. To remove it, theres basically 2 pairs of wires which need to be joined together again - they were separated to patch in the alarm system/immobiliser. In the last RAV done, the first pair was below the steering column and the 2nd pair behind the drivers right hand side kick panel. Let me know if you need more info.

Or you can get an auto-electrician to do it....but its a 1 hour job if you know where to look.

There is a post on one of the 2 forums which give the instruction to join the 2 wires together but I can't remember which forum it is, and it didn't pinpoint where the wires were.....so here goes.....

The immobiliser box sits below the dashboard behind the glove box bit. Its full of black wires - I think about 8 to 10. Some of these go to the sensors mounted on the front windscreen pillars. I'm trying to remember if theres a second box in there as well (old age doesn't come cheap!).

No matter!

Take the glovebox lid off (2 screws) and place in rear and keep screws safe. Next, remove the plastic shroud/cover below steering wheel - the flat bit thats just above the pedals....again a couple of screws or so. Next remove the vertical plastic cover that covers over terminal blocks down at the right hand side of the drivers footwell - one or two screws here. For ease, take the plastic cover off the passenger side of the gearbox - the flat bit - as the immobiliser is likely strapped to a bit of metal behind that.

The immobiliser system works by interrupting the power to the ignition circuit and ecu from memory. So simply, there are 2 wires which have been cut in or around the area of that wiring block down at the footwell of the drivers side. (These alarms were not fitted at the factory but when the car came into the UK - and I have seen that each job is done slightly differently in where the wire is cut.)

What you need to do is follow the wires from the alarm box - identify 4 wires going across - ir for each wire that was interrupted, there will be a wire going to the immobiliser and another going back to connect up to the other side of the interrupted wire... clear as mud so far?

So

identify those 4 wires, and locate what wires they go to / where the connections have been made in the wiring block area....you might need to get your head under the steering wheel to see, and you will need a torch. Now as there are 2 wires interrupted, then you basically need to identify which 2 it is, and note the colour of each wire - so that you can re-connect those wires again, matching colour to colour.

I'd disconnect the Battery before cutting the wires. Once you've identified the 2 wires that were interrupted by diverting them to the alarm/immobiliser, then join each wire 'back to itself' - ir make sure its the same colour wire - by using a crimp or terminal block.

Once you've done this, reconnect the battery and switch the ignition on - the normal lights should go on the dash. Then try starting and hey presto all should work. Let me know when to start praying!! (Joking).

Its actually a simpler job than I thought - the number of wires around the immobiliser box puts you off, but by tracing the wires across to the other side then its easy. These wires should be lying loose and will not go into a loom or whatever until they are close to all the wires in the drivers footwell area. I remember having to remove some taping which uncovered one of the interrupted wires in the footwell - it was the wire which supplied the ignition circuit.

I'll PM you my mobile number case theres anything else.

I had similar probs with my RAV4 (1996 N reg) immobiliser 2 years ago. The only solution seemed to be to take the whole unit out. A garage did it so cannot help with the detail of how, but I have not had any related problems since. Just use the central locking with the key in the drivers door.

Looks like other posts detail how its done - good luck

Its a 1 hour job at the most for an auto-electrician. Must admit I took 4 hours, but I was looking for more complicated things!!

My first RAV locks with the key only .....the second RAV still has remote locking although I think the immobiliser may still be active and is causing my current problem with it....but its too cold to check it out!!!!

Bothwell Buyer you are a star!!!

OH is an electronics engineer and once you described what to look for he was off!

As you say, it took over an hour to do and several cups of tea coupled with a long time spent upside down below the glove box and steering wheel!

I am so grateful for you help on this! I do hope you have no problems when you come to sorting out your second Rav 4.

Thanks again!!

Bothwell Buyer you are a star!!!

OH is an electronics engineer and once you described what to look for he was off!

As you say, it took over an hour to do and several cups of tea coupled with a long time spent upside down below the glove box and steering wheel!

I am so grateful for you help on this! I do hope you have no problems when you come to sorting out your second Rav 4.

Thanks again!!

a pleasure to be of some help!!!

have a good new year and an even better hogmanay - I'm in training for it just now but it seems the sales might just come in the way :lol:

hey there i was reading the above post about how to disable your immobiliser an was wondering what effect that would have on your computer i am having trouble with my immobiliser an want 2disconnect it but am worried how it would effect the computer in my lil wee rav

hey there i was reading the above post about how to disable your immobiliser an was wondering what effect that would have on your computer i am having trouble with my immobiliser an want 2disconnect it but am worried how it would effect the computer in my lil wee rav

Welcome to the forum.

The immobiliser ecu is entirely different to the cars engine ecu system. The only effect is that the immobiliser system disables the ignition...once removed properly then there is no affect to the cars main ecu.