I found something interesting ....
If I turn ignition on and do not start ... the red immobilazor light keeps flashing rapidly!!
If I red the manual correctly this indicates the engine is blocked!!! It should extingish after 3 sec?
Is this true
I am starting to believe it has nothing todo with my engine at all???
This should have been the first thing explained to new Renault owners.
Rapid flashing of the immobiliser light shows that the immobiliser is still locked. So (on any Renault when this happens) there is no point in even turning the engine over, it will not start. You are just wasting battery.
You need to find out why it is not unlocking. It can be faulty key plip, receiver, immobiliser, injection computer, reader ring, wiring, network, etc. There is no one simply check here. The correct sequence is as follows: The warning light should be flashing at one second intervals when car is locked. Then on early models, when the plip is operated to open the doors remotely, it also turns off the immobiliser so the warning light stops flashing. If the ignition is not turned on or the engine started within 20 secs. the immobiliser resets and locks the system. To release it again simply point the infra-red plip at the receiver and press the plip twice (once to lock and a second time to unlock). On later Renaults with the radio type plip, unlocking the doors has no effect on the immobiliser as it is a separate system. Here there is a reader ring around where you insert the key, so this reads the key code, sends it to the immobiliser and if it is correct accepts it, and sends a signal to the inj. computer to unlock it.
Often if you turn the key too quickly after inserting it, it doesn't read it properly, and stays locked. Best to insert the key, turn the ignition on, pause a fraction of a second, and the warning light should stop flashing, stay on for a second and then go out. The system is then unlocked and you can start.
If you insert the key and turn the ignition on, and the warning light flashes rapidly, it means either the plip is wrong for the car; faulty or hasn't been read; or there is some fault in the system. Sometimes the reader rings fail, sometimes the wiring is a problem, sometimes it is the immobiliser. When I check any Renault for starting problems I always check ALL the computers for faults not just the inj. computer, and any RTE or competent technician should do the same. Some however don't either because they are lazy or just don't understand the systems and their interactions properly.
For instance another problem for not starting can be due to the air-bag computer having locked the system after a bump. It doesn't have to be an accident though - I have seen cars towed in where this has happened and they have need a new air-bag computer. Or another problem is a computer has become reset to the wrong type - it was common on Scenics to somehow become reset to type 2 instead of type 1 and they would not recognise plip/release immobiliser/release inj. computer! Simply reconfiguring the computer back to type 1 sorted the problem. There are other possibilities too, which is why you have to really understand these complex networked computer systems and the possible interactions fully.
So you may have a faulty pilp, and if you have your second key when it happens again, remove the first, allow at least 10 secs before inserting the second and then try again. If it now works properly, it probaby indicates a key plip that is failing. If neither key will release the system, it usually means the key plips are fine, and the fault is in the system. You will need to get the system read by Clip at a dealer and then follow up on what the fault code indicates.
Roy
Author
