Ford Escort (1993 - 2000) - 93 1.6 Immobiliser saga

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Tue 16 Sep 2008 19:30
93 1.6 Immobiliser saga - Lud
Following attentions of a nice East European AA chap in the West End a week or so back, my car's immobiliser has behaved OK, turning itself off when the driver's door was opened.

Today it wouldn't start, and I started it by taking the fuse out of the relay board that controls (apparently) central locking and starter-immobiliser. With that out, the car will start, and the alarm led glows continuously to tell plod the car has been stolen. You can drive the car like that, everything works in the running gear. But the oil warning light glows faintly while the car is running.

Just in case anyone knows, is that faint glow a sign of trouble storing itself up? Is something burning out? Might the battery go flat? Does the continuous glow of the alarm LED in the car run the electrics down faster than the brief flashes when it it behaving properly, or does an LED use too little juice to matter?

It's a hassle putting the fuse back because you have to unscrew a facia panel to get at it. I can fit two wires from it and another fuse socket in a place easier to get at if necessary. But is it really necessary? I don't mind manual door locks. I've lived with them most of my motoring life.
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Wed 17 Sep 2008 19:54
93 1.6 Immobiliser saga - Lud
It started all right today, no problem. I suppose the glowing oil light is a weird electronic bleed or short, harmless in itself. But I don't like things like that in a car. I think the answer is to take extension wires and fit the fuse (20amp) in a place that is discreet but easy to get at. The chances are that the immobiliser will reset itself if it is left on. It always has in the past.

I said I was used to manual door locks. I lied. I believe I left a rear door unlocked when taking a granddaughter home from school.

We are corrupted by things like electric windows and central locking, traction control and ABS, air conditioning, satnav and all the rest. Soon our limbs will atrophy, but it won't matter because we can graft on spare ones. The higher cognitive areas of the brain are already being neglected by whippersnappers who want to delegate all that, judgement and morality as well as raw calculation, to computers.

Soon all that is left of the human psyche will be sated pleasure centres and little inflamed nodules of infantile emotion: envy, hatred and so on.
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