Nissan Almera 2.2d 136 SXE 2003 - Suspected Immobiliser Failure - MG Ben

Our Nissan Almera 2.2d won't start, although the remote key will open the doors and let us in. The local Nissan dealer said the ECU (of which the immobiliser is part) had failed –replacement £650. ECU Testing have been able to part test the ECU and report that it is fine, but cannot test the immobiliser. Is there any other way we can try to get the immobiliser fixed without having to spend £650? (The garage's quote) Could anyone break the immobiliser rolling key code and then re-code the key? The car is 7 years and 145K miles old so the other alternative is to scrap it. But I'd like to fix it if I can.

Nissan Almera 2.2d 136 SXE 2003 - Suspected Immobiliser Failure - mickyt352

I don’t know if you have fixed the problem but try the earth lead that provides an earth for both the starter and the immobiliser. It was quite a flimsy wire that "went". I think it mounts to the engine or chassis. It looks like a immobiliser fault because the doors unlock and the dash lights up but the car won’t start. But because there is no earth to the starter, the circuit can’t be completed.

Credit to the Francombes of Lyneham who found it - after the initial diagnosis on the computer the did a bit of classic fault finding and got to the fault. it took about 1-2 hours to find so in the end cost £140(Ish).

However I bought the car from Harlequin Motors in Bristol 1 week earlier and without a quibble they paid for everything bar the initial diagnosis even though the "standard warranty" didn’t cover it - how good are they ? Well that’s what I call customer service.

I Hope This Helps.

Thanks to both garages for good honest customer service.