Immobilizer Message/No Start
 

Was running great today until I went to start it about an hour ago. Got lights, everything except it wouldn't start. No crank even. When I held the key at the point where ignition should kick it, I'd get a "Immobilizer: See manual" message in the Message Display Box. I did a search and tried a bunch of rememdys (lock/unlock 5 times, tried a different key/key FOB, disconnected/reconnected the battery...) and I still get nothing. Anything else I should try before I end up fishing out a bunch of money for my mechanic? It's an '01 T5. I have two keys with two Key FOBS. No valet key.

Is there a way to bypass this stupid immobilzer?

You can try changing the antenna ring your self. It is the light around the ignition switch.

Bending the pins on the plug from the antenna ring for better contact is also a suggested fix.

Already replaced mine because of the same problem!
$9.00 part $100 labor.
Absurdity.

I'm going to try a new battery today (I've heard an old battery will start to cause problems such as this). If that doesn't work, I'm going after the antenna ring. I've read that it's a PITA to do yourself. Especially for me, who isn't a big DIY-er anyway. I think the whole steering wheel needs to come off to get to it. The antenna ring, that's right around the ignition where you insert the key, correct?

The Antenna ring is cake for even someone that has never worked on a car before.
No the steering wheel does not need to come off. Only the covers behind it. The plastic ones between the steering wheel and dash. The top part just pops up and comes out. The bottom section is held on by a few torxes screws. Then it will come off. Then you slide the antenna ring(Light) off the ignition switch and replace it.

Yeah, my dealer replaced both the antenna ring and battery the same trip. Which leads me to believe the battery was actually at fault. Dealer screwing me over again!

Great - I think my problem just got a whole lot worse....

I went out to try the "Lock/unlock 5 times conscutively" trick and then got in to start the car. Turned the key to crank position and all the lights went on, then went out followed by a wierd noise. After this, a strange clicking noise persisted from the bottom of the fuse-box. Ugh..... What next....

Never heard of that trick before.

I will bet the battery is bad.

I'm hoping it's just the battery, but all the lights/radio and stuff worked last night. I hope I didn't do any damage to anything or have a short somewhere....I'm pretty sure I shorted something out after what happened today and with the ticking in the fusebox.

It just acted up from low battery voltage. That is pretty much normal on low voltage.

So I just realized I'm screwed. The battery is dead. The car is locked. I can get into the drivers side using the actual key, but the central locking system obviously won't work, thus I cannot get into the trunk to gain access to the battery. Is there a manual latch to get into the trunk? The only way I've ever found is using the button on the key FOB.

Under the hood by the fuse box is a spot you can jump start the car. Or connect another car and cycle the lock then use the unlock button then open the trunk.

Unhook battery. Hold positive and negative cables together for at least 30 seconds. This does a factory reset of the car. It is like doing a ctrl alt delete on a PC.
this fixes a lot of issues .
As for the immobilizer . Under the hood is a starter relay. It gets stuck sometimes. removing and replace it will normally work as well