I have a worrying problem with my 1996 Merlot. It has a Meta alarm, but I never use the remote control since the red alarm light is never on. The other day, after a ~50 mile journey followed by a ~20 mile one, it would not start after a break of about 2 hours. Tried jump starting it - no joy. Engine was turning over and sparking, but everything pointed to the engine not getting fuel. Eventually had to call the breakdown service, who recovered me back to my local garage. Since it was a Saturday, it was a while before they tried to move it, whereupon it started straight away. [:@]
The only thing they noticed was when the engine was running, and they inserted and turned the Meta immobiliser to the disabled position, they engine cut out. Since they couldn’t find anything else wrong with it, and they didn’t have the right diagnostic kit for it, they returned it to me. When I drove it again the other day, I had the distinct sensation of it - not quite misfiring - but pulsating, as if it wasn’t getting a steady flow of fuel.
I’m not entirely sure what to do. I need to get it fixed fairly quickly, since currently I frankly don’t trust it to not let me down at a critical moment!
Has anyone had a similar problem, and if so, what solved it?
I’ve had a number cars brought to me over the past few years where the (old) immobiliser turned out to be the cause. The symptoms vary from the obvious to the downright weird, but in every case the cause was eventually found to be a faulty immobiliser.
Most third party immobilsers were not designed/built to the sort of standards needed to ensure a really long working life, if they had been the original cost would have been much higher. In many cases the fault is simply down to poor solder joints, exacerbated by vibration. In others electromechanical relays start to fail intermittently.
Immobilisers normally control 2 or 3 circuits, often ignition and fuel, and sometimes starting. In your case I suspect the relay associated with the fuel pump is playing up. It may be possible to fix/replace the faulty component, but replacement of the whole immobiliser may be the most cost effective solution.
Thanks, that sounds like the possible fault. Have you any idea how simple it is to remove the 3rd party alarm/immobiliser? I presume that it can’t be that easy by design. Secondly, does the standard fit Mazda immobiliser normally continue functioning side-by-side with the 3rd party one - i.e. will the OEM immobiliser still work after removing the 3rd party one? Any recommendations on good 3rd party alarm systems?
Finally, is there any way of reading the fault codes on my car, using the resistor-and-LED method outlined elsewhere? I read that it’s for cars up to 1995.