2000 Volvo S80 IMMOBILIZER

S80nSD · Post by **S80nSD** » 18 Apr 2005, 12:00

Can anyone tell me or has experienced problems not being able to start their 2000 Volvo S80 do to immobilizer. Was sitting in the driveway and went out to start it but wasn't able to. Immobilizer lite up in the display window. After 8 hours of trying to start it, it finally started. Does anyone know the reason?

johndz · Post by **johndz** » 20 Apr 2005, 10:26

Did your key get damaged or is it a replacement key? FWIW...

The immobilizer system increases the level of the vehicle safety system by making it extremely difficult to use the vehicle unless a valid key which belongs to the vehicle is used to start it. The identity of the key is checked when the vehicle is started and if the key is not approved the engine will not start. The customer will not notice this function as long as a valid key is used an no fault occurs.
Activated system: The system means that the vehicle cannot be started.
Deactivated system: The key has been checked and approved. The system permits the car to start.

Included in the system is the:

Antenna ring
Central electronic module (CEM)
Engine control module (ECM)
Driver information module (DIM).

Joey · Post by **Joey** » 23 Apr 2005, 04:13

Sometimes this happen when you leave a spare key inside the glove compartment. It doesn't matter if it's your valet or second master key. I always leave my valet key inside the glove compartment and I experience it sometimes. What you do if this happens is to take out your key from the glove compartment. You see the key has sensors or chips inside them and if your car senses 2 keys inside, your car would not start. Nice anti theft feature right.

Rhiordan · Post by **Rhiordan** » 11 Jul 2005, 08:34

Can anyone verify that the Immobilizer actually CANNOT be turned off? My S80 stranded me for an hour (had both keys and the remote available) and apart from paying the dealership to "fix my keys", the dealership maintains that the immobilizer function cannot be turned off.

I am a software engineer, and although I understand the politics of "cannot be turned off", I disagree with the assertion that it is not possible.

Does anyone on this board have an informed answer about whether or not this feature can actually be de-programmed?

Please copy any replies to [email protected]

Chorn · Post by **Chorn** » 04 Oct 2005, 13:13

I am also having this same problem now. I have 2 keys to my car and both of them do this same thing. I can sit there and turn them for 2 hours and then maybe if I am lucky it will start. Sometimes its also fine for a week at a time then it acts up again. I read somewhere that if the keys are too close together that it will causxe interference, but my keys are seperate.

I am planning on taking it to the dealership, so I agetting some lube out because they are going to give it to me good im sure. They can pretty much tell me the Flux capacitor is out of Plitonium and I would have nothing I can say so I am hoping to get some insight to this problem further than you guys have already explained here.

I would also love to disable the security so that I wouldnt get stranded. Is this something that can even be fixed with new keys ? One of my keys had almost never even been used before.

P.S. 2001 volvo s80 t6

Thanks in advance for any help

daved · Post by **daved** » 07 Dec 2005, 20:14

I bought my S60 used last year and this has happened to me on several occasions. The immobilzer was eventually replaced about 10 months ago and it has been fine evr since...except it happened again tonight. I'm pretty sure it will start tomorrow morning, but I plan on trading this car in for a Nissan. I have owned several Nissans and never had problems with them. My parents had a 93 Volvo 850 GLT and they had similar elevtrical problems back then. Before I bought mine they warned me not to. I wish I listened to them.

Bluemoose · Post by **Bluemoose** » 04 Dec 2009, 12:59

I had a similar problem with my 2000 S70. I found that if I flipped the key over it would usually start. I'm not sure if it is the same issue, but we did determine it was a key issue. Rather than paying to get it fixed or new keys, when it wouldn't start I would just flip the key. Perhaps this will help someone.

Bluemoose

chrisjimvolvo · Post by **chrisjimvolvo** » 24 Feb 2011, 08:30

I have recently had the problem of car not starting - message board says Immoblized ... was stranded for some time on a Saturday in the mountains. After many calls to shops and dealerships I finally reached a young mechanic in Colorado Springs who suggested that I disconnect the battery (both cables) - let sit for a few minutes - then reconnect battery cables.
It started on the first try. Since then I have had to do the same thing. Keep the keys away from each other. I don't even allow the second key in the car now.

Hope this helps. Really wish I could disable the system. My guess is that a good car thief could.

Post by **jimmy57** » 24 Feb 2011, 10:02

The antenna ring is the part that is used to power the ID chip via magnetic pulses and also receives the radio broadcast pulses from the key chip. Loads of these are replaced but for most it is the connections that are the problem and putting in a new one just is one way to clean connections. When the antenna ring is replaced and you have trouble again in a few months that was the terninals in the connector. You can remove steering column trim and unplug and remove the AR. Use a rigid pin (floral/hobby T pins) to push the terminal sides inward to give terminal more grasp of inserted pins from AR, do not be rough with the terminals and do not bend them over or the AR pins will miss the terminals. Inspect the AR pins in its connector for corrosion and gently scrape if you see anything there. Dab Vaseline (dielectric grease if you have that) into the connector to exclude moisture and re-connect and re-assemble.

BTW, it can't be disabled, there is no Immobilizer Remove software for these cars. It is a feature of the CEM and a security "conversation" between CEM and ECM on P2's. On some other models it is a more involved conversation involving other modules.

hektor · Post by **hektor** » 10 Jul 2011, 11:23

Hello Guys,

I have a Volvo s80 T6 of the year 1999. The car could not start sometimes.
The problem was that sometimes the car would start fine and some other times I would exhaust the battery almost entirely till finally the car would finally start. It was painful to see the car exhaust itself like that.

I would get all these errors on the dash board such as "immobilizer", ABS problem, Alarm, etc. Sometimes the RPM indicator needle will make a strong jump up to 3000 RPM and than back to 0 RPM ,like something was dying in the engine.

After some research on the web I followed advices that the CANBUS might be the problem due to the noises in the wiring which by the way were going wrapped around the starter. I wrapped them together nicely and still the same problem. I thought noise in CANBUS certainly can produce wrong messages on the car. I was about to give up.

I took the car to a Volvo dealer for trouble shooting but after they charged me more than the original evaluation fee due to the extra hours they put on it they could not promise or guaranty to fix the car even if I spend more than $5,000.00 according to them. The excuse was that the car had so many errors that they could not guaranty the repair because a;; the errors had to be fixed first.

Actually I am an electronics technician and I know electronics pretty well. I do work on cars some times too. I disagreed with Volvo's assessment and I believe that these guys do not have a clue to how the car can be repaired. it is impossible for all the things to go bad in a car at the same time unless the car has a major damage which mine did not have of course.

What I noticed was that the lights on the right sometimes will all come on at the same time ( such as engine light, STC light, ABS light when I was trying to start the car. This looked like I was on purpose trying to shut it OFF in the same time as I was trying to start it. This led me to the ignition SWITCH. After I opened it I saw that there was a switch with some 5 or 6 contacts on it. The problem was that there is a little shaft in the center which pushes the main contact on the IGNITION when the car is started. There was some white grease on it which as hardened during years and the main start contact to tell the computer to start was not functional while the others contacts which are ABS, ALARM etc were functional. That is why the car could not start.

I replaced the ignition switch due to the difficulty to close up the existing one after the repair and the car never the problem since.

Good luck .