Zafira Immobiliser Fault

cookie334

Hi there

Looking for a wee bit of advice. I bought an 05 plate 1.6 petrol Zafira last year. I only got the spare key with the car and the central locking has never worked. The radio does not turn itself off, has to be physically switched off before I get out of the car. Neither of these were a huge problem. But intermittently the engine management light flashes when I try to start the car and it won't start. Most of the time if i leave it 5 minutes and try again it will start. Sometimes though it will not start at all. The first time this happened, I had the garage come pick it up and they got it started, charged me £150 for the privilege and told me it wouldn't do it again. The second time, I did some research and the code came up that there is a communication failure between the key and the immobiliser. I tried to reconnect them but it didn't work so phoned a guy who came out and was stumped but disconnected the battery and it started. So now I'm carrying a spanner round with me at all times and have had to disconnect my battery in some annoying places. But now my boot has locked itself! And obviously since I have no central locking, I can't unlock it.

It's going in for mot tomorrow and will obviously fail due to boot not opening but I've been advised a few different things by different garages as to what needs done... New ignition barrel, new key etc but no one seems to know for sure and I can't afford to be paying hundreds on the off chance it's gonna fix it. I need to know.

Has anyone ever had this? Or does anyone else know what I could try/check before it goes to garage. To me, the new ignition barrel doesn't make sense as the central locking isn't working 😕

I should point out that I'm female and don't have a clue about cars so dummy terms would be helpful.

khcomp

It won't fail because the boot won't open, but may fail because the examiner might not be able to inspect the boot floor for corrosion, etc.
If the key isn't communicating with the car, it's very rarely because of the transponder ring - that's the receiver by the ignition barrel that detects the transponder chip in the key. As you have rightly said, the ignition barrel is obviously OK if the key will physically fit & turn in the ignition.
I would suggest biting the bullet & getting a new remote key cut & programmed to the car: You'll just have to shop around for a decent price, which shouldn't be too difficult as the Vauxhall diagnostic software (or copies of it) is pretty widely available - I've seen new keys for £20 complete, around £10 - £20 to cut the key to fit and programming can be as low as £20 if you can find someone local.

cookie334

Brilliant, thank you so much for your reply. I didn't think it would fail with the boot locked but when I asked yesterday when booking the MOT the garage said it would. The whole reason I asked was because if it would I was going to get a locksmith BEFORE the MOT as the last garage said they wouldn't do it and that I'd have to get a locksmith. It would be easy enough to check the boot through the back of the car, with it being a 7 seater access is easy enough but I suppose it's whether or not they're willing to do that.

I'm almost certain it's the key so the fact you've said that has given me a bit more confidence that that will resolve the issue, thank you. Will look into that just now 😊

Thanks again for your help.

arcon5

Mot tester doesn't need to open the boot to inspect for corrosion. He'd look underneath and in any case unlikely to be within prescribed limit of suspension components, so no fail