Battery replacement and immobiliser

theonenonly

So a few weeks ago my battery in my 2008 Corsa went flat. Like an old school muppet I took it out to charge myself, and then put it back in. Now, the electrics light up, but the ignition doesn't start. Turns out, if you take out the battery, you have to recode it, its a safety precaution.

Spoke to an uncle who told me someone with a tech 2 machine can recode it. Looked online and to have someone come out and do that is about £200!

My car needs a new battery anyway. So I looked at RAC, AA and Halford who all do call out battery replacements. I spoke to Halford and they apparently also code the battery with the car, otherwise the immobiliser won't work. All in all for about £150. 

Is this a no brainer, or did the lady I speak to on the phone not give me the correct info? Do they only replace the battery without coding it to the car?

neilmcl

Yes, Halfords will code/register your battery for a small charge, their own brand batteries are actually quite good. I'm surprised you need to code your battery, 2008 is a bit early for stop/start so it should be a standard battery. It sounds like you must have done something when removing the battery.

neilmcl

I've just done some digging on this issue and I don't think getting the battery "coded" is going to resolve the issue. What has happened is you've tried to start the car with a dead flat battery, or with the battery disconnected, and the BCM, the control module that handles remote locking, immobiliser etc, has got corrupted leaving your car immobilised. This is where Tech 2 machine comes into affect by resetting the BCM, I'm not sure a battery code, by Halfords, will actually do this., although I could be wrong.

http://autolox.co.uk/vauxhall-corsa-d-car-wont-start-after-flat-battery-immobilised-p1632-p1678-p1679-b3114-b3925-b3929-b3977/

neilmcl

You could try and use the other key if you have it as the immobiliser might recognise it over the one you're currently using.

theonenonly

neilmcl said:

I've just done some digging on this issue and I don't think getting the battery "coded" is going to resolve the issue. What has happened is you've tried to start the car with a dead flat battery, or with the battery disconnected, and the BCM, the control module that handles remote locking, immobiliser etc, has got corrupted leaving your car immobilised. This is where Tech 2 machine comes into affect by resetting the BCM, I'm not sure a battery code, by Halfords, will actually do this., although I could be wrong.

http://autolox.co.uk/vauxhall-corsa-d-car-wont-start-after-flat-battery-immobilised-p1632-p1678-p1679-b3114-b3925-b3929-b3977/

What you're saying sounds about right to be honest. What a shame. So I have to pay for a new battery and about £170-£200 to fix this immobiliser issue. What a pain!

justworriedabit

theonenonly said:

So a few weeks ago my battery in my 2008 Corsa went flat. Like an old school muppet I took it out to charge myself, and then put it back in. Now, the electrics light up, but the ignition doesn't start. Turns out, if you take out the battery, you have to recode it, its a safety precaution.

Spoke to an uncle who told me someone with a tech 2 machine can recode it. Looked online and to have someone come out and do that is about £200!

My car needs a new battery anyway. So I looked at RAC, AA and Halford who all do call out battery replacements. I spoke to Halford and they apparently also code the battery with the car, otherwise the immobiliser won't work. All in all for about £150. 

Is this a no brainer, or did the lady I speak to on the phone not give me the correct info? Do they only replace the battery without coding it to the car?

Lights are up when ignition turned on BUT does it want to turn over even a bit? If it does then it
is not the immobiliser.
I worked at a dealers for a couple of years and you hear and learn stuff. batteries even in newer cars ie 2010 on
with a mass of gadgets don't need coding - the only coding often required for some is the radio
and windows, sun/pan roofs - but you can easily reset windows etc.
Coding is not usually required unless you took of the wrong lead first and or connected the wrong one first.

If it is wanting to crank then its not coding but if there is nothing at all when you turn the key, it is coding, possibly

Halfords do home fitting at next to nothing at certain times of the day/etc - Mondays and/or after hols are expensive 

about 70 quid for a corsa batter and 3 to 25 quid home fitting.  However, like i said it could be something else and not the battery.

justworriedabit

neilmcl said:

You could try and use the other key if you have it as the immobiliser might recognise it over the one you're currently using.

Good idea and I recall a van we used to have at the dealership I worked - it was the older est in the fleet  -  it often would not start, no lights in dash as all but rubbing the key uder the steering column did the trick every time.

theonenonly

neilmcl said:

You could try and use the other key if you have it as the immobiliser might recognise it over the one you're currently using.

Unfortunately when I bought it, the guy didn't have a spare key

theonenonly

justworriedabit said:

theonenonly said:

So a few weeks ago my battery in my 2008 Corsa went flat. Like an old school muppet I took it out to charge myself, and then put it back in. Now, the electrics light up, but the ignition doesn't start. Turns out, if you take out the battery, you have to recode it, its a safety precaution.

Spoke to an uncle who told me someone with a tech 2 machine can recode it. Looked online and to have someone come out and do that is about £200!

My car needs a new battery anyway. So I looked at RAC, AA and Halford who all do call out battery replacements. I spoke to Halford and they apparently also code the battery with the car, otherwise the immobiliser won't work. All in all for about £150. 

Is this a no brainer, or did the lady I speak to on the phone not give me the correct info? Do they only replace the battery without coding it to the car?

Lights are up when ignition turned on BUT does it want to turn over even a bit? If it does then it
is not the immobiliser.
I worked at a dealers for a couple of years and you hear and learn stuff. batteries even in newer cars ie 2010 on
with a mass of gadgets don't need coding - the only coding often required for some is the radio
and windows, sun/pan roofs - but you can easily reset windows etc.
Coding is not usually required unless you took of the wrong lead first and or connected the wrong one first.

If it is wanting to crank then its not coding but if there is nothing at all when you turn the key, it is coding, possibly

Halfords do home fitting at next to nothing at certain times of the day/etc - Mondays and/or after hols are expensive 

about 70 quid for a corsa batter and 3 to 25 quid home fitting.  However, like i said it could be something else and not the battery.

Nope does not want to turn over a bit. 

neilmcl

You could try the "fix" here to see if it does anything.

justworriedabit

theonenonly said:

justworriedabit said:

theonenonly said:

So a few weeks ago my battery in my 2008 Corsa went flat. Like an old school muppet I took it out to charge myself, and then put it back in. Now, the electrics light up, but the ignition doesn't start. Turns out, if you take out the battery, you have to recode it, its a safety precaution.

Spoke to an uncle who told me someone with a tech 2 machine can recode it. Looked online and to have someone come out and do that is about £200!

My car needs a new battery anyway. So I looked at RAC, AA and Halford who all do call out battery replacements. I spoke to Halford and they apparently also code the battery with the car, otherwise the immobiliser won't work. All in all for about £150. 

Is this a no brainer, or did the lady I speak to on the phone not give me the correct info? Do they only replace the battery without coding it to the car?

Lights are up when ignition turned on BUT does it want to turn over even a bit? If it does then it
is not the immobiliser.
I worked at a dealers for a couple of years and you hear and learn stuff. batteries even in newer cars ie 2010 on
with a mass of gadgets don't need coding - the only coding often required for some is the radio
and windows, sun/pan roofs - but you can easily reset windows etc.
Coding is not usually required unless you took of the wrong lead first and or connected the wrong one first.

If it is wanting to crank then its not coding but if there is nothing at all when you turn the key, it is coding, possibly

Halfords do home fitting at next to nothing at certain times of the day/etc - Mondays and/or after hols are expensive 

about 70 quid for a corsa batter and 3 to 25 quid home fitting.  However, like i said it could be something else and not the battery.

Nope does not want to turn over a bit. 

if it is the imboliser, there should be no sound at all when you turn the key, no sound whatsoever not even a click.