A Unique Situation

Met with a unique situation late week that I thought we should share.

We had a customer of a Toyota Alphard (hmm...we have been having many toyota alphards customers in recent weeks, some must be wondering why? :) This is because, many toyota alphards are actually imported and sold second hand, such cars on many occasion come with only 1 set of keys).

This customer had problem starting his car. The ignition was dead, literally. Many mechanics went to his house to check on the car and came to different conclusion on the problem and he spent some money but still could not rectify his problem. The mechanics came to a final conclusion that it was his immobiliser that was giving problems (his was Clifford-quite a reputable brand). The clifford technicians came but still could not rectify the problem. And this was Day 4 since his ignition went dead.

We were called in on the 4th day. We manage to identify and rectify the problem (with the help of some friends plus quite a bit of luck! :) ).

It was ... THE DOG.

lol. Believe it or not. The owner's dog, a small little terrier, who loved to go beneath the car, rain or shine) also had a little hobby of biting off the wires! Incidentally, one of the wires he bit was connected to the ECU that supplied power to the fuel pump!

[we could not take photo of the situation, coz the owner was a little mad about the situation....and we understood why...]

Some of Our Products Range

These are some of the products in our range. We are working to upload as many  of them as possible over the week. Meanwhile, if you have any enquiries, kindly please forward us an email or call us directly. We will try our very best to help solve your problem.

Cheers!

Prices for Services and Keys

We will soon be adding a price list of our services and keys on to the blog. But it will take some time due to the sheer number of of makes and models of cars. Meanwhile, do bear with us or call us for a quote in case of an emergency.

BMW X5 - Idling Remote

The remote settings for the key control was 'flashed' and 'blanked' after left idling for more than 6 months. We had to read the coded information from the ECU and re-program the codes into the control. BMWs and VWs chip keys have this unique technology where the battery on the key is automatically charged when inserted into the ignition. So if you want to save the trouble and $$$ of replacing or re-programming your keys, make sure you practice alternate use of your spares.

The BMW x5 ECU - located under the car's dashboard.

Toyota Alphard - Master Key Lost

A nightmare awaited the owner of this car when he discovered that he has lost his master key after losing his spare. The entire process took more than 4 hours to complete to reset and duplicate new set of keys for him.

Toyota Alphard (Toyota Vellfire) - Re-Programming Spare Key

The owner had only one master key and wanted a spare. 

Checking for the codes (as you can see, in order to retrieve the code, we need to connect to the car's immobiliser and CPU to read the information).

Re-programming in progress.

This key is used for Toyota Alphard - year 2005 and above. Its button feel is slightly harder and more rigid. (see our OEM Toyota keys for a softer, nicer touch; TOPICS : KEYS - TOYOTA)

Mini Cooper - Re-program Spare Key

This owner did not use his spare key for more than 6 months. It is important to note for BMW and Mini owners, that keys for these brands have a unique battery auto-charge function, when you put your key into the ignition. Simply putting it in ignition is no use, the engine have to be started. In our experience, keys left idling for more than 6 months will normally see the codes defunct, for some reason unknown to us.

Re-programming in progress

Stolen Car Keys!

The owner of this Volvo s70 wanted to re-program his ECU, as his keys were stolen earlier. His car was sent to one of our dealers, and the main parts removed and sent to us for reprogramming. A new code was assigned and ECU reset to the new code, rendering the old keys useless.

Volvo s70 Immobiliser (note: all codes, serials numbers and barcodes removed to protect owner's privacy - we will not entertain any requests for product codes - thanks!).

Main CPU of Volvo s70

What is a Transponder Key (or Immobiliser)?

Since the mid 1990s till today, most cars come retrofitted with immobilisers (or immobilizers), which comes with transponder keys (or keys with RFID chips). Immobilisers basically function as a first line of defense against car thefts who do not hold the keys with the 'correct codes' or 'fingerprints (electronic)' to prevent engine ignition. It comes with a set of keys embedded with a RFID electronic chip that contains its unique code or 'fingerprints'. Upon ignition, the signal is sent to the car's receiver, which upon "verifying" the correct frequency, allows the engine to start.

In short, if someone duplicates your key (but did not program the appropriate frequency in the key - we wish to stress here that frequencies cannot be easily copied, special equipments are required, contrary to popular belief), chances are that they will not be able to start the engine, plus with your car immobiliser in place, they will not be able to hot wire the ignition (because power to your fuel pump is connected to your immobiliser).

A Transponder Key

A Transponder Chip

Another type of transponder chip

Many consumers (and in fact car dealers) know about the transponder chips and keys, but do not know that it is actually a separate chip embedded separately from the little electronic circuit board (ECB) on your key (the little green board you most likely see when you replace your key batteries). There was once, in our experience, where the owner of a Toyota car, who threw away the chip when he replaced the shell of his keys which was damaged, discovered later to his horror that he could not start his engine and had to pay more a lot more to reset his ECU, since it was his one and only master key!

Volvo s70 - main ECU

Coil (provides power to ECU and CPU - if this is damaged,chances are, you won't be able to start your engine - one of the primary components).

Volvo s70 ECU Immobiliser

(all the product codes have been deliberately erased to protect the privacy of the car owner, please do not email or call us for the any product codes, thanks :)). The owner of this car sent his ECU to be reset and reprogram because his car keys were stolen. It is possible to reprogram an entire new code if you are worried about future theft.

Most major car brands today comes with the immobiliser, including the more recent Proton and Period (Malaysian car) makes. During the early years, you would have to go back to your car dealer to re-program or to duplicate the chips. Under some extreme circumstances, some of the CPUs may have to be sent back to the original manufacturer for re-programming. The good news is that, in recent years, this service is now available from reliable 3rd parties like us. In fact, we provide the same service to many reputable car dealers and workshops operating in Malaysia.