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.