Skezza

To be clear, I'm talking a big game. I've not actually done it yet.

I'm going to do it with the eeprom directly

Correct.

I do. The reason I asked is because I have a sneaking suspicion you cannot obtain the SKC directly from the ECU. You can IMMO OFF the ECU, and you can obtain the SKC from the Immobilizer (then re-pair keys), but from my current understanding you cannot obtain the SKC from the ECU directly. This is the reason this system is so secure. I don't know if you can IMMO OFF and ImmoBox. I suppose that's what the emulators are trying to fool, but when me and Matt tried, we had very little luck.

Great colour.

Did you take the ECU and Immob or just the ECU? I've attached an ECU and Immo box. Specifically @mattarosa's ECU and Immo box. I intend to find a few things out from this experiment as he has kindly donated them to this research. Hopefully, fingers crossed, I can extract the SKC from the ImmoBox which would allow me to subsequently re-pair his keys to the car. The IMMO OFF appears to be an ECU configuration rather than Immo configuration, while the SKC extraction appears to be an ImmoBox thing. It would be interesting to see if it can be extracted from the ECU as well. Let the games begin.

On an A4... Definitely. A Lupo? No chance. Ask your mate if he noted down the SKC while doing your IMMO OFF.

Did you send your locked out ECU to a service? Or buy an already IMMO OFF ECU? I'll be getting down to business with Matts this week. I'll document the process for reference. Once you've got your SKC, adapting new keys is trivially easy. I've done it on Audi A4s. Believe it or not, this whole process is easier on Audis of the same era because their ECUs are less secure. The separate IMMO boxes in these Lupos are a nightmare.

Didn't get chance to reply. Radio is a red herring. The immobilizer uses KLine to communicate via OBD, but it uses W-line/W-wire to communicate with ECU. If your Kline was dead, the car would still work fine. IMMO OFF...

Emulators are flakey as ****.

It might, but it doesn't have to be permanent. You could get the SKC extracted and re-pair your key (+ an extra one) with a cheap cable off the Internet. I'd take it as a temporary solution while you get your ECU sorted. I haven't identified the conditions that the EEPROM becomes corrupted. It could be while the car is standing and trickling the battery, but it could be when you first start it after a long period and there is an immediate voltage drop, especially if the battery isn't quite as strong as it once was. It only takes one hit and the EEPROM is fubar'd. The ROM part of the EEPROM is probably fine and if you can get the SKC extracted and keys re-matched, the various values will be re-written within a few minutes of driving the car again. Starting with an almost dead battery isn't good for the electronic components and this isn't just a VW thing. I wouldn't bother. How often have you heard of an immo problem being solved by replacing the transponder pickup ring? I say that, I spotted your post from 2015 about transponder pickup ring failing on your Lupo SDI? I've never heard of one failing and considering the relative simplicity of the part, can't understand why it would. I assume you've already tried jumping it with another car attached? It didn't sound as though there were any battery problems in the video above. I'm 95% confident that my solution is going to get it off the drive in the short term. The issue you've got is that we don't know which end of your immobilizer system is goosed. However in either case, you're going to need to take your ECU out as you don't have your SKC. How are you going to re-pair your immo? IMMO OFF mate, trust me.

That's the immobilizer cutting out, no comms on OBD... Diagnosis? You've @mattarosa'd it. I've currently got his old ECU and immo sat on my workbench that I'm going to try and get round to looking at in the next week or so. Basically, you've lost your key coding. Stop getting mechanics in, for God's sake. They'll replace every part on the car before getting to that answer above. You'll get your best answers from here anyway. Take your ECU out and find an IMMO OFF ECU on eBay (use the part number if you're struggling). You may have to wait a bit for one to appear. I think Matt paid 90 quid for his. Fit it. Drive and be happy. There are services offering IMMO OFF as well, you could always send it to one of those but I can't vouch for their ability and ECUs can be kind of delicate so it's your risk. Your old ECU is now locked out though (basically, no key will unlock the security access code) and will need someone to extract the SKC by either desoldering the EEPROM or using a set of clips, so you can adapt your keys again or IMMO OFF it. I've not got round you doing Matt's yet... Soon though, soon. @mk2 there is no immobilizer lamp on Lupos. There isn't even an EML on this 2000 model mate. The immo fault code will be logged but he won't be able to access it because the key is locked out. Edit: By the way, with yours and Matts, I only have a sample set of two vehicles so my research on this isn't brilliant but I spent some investigating the Polo from the same era. The only cause that I've been able to determine from research on how the EEPROM acts is that a voltage sag caused an EEPROM corruption in RW memory (you said it was left for a while), but it's only a hypothesis at the moment and the fact it seems to happen so infrequently means I don't think I'll ever know for sure.

That under arch is grim. One for my summer jobs that is.

The Fox is horrible in my opinion, but perhaps I'm too busy comparing to the Lupo.

Kline is just that nickname for KWP2000. Stands for keyword protocol 2000. There's several reasons that it's been phased out in favour of CAN but it will always have a special place in my heart....

I suggest flushing with de-ionised water rather than tap water. I tend to get a couple of big bottles from Tesco, drain car, fill with de-ionised, bleed, and repeat. Leave enough for when you decide to fill with concentrate.

If you have any similar issues with your new switch it'll be more likely the wiring in the boot between the door and car. Not a fun job.

One inch makes a difference. 16 inch looks fairly daft in my opinion:

I'd just fit them and try out. What's it take, half an hour to change 4 wheels?

Probably look a bit daft as well.

OB061208, 2.99 free delivery on Amazon. You're welcome.

Press in an oilite bearing. I did it using a set of pliers. Hammer pin in. Never replace again. Heat shrink does work indeed. I think it was me that came up with that idea

I would replace the stalk again. And probably try a second hazard switch. The wiring in Lupos really aren't that complicated. You could easily prove this off by taking the cowelling off and testing the wiring from the stalks.

Tried a second set of stalk/s? The main culprit is usually the stalk. The indicator relay is in the warning switch.

Do VW still manufacture most parts for early Golfs etc?