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 Posted: Feb 17, 2023 05:37AM
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Found an older SPI ECU. No good, mine has one plug and the older ones have 2 plugs. I suppose you could hack the wiring or re-pin and try that, but without a wiring diagram, would be very difficult.

 Posted: Feb 14, 2023 04:00PM
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Thank you, At least I have something to go on. Does anyone have a wiring diagram for this year? I would gladly purchase it. They probably don't detail the immobilizer though. Know of anyone selling early SPI Ecu's? 

 Posted: Feb 14, 2023 03:37PM
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I don't know of anyone in North America that can do that work, presuming you're located in that region. All the places I've heard of are in the UK, and since I haven't had to deal with this for over a decade, I can't recommend any specific service or contact.

But, search the web on "Rover" "5AS" "immobilizer" and that should give you plenty of background information as well as, hopefully, pointers to a current service that can help you either disable the immobilizer function or fix what you have. The immobilizer is a 5AS unit specifically.

DLY
 Posted: Feb 13, 2023 07:40AM
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Disconnecting the battery makes it a nightmare, what memory it has gained from use is lost and takes 40 button presses to get it to disable the security. Right now the engine is out so it's not going anywhere.  I know the fob is working because after 1 or 2 button presses it begins to flash quickly. Then it's a matter of trying to get the fast flash to stop. Door has to be shut to do anything. Trust me, I've tried all the things that "should" work. Holding the fob in the glove box and under it so it can learn hasn't worked, new batteries, fob rebuild. I just want it gone. If I get gas or go into a store and shut it off for a minute, it re-arms the system and I have to sit there like an idiot at the gas pumps playing with the fob till it decides to dis arm the system. If I can get a 1994 ECU that doesn't have the security and the car will run, I will go that route.

 Posted: Feb 13, 2023 01:19AM
 Edited:  Feb 13, 2023 01:20AM
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We have one in the workshop at present.  Company policy is to always disconnect the battery overnight.

Once re-connected, the car will start without any button pressing on the fob, though the door must be shut.

If the car has been run and then switched off, the fob button must be pressed to reset the immob.

Again, with the door shut, press the left fob button until you hear a faint click and the flashy red light goes out - which might take 30 seconds.

Its a blessed nuisance, no chance of a quick getaway after that bank robbery.

Our quickest / best solution is use a battery disconnect device (fits on the battery terminal) every time you turn the car off.

Car engines make CO2 and trees absorb CO2. By running your engine you're feeding a tree and helping the environment.

 Posted: Feb 12, 2023 05:22PM
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I'm in the states. Rover was no help at all. The fob was rebuilt and it works exactly the same. I would like to send the ecu out and have the security system bypassed, that would be best case. Like I said before, it seems to work better the more I use it and then gets worse if the car sits. If I disconnect the battery, all is lost. Do you know of any companies in the U.K. I could contact and see what they say?

 Posted: Jan 4, 2023 03:35PM
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That's the point of the immobilizer. In Europe car thefts are on such a scale, cars that don't have features like this pay a heavy insurance penalty. Some of the SPi ECUs are coded to the immobilizer module (as are all the MPi ECUs.) If so, the car will not run without the immobilizer in place. I believe 95 and later was when this change happened.

For the SPi, if you can find a compatible early non-coded ECU then you can use the car without the immobilizer module, then you just need to deactivate the alarm. If you can't, you have to find a service that can disable the immobilizer code in the ECU. Naturally thieves want to do the same thing so you may have to jump through some hoops to get that done, but they exist (or at least they used to.)

Mostly likely you have a defective fob, could just have cracked solder joints or defective switches. A replacement fob would solve that problem, but you again need to have the fob code matched to the immobilizer. If you're in the UK there are a number of places that can do that. I don't know if any places in North America offer that service.

In the worst case you can send the immobilizer to the UK to have the coding done. I have done that myself, and it solved the periodic failures of the fob to disarm the immobilizer.


DLY
 Posted: Jan 4, 2023 03:19PM
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Know anywhere I can get a wiring diagram for it? A good thief in London would get frustrated and walk away to an easier target. 

 Posted: Jan 4, 2023 06:47AM
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might ask a good Thief. in london.?.  I think the SPI can be disconnected but NOT the MPIs. I am told.. by my partner in crime..  PHD.

 Posted: Jan 4, 2023 04:51AM
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new switches installed in the fob, several new batteries tried before that, no change. I'm really done with the security system. Just want a wiring diagram so I can eliminate it from the car.

 Posted: Jan 3, 2023 03:18AM
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CA
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhatHeadDonnie
try new battery.. in the key FOB??
... and clean the battery contacts in the fob and make sure there is a strong, tight connection with the battery terminals.

.

"Hang on a minute lads....I've got a great idea."

 Posted: Jan 2, 2023 01:09PM
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try new battery.. in the key FOB??

 Posted: Jan 2, 2023 09:24AM
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SPI, Seems to work better the more I use it, problem is if you take the battery cable off it erases any memory. It took a month this summer for it to work reasonably well (I was driving every 2-3 days). 2 or 3 hits on the button and I could get the security system to unlock. Then it got worse as the fall weather came and I didn't use it as much. It has been sitting for a month without driving and took 30 or 40 button pushes to get it to unlock. Seems to be two stages of unlock. The first stage makes the light blink really fast (which usually only takes a press or two), then I have to hit the other button or go back and forth a bunch of times to get the light to go out, then it will start. Very annoying and unpredictable. I really just want the system gone.  Anytime I shut it off, it sets the system after a minute
or if I remove the key the system arms immediately.  

 Posted: Dec 31, 2022 10:46AM
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andyzot.. is your mini SPI or MPI?/  I contacted www.remotealarms.co.uk in england and they re programmed by key FOB for both my SPI mini and my MGF... Later PHD.. ps. cost is about 200  quid..

 Posted: Dec 31, 2022 07:10AM
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The security system on my Mini Sidewalk edition is wanky. Sometimes I have to push the fob button 25 or 30 times till it shuts the system down so I can start it. I've had the fob rebuilt and it is the same. Is there any way to delete the security system? From what I've seen it ties directly into the ECM. If anyone has a wiring diagram I think I could figure it out. The security system re-arms after I shut the car off, even when the key is still in it. I look like an idiot if I go to the store or get gas and I can't get the flippin security system to un-arm. I'm afraid one day it will stop working all together and I will have a 1,500lb. paper weight.