Weird symptoms

[bloosted]

Hi all i have just bought a 98 laredo and driving home tonight and the interior light came on for no reason,then i stopped at a mates house and when i went to leave the car wouldn,t go,like the immoboliser it would start and then stop straight away and i remember reading about the mobile phone towers i read on here so i towed it around the block and no go,then all the lights started flashing inside-any ideas?

[Bushpig]

G'day Bloosted
Welcome to the world of Jeeps. You'll have hours of fun trying to work out just which God of electrics and electronics to pray to for an uneventful life - actually for all its faults (and there aren't that many) I reckon it's a great bus.
Anyway, to business - dumb question - are you sure that you pressed the remote to disengage the immobiliser 'cause if you didn't, your symptoms are exactly what you'd expect - fires up for 5 seconds & dies. Also, with the rain we've had in the past 24 hrs, perhaps the humidity is giving the electronics curry?
Cheers ... Mark

[bloosted]

thanks Bushpig yep i,m sure i was pressig the remote but iwas wet when it happened don,t they like the wet?

[Bushpig]

Bloosted - I enjoy a '98 Laredo as well. Assuming that your immobiliser is functional (and it sure sounds like it is) your should have a flashing red light at the front of the dash (between the dash & windscreen) on the passengers side of the car. When you press the remote to unlock the car, if the car unlocks the immobiliser light should go out (ie be dis-armed). If the doors don't unlock and the immobiliser light doesn't go out it's (from my experience) one of two things - the immobiliser battery is flat or (commonly in my case) you're parked within line of sight of a mobile phone tower. In this case I get into calisthenics mode and put the remote under the passenger footwell, pointing up, push the button and usually it unimmobilises (is that a real word?). If that doesn't work I then entertain the neighbourhood by wandering around the car pushing the button until something happens. So far it's worked and I haven't had to shove the remote up the exhaust pipe.
Cheers ...Mark

[nathan858]

Try re-setting the system by disconnecting one of the clamps from the battery poles and putting it on back again. This is a common sickness for the 97 grands.

[bloosted]

Originally Posted by Bushpig

Bloosted - I enjoy a '98 Laredo as well. Assuming that your immobiliser is functional (and it sure sounds like it is) your should have a flashing red light at the front of the dash (between the dash & windscreen) on the passengers side of the car. When you press the remote to unlock the car, if the car unlocks the immobiliser light should go out (ie be dis-armed). If the doors don't unlock and the immobiliser light doesn't go out it's (from my experience) one of two things - the immobiliser battery is flat or (commonly in my case) you're parked within line of sight of a mobile phone tower. In this case I get into calisthenics mode and put the remote under the passenger footwell, pointing up, push the button and usually it unimmobilises (is that a real word?). If that doesn't work I then entertain the neighbourhood by wandering around the car pushing the button until something happens. So far it's worked and I haven't had to shove the remote up the exhaust pipe.
Cheers ...Mark

Bushpig do you mean the battery in the remote? because all the doors unlock and you have to hit it twice to disarm the immob and i can hear it working,or does the immoboliser have its own battery in the car?

[Bushpig]

Bloosted, I was meaning the battery in the remote thing. It sounds like you have a different set up to mine - I just press the remote once to lock doors and set the immoboliser and then just press the unlock button on the remote once to unlock the doors and disengage the immobiliser. I believe that you can get several different set ups (like have all the doors lock at about 23kph or not) you just go to a dealer and they can set it up for you