Immobilizer Disabling
Occasionally, there is a need to disable the immobilizer in the ECU. Situations where this can occur are:
- When switching from the USDM 96940011 ROM to the AUS/EU 96530006 ROM; the immobilizer code in 96530006 operates differently, and needs to be disabled when used on a USDM vehicle. (Update: this is no longer necessary for simply switching ROMs; see the first part of the 96530006 description for more details.)
- When the original immobilizer code has been lost due to user error, such as overwriting the original ROM on the vehicle with one found online without making a backup first.
- Your keyfob has been damaged, and the RFID tag can no longer be read properly by the ECU.
First, please read the page Periphery Configuration; you'll need to add the configuration information shown there to be able to do this. (This should no longer be necessary with newer versions of EcuFlash, although the periphery values are unlabeled.)
Once you've added that information, open EcuFlash and load your ROM. Scroll down to the "ECUPeriphery" section, and open the "ECU Periphery 0 (FAA) Bits" table. You should see a table of choices, one of which is "Immobilizer Enabled?", with a "1" in the column next to it. Select the field with "1" in it, and press the "[" key to change it to a "0" instead. You should see the entire bottom half of the column show an indication that it was changed; this is normal, because you're actually changing that whole byte of information, not just the bit you just edited.
After saving your work, simply upload your changes to the ECU as you normally would, and your immobilizer should now be disabled. To test, simply leave your car parked in a bad neighborhood overnight.
