W202 starting problems

[Nibbo]

Hi All,

Asking this for a friend of mine.
He has a petrol W202 C200 with a 'Mercedes Approved' Cobra alarm system.
The Cobra fob is used to lock / unlock the car but he occasionally forgets and presses the button on the original MB fob.
Once this button has been pressed he is unable to start the car. The engine turns over fine but it just will not fire up.

Does anyone else have this setup? Can it be that the by pressing the button on the MB fob he is somehow immobilising the car?
If it were immobilised would it even turn over?

He does not have much cash so cant really consider taking it to a dealer so any help or advise would be much appreciated.

TIA

 

[bennesspipers]

When its turning over but not starting,tell him to look at the interior mirror,if there is a red & a green light flashing at him, thats telling him that the car is immobilised, press button on key fob,should resolve it. Iv had that with mine,hope its the same for your model ! Yes, mine would turn over but not start,but if the full alarm is on,it wont even turn, i think !

 

[Nibbo]

When its turning over but not starting,tell him to look at the interior mirror,if there is a red & a green light flashing at him, thats telling him that the car is immobilised, press button on key fob,should resolve it. Iv had that with mine,hope its the same for your model ! Yes, mine would turn over but not start,but if the full alarm is on,it wont even turn, i think !

Thanks bennesspipers; There are flashing lights on the mirror.
I will pop over there now and have a go.
Cheers

 

[Dec]

Agree with Bennesspipers, your friend doesn’t have a fault its just the way he is using the flip out key.
I have the same set up except that I have a Scorpian alarm with its own fob.

Pressing the button on the flip out key locks/unlocks all doors and petrol flap and enables or disables the immobilizer, the car engine will turn over but not start if the imobalizer is enabled.

Red and Green LEDs will flash alternately on the rear view mirror and door handle, if fitted, to indicate that the immobilizer is enabled and so the car won’t start.
A Green LED flashing on its own indicates the car is unlocked and the immobilizer is disabled. Car starts.
A Red LED flashing on its own indicates the car is locked and the immobilizer is enabled. Car doesn’t start.
Red and Green LEDs flashing together indicates the flip out key batteries need replacing

The alarm fob will also lock/unlock the car, arm the siren and internal motion sensors, if fitted, but it doesn’t immobilize the car as the flip key dose that part.

So using the alarm fob only will arm the alarm siren but doesn’t imobelize the car.

Dec

 

[Nibbo]

Thanks for the replies and it was as Dec suggested.
They were unlocking it using the alarm fob and then locking using the MB one.
The last time they locked it it set the immobiliser and then the MB fob battery went flat so they could not un-immobilise it (if thats even a word).
They finally got the immobiliser disabled and have now removed the batteries from the MB fob so are relying on the Cobra alarm fob alone.

Thanks again

 

[Dec]

As there wasn’t anything wrong with the car other than the dead key fob batteries and their understanding of what the LEDs flashing mean, it would be wise, if possible, to put things back the way the were.

If the Cobra alarm fob or the alarm itself should ever develop a fault, it may be necessary to turn the alarm off, the Cobra alarm fob won’t operate the central locking if the alarm is switched off or faulty.

The will however still have the flip out key to operate the passenger door and boot, it would be wise to check that the flip out key dose operate in both of these locks as the are prone to seizing due to infrequent use.

Dec

 

[Nibbo]

Thanks Dec; I will pass this on.