2004 A2, is a key with a blade normal?

[Ben]

Hey,
my 2004 Atom 2 came with two keys with a blade, photo below. I have never seen/read about that before, only about cars with a key fob. Couldn't find anything via the search.
The key if horrid, it's super flimsy material, security is a joke, you don't want to put any weight on it.
Is that normal? The wiring behind the lock cylinder doesn't look out of place or molested to be honest.

Thanks,
Ben

[FrankRizzo]

WEIRD! I know the AA2s in the US were all FOB based. (Using the Toad Sterling immobilizer). Do you have a key-hole that this key fits into?

(I went to a locksmith and had my FOB copied on my 2, and we put the capsules into 2 BMW motorbike "heads". So, if you wave this key under the loop to enable the immobilizer, that might be the case here. It could be that the key BLADE is useless, and it just uses the capsule in the head.

This just hit me. I wonder if this could be the key to the gas cap?

[K20A2]

Of you research "S1203" this is a quite unspectacular and very cheap key and lock ;-)

[Ben]

@FrankRizzo
Good point with the locking gas cap, totally forgot about it. Here are pictures of the key in action

Unfortunately the key is so flimsy that I can't bring myself to lock the filler cap, so I just leave it open. I have other cars that don't even have locking caps, used to park them on the street and never ran into any issues.

@K20A2
Yeah, I didn't want to write that I've found similar looking lock sets on Aliexpress for less then 3 EUR shipped.


Could someone please let me know where the immobiliser unit is located? My car might still have the unit installed and the previous owner just lost the keyfobs and basically hotwired the car with that el cheapo lock.

Found this Post that states that the immobiliser used in the Atom is a Sterling Excel, I'll probably just order one and install that viewtopic.php?f=19&t=17071&p=307932&hil ... ob#p307932

[Ben]

So, I've exchanged some emails with the ever so helpful Matt from Ariel.
My Ariel is missing the immobilizer, I've always wondered what the two bolts are used for.

So I went ahead and ordered the immobiliser unit.

[FrankRizzo]

Someone just up and removed the immobilizer and added a cheap key switch? Now that's SPECIAL! (shakes head)

I hope you ordered your new unit from Ariel, as the ones you get from eBay don't have the connector on them, and the wires are way too long.

[Ben]

Someone just up and removed the immobilizer and added a cheap key switch? Now that's SPECIAL! (shakes head)

I hope you ordered your new unit from Ariel, as the ones you get from eBay don't have the connector on them, and the wires are way too long.

I can't tell what happened to the old immobilizer but yeah, it's pretty strange, it make zero sense.

I did not order the unit from Ariel as I got it here locally in germany cheaper then I could find it in the UK. Last month I've ordered plenty of parts from Ariel, UPS and dealing with import offices/duties was a nightmare and a mega waste of time. It also took forever to arrive and I just want to get it done.

At the same time as I ordered the parts from Ariel, I also ordered something heavy (factor of 10-15 heavier) and bigger then the Ariel parts from Spain, the stuff from Spain arrived in 3-4 days, the Ariel parts arrived more then a week later.
Before Brexit I bought tons of stuff for my cars in the UK, I've imported more cars then I can remember form the UK, well all of that is now gone.

As my car is basically hotwired I don't really care how long the connecting wires are as I need to figure out what's what anyways, I might need some extra cable, crimping connectors isn't really a problem.
Ben

[FrankRizzo]

Ben, this is what's used on the US AA2:

https://www.automotiveconnectors.com/10 ... black.html

[Ben]

Ben, this is what's used on the US AA2:

https://www.automotiveconnectors.com/10 ... black.html

@FrankRizzo thank you! This is pretty useful information, I've always wondered what this contraption does.

I've just ordered two sets of these connectors, I have some with four and two connectors bur or wit ten.

[FrankRizzo]

That's the "immobilizer bypass" (hot-wire plug) for your car. When you receive your immobilizer, you'll remove the plug, and plug the immobilizer in, in its place. (You'll also have to run the loop up under the dash, and connect it somehow. On my AA2 it was zip-tied to some other wires).

[FrankRizzo]

The color code / connector pinout on the immobilizer is:

blue - pin "E"
blue - pin "F"
white - pin "G"
white - pin "H"

For completeness, here's the rest (don't mess with them)

orange - pin "A"
green - pin "B"
green - pin "C"
red - pin "D"
unlabeled - pin "J"
unlabeled - pin "K"

I am pretty sure that B and C are chassis ground and that A and D are power, one being on
all the time and the other only being on when the ignition switch is on, but I don't know
offhand which is which.


In the US, TMI has changed the colors of the green wires, and the blue wires, and this is the pinout here.

Orange is still orange
Green is now black (which would be chassis grounds)
Red is still red
Blue is now "white with a red stripe" (which is the starter enable wire)
White is still white (which is the fuel pump enable wire)

In your picture above, I can see the BOTTOM of the connector. If you'd like to flip it over so that I can see the wire colors on the OTHER side, we can make sure we have everything worked out. (Or if the above details is enough for you, happy wiring!)

[Ben]

@FrankRizzo you are a lifesafer! How come you know so much about it?
I was sure that I would need to invest hours and hours figuring this out myself, was actually looking through my schedule when I would fit this in.
How can I buy you a beer, or two?

The immobiliser unit arrived yesterday, or the day before. Zero wiring diagram, zero handbook.
Great, then the unit also comes only nine wires and not ten.




Also more detailed photos of the wiring harness in an album on imgur, don't want to make everyone load 10MB+ https://imgur.com/a/GouY723

I am still waiting for the Delphi Metri-Pack connectors to arrive.

Thank you man!
Ben

Edit: I've mixed up the numbering scheme but @FrankRizzo stated that my picture shows the bottom of the connector.

[FrankRizzo]

It's story time!

I found an old ad for an Atom for sale. I contacted the guy to see if it had sold. He said he had NOT sold it, as he had lost both key fobs, and couldn't start it, and he didn't want to sell it like that. For the next 10 weeks, I did ALL the research. ALL the pins on the CAR side. All the pins on the IMMOBILIZER side, I googled, I e-mailed people, I gathered ALL the info that I could find to help him. He ordered a unit like you did, from eBay, got it in. I told him what wires went where, what connectors he needed (with links), etc. And then radio silence. I check back 2 weeks later (as I figure he's been busy), and he calmly tells me that he got tired of messing with it, so he sold it as-is. To someone else. Despite the fact that I had told him from day 1 that I wanted it. I told him that I had gotten shipping quotes on it in it's non-running state, and that I had gotten quotes for it in a RUNNING state.

I still have all those messages, so I still had all the data that I supplied to you. I hope it helps! If you have a multimeter, you can "tone out" the pins in the "hotwire plug" to make sure you're connecting things right. Here's the only sentence from the info that I supplied to him, that I haven't supplied to you:

"So, to bypass the unit altogether, you would use 2 small jumper wires, and jump the "white with red stripe's" together, and the whites together.  THEN, it should start."

In your case, you could check those pins with the meter, and verify that it's correct.

-a STILL bitter FrankRizzo.

[FrankRizzo]

@FrankRizzo you are a lifesafer! How come you know so much about it?

OK, so enough of my ranting. Did you get it fixed?

[Ben]

Hey @FrankRizzo,
I am sorry for not updating. Unfortunately I had two canceled/delayed orders for the Delphi Metri Pack 150 connectors. As I don't want to wait any longer I've placed an order for fakes from AliExpress, they are one third or forth of the price. They are currently awaiting a customs check but are already in germany. My experience tells me that they should arrive by the end of this week.
The only thing available fast seems to be a set with several connectors but I don't really feel like spending 400€ / 340GBP/ 420US so solve a problem that isn't really there.
Ben

Update: I've just rechecked with rs-online.com (mega reliable and fast) again and they seem to have everything in stock, this wasn't the case when I've checked with them two weeks ago. I might place a extra order if mine don't clear customs by tomorrow.

Update #2: Now I remember, they had everything in stock but there minimal order quantity for the terminals is 5 000 units, for the end-caps/cable-sorter it's 10 units and for the seals it's 100 units.