Hello, all, from a new user,

My son has a 2007 Eclipse that has developed a weird problem in the past month or so. It has two main symptoms: 1) while driving, the car will turn itself completely off, like someone had switched off the key, and 2) sometimes when it's parked and he tries to start it, it does not respond to the key switch whatsover. When the key is moved to the ACC position, the key 'clicks' into position but nothing happens (no radio, no clock or LCD display saying "ECLIPSE", etc.). When the key is moved to the START position, still nothing (no dash icons, no radio, won't start, etc.) It acts like the battery isn't even connected. But the headlights, flashers, etc. still work.

Some further symptoms:
1-Doesn't matter if the engine is hot or cold
2-No odd sounds or smells from the engine
3-Tried two different keys (they have the ID tag inside them)
4-Checked every place we could think of for loose wiring or connections
5-Pulled and reseated the ECU mounted in the fuse box on the driver side
of the engine compartment
6-Bought an electronic version of the shop manual and traced what wiring
we could get to without tearing out the dash.
7-The problem is highly intermittent. Sometimes the car will run beautifully
for two or three days, then it happens again.
8-When it happens, the car will sometimes start right away, sometimes after
waiting a few minutes, sometimes after a couple of hours.
9-No trouble codes are being thrown. We used my code reader, just in case,
but it shows no codes and all the diagnostic indicators (O2, etc.) show
normal.
10-The battery has been tested and it's good. Same for the alternator.
11-Tried Internet searches but can't really find a good match for this problem

He's been to a couple of shops and they can't get it to fail, even during test drives. I've been trying to help and actually did find where the previous owner had cut and spliced (not too well) three wires going up into the ignition key area. (I think he had in mind using a remote switch to disable the ignition, then removed the wiring when he sold the car.) We repaired those by soldering and shrink wrapping but it hasn't helped.

With all that said, my thoughts are going to the ignition key and/or key switch or the immobilizer. My questions are mainly directed toward the immobilizer because I don't know how it works on the 2007 Eclipses, and neither of us can afford to 'shotgun' the fix and start buying parts without a fair guess at what's wrong.

A-If the immobilizer was being activated somehow, would this account for what we're seeing?
B-I reckon an immobilizer would keep you from starting the car, but would it keep you from turning on the accessories like the radio? And if it is activated, would it prevent the dash icons from lighting up even before the key is rotated to the actual START position?
C-Can it be bypassed without hurting anything?
D-Where the heck is the immobilizer, anyway? From researching, I gather
it's programmed into the ECU. Is this correct?

I apologize for being so lengthy, but wanted to make sure I clearly describe what we're seeing. We're about at the end of our rope here and any help would be really much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

logan3

 

I suggest you to take your car to a certified repair center and get it checked so that they can find out the route cause of the problem and rectify it.I hope the problem will be solved.

 

Hi, anders,

Thanks for your response. That's exactly what we ended up doing after it finally quit starting altogether. The shop found a worn wire beneath the fuse box that was making intermittent contact and finally gave way. Luckily it was all under warranty and the dealer covered everything including the tow!

logan3