Kept trying to avoid what my wife was saying about a remote starter, now I know. I have a Compustar alarm system with a lcd pager and remote starter, for 1.5 years the car started fine but now it cranks and cranks while trying to start it with the key . If I engage the system into remote start then it'll start right up by remote starting it, if not then it'll just crank and crank 'til it wants to start with the key. It will not start right up on the first try like stock, it takes 3-4 (could be more) tries for it to actually start up with the key. Now I'd disconnected the remote starter and it works perfect with the key, no more 3-4 tries . I did hear that in time the remote starter will mess up your alternator and battery, just thought I share but take it as a warning.

 

It sounds like your unit may just need to be reprogrammed. I'm a CompuStar dealer and that's what it sounds like to me.

Oh and a remote starter will not damage anything if its installed properly The only thing wearing out your starter is trying to start the car without success over and over again

 

Immobilizer bypass problem? Sounds like the car is seeing the remote start bypass constantly. Do you happen to know which one they used?

 

^true

 

You may want to check the immobilizer light on the dash when it gives you starting problems. If the green indicator is flashing it may be a problem with your key.

Mine has been slowly getting worse about starting. At first it was just once every other month, then once every few weeks, recently about once or twice a week it won't start. And every time I have the problem the immobilizer light is flashing. I turn the key off and try again, immobilizer goes out, and starts fine.

I wonder if the chip in the key can get flaky? I keep thinking I should swap keys (use my second set) to test that theory but somehow I never think of it when I pull into the garage, only when I'm leaving.

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All you guys are probably 99.9% right, that .1% is just me . Revhi and modifry are both right on, my immobilizer light does flash when trying to start the car with the key. Anything I can do to get this fix? Will swapping the keys fix this problem or do I have to take it in to have someone more experience look at it? It's really embarrassing to have a great looking car crank and crank at the gas station after filling up, it's also frustrating. Thank you all for your replies but please keep them coming, I really want to see if there's something I can do to get it to work again like normal.

Btw, just came back from trying to start the S again and it's doing the same thing so it didn't work by disconnecting the remote starter wire : . Help ...

 

***Update***

Swapped the keys and now it starts right up, tried to remote start it but it just cranks so it's the key that's $#%&@... Any ideas why this would happen? I don't want this key (chip) to go bad as well which will leave me in a really bad situation. Oh and btw, the immobilizer light didn't flash this time with this (swapped) key.

 

For the remote start to work you must have another immobilizer chip (from a spare key) near the column - is it possible the immobilizer does not like having 2 chips in close proximity?

 

Its probably the bypass. Do you know which one the remote start is using? If its the newer version from directed that learns the key, it could be defective. Weve seen many issues with them recently from anywhere from cold weather problems to lost codes.

If you attempt to start the car with the remote and it doesnt work, you need to wait a few minutes before the regular key will start it. The car will keep reading the bypass for a couple minutes.

 

Well, I know nothing about installing a remote starter nor do I have any ideas so I can't answer which bypass the remote start is using. All I know is that I'd remembered seeing my installer put the spare key in the black box so I'd went looking for it and swapped it, now it works perfect but when trying to remote start the car that it just crank like crazy if I let it. With that being said then I think that the key that I'd swapped in for the one in the black box is either messed up or the code is scrambled, I have no other idea but that it works now with the key. Figure I don't really need a remote starter but that it'll be tyte to have as a option, either I get a new key or the remote starter won't work due to having the messed up key in the box.