Immobilizer strikes again:(

My 2010 990 Supermoto R is considered a "Road Warrior" but I am posting here because few will see the post there and the engine is a 990 and the bike has the dreaded immobilizer-which is now doing its job very well!

2010 KTM 990 SMR

I went out to ride the bike yesterday morning and got the dreaded 3 then 1 blink code from the Immobilizer light and the 8 slow, one fast FI blink code. So the bike will not start.

I have a Power Commander with the Autotune module installed and the MK3 Airbox. Bike has been running fine for a long time. I last rode it about two weeks ago with zero issues. I parked it in the garage and did not touch it and next time I get the immobilizer errors.

I have the shop manual on CD which did not help much. I have all three keys so tried the other black key but no change. The immobilizer seems to be located in the headlight assembly. I pulled that apart and could not find any obvious wire breaks although some wire bundles are tightly zip tied together so I may cut those zip ties to see if I find anything.

I have a Shorai battery and it seemed charged although I put a charger on it overnight which made no difference.

I went through as much of the wiring on the bike as I could and all seems fine.

It seems like the two main causes would be a failed immobilizer in which case I have to take the bike to the dealer as the KTM diagnostic tool would be required for a fix, or there is a broken wire in the immobilizer circuit.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=670041

I read that post. I guess he had a bad ignition or a broken wire from ignition?

2011 990 Adventure:

I got immobilizer error code several times and the bike did not wanted to start. Turn off then on the key fixes the problem every time. The ECU record immobilizer error. I hope this problem does not leave me stranded on another continent!!

Thanks for the info. My problem happens all the time. I was lucky that it happened at home. Otherwise only a KTM dealer can fix it! I am also wondering if a Power Commander problem could cause it.

Good question. I also have Power Commander V.

I noticed that the LCD-100 that I also have interfere a lot with my GPS and I ended up removing the LCD-100 as my Garmin Montana constantly reported unusual low accuracy. Unfortunately after removing the LCD-100 I got the error again. I do not know if it is coincidence mine and your case. I do not remember some else with the problem mentioning of using power commander.

Is this immobilizer of the type contained in the key? Been looking into possibly buying a 990 and hadn't read of this.
Thanks.

This will not help your immediate problem but just thought I would mention a previous thread in Orange Crush where an inmate described "fooling" the immobilizer by picking up a 2nd CPU and inputting the VIN from a 2007 or 2008 990 Adventure. The CPU part number is identical for both 2007-08 and 2009-current 990 bikes.

He reported that with the 2nd CPU installed on his 2009+ Adventure, his bike would run (on the 2007-08 CPU map) and that his existing keys (with immobilizer) would work fine (i.e. immobilizer not triggered and no warning lights). Essentially the CPU distinguishes between 2007-08 models and 2009-later models by the VIN. To really make this work you would need to copy the fuel/ignition map from your original bike to the "fooled" cpu.

I will post the thread link if I can find it ....

I read that post too. Very interesting and I am keeping that open as a possibility.

I may try reloading my Tune ECU maps to see if that does anything. I have the ECU loaded with a Tune ECU map then a Power Commander and then an Autotune on top of that. Probably none of that is the problem, but it costs nothing to reload all the maps.

I tried reloading a map using Tune ECU, and reinspecting a lot of wiring and everything looks in very good shape, so I am taking the bike to the dealer, much as I hate to. Without the KTM diagnostic tool I am dead in the water.
To be continued............

I hear stories like this and worry more and more down the road when the time comes to replace my 990 (07) with something else will I be able to get it without all the electronic whiz bang stuff...

NO I wont get a KLR...

Honda XR650R?
That's going to be my backup bike.

Not even a key...

Q~

Dropped the bike off at the dealer today. Hope to hear something next week. At least AAA was good. I have never used them and when I finally needed them they did a good job. Very careful with the bike.

Did you try disconnecting the battery for a few minutes and then reconnecting?

Yes, I tried that. Current best guess is that the antenna ring is broken.

Damn. Hope they can get a new one quickly for you!

That is my best guess. The dealer will not look at it until this coming week sometime.

Got a call from the dealer today. They think the immobilizer has failed A new one on order. We will see if that fixes the problem. I am about 50/50 that a new immobilizer will fix it. I am still fixated on the antenna ring.

The ICU comes with one orange key. Strange how will it fit in your lock, or maybe it's not done and you will have to go to locksmith before that???

The name sounds familiar, did you use to post on any 'busa boards way back in the day?