Help! Immobilizer won't let me start her!

I just left for a 5 day trip to golden bay, nz. at the first fuel stop she wouldn't start again. lock light and fi light flashed their codes. 1+3 for lock light, 8+1 for fi light = immobilizer defect, antenna not attached. nice one, me and my girl are stuck and holidays down the drain. that's a 2010 Adv 990 R. anyone any idea where the fuck that immobilizer is and how to immobilize an immobilizer? thanks guys. only ca. 5th issue with the bike in the first 10 months. when she goes she's great but reliability is not her strength.

Check all fuses first, then all of the wiring and connecting plugs

Thanks, have checked all the fuses in the glove box, will go and check cables and connections. do you know where the immobilizer is located?

Didn't know the new KTM's were coming with the immobilizer system.

That being said, it is probably a RFID chip in your key that responds through an antenna surrounding the keylock itself. BMW's had a major problem with the antenna ring going bad.

The antenna has a 2 or 3 wire connector going to it. Hopefully it has just come loose. There is no way of getting around the immobilizer, other than replacing the ECU and key. KTM mothership would keep a pretty tight reign on new ECU's, not to mention the cost of an ECU.

Good Luck with this.

09's have the same system. Please post the outcome and solution to this problem. Best wishes

GDay mate

Remove headlight

Look for a red/white wire next to the relays Male/female bullet connectors. disconnect the disappearing wires and join these two ...... hit starter

They are near the edge clutch side........ at least this is true of an 04. Should not have changed...... good luck digger

Thanks everyone. Checked fuses and wires and tried spare key. Still no go.
Hired a car and trailer and will drop her off at the dealer to get it fixed. This happened Friday at 5.30 pm and shop opens again on Wednesday. Holidays.
Lucky this didn't happen in the Australian outback a few months ago. Again, thanks everyone. I'll report problem and solution according to dealer.

its a shame you are having such a bad experience with a new bike.
i hope you will be able to enjoy the rest of your holiday.
have happy 2011

A fine example of what an adventure bike should NOT have on it !


:huh

I took her to the shop on a trailer this morning. mechanic is nice and understanding. he's had her hooked up to the diagnostic tool and it read:
every single sensor gave an error reading. he's got no idea so far and I can't blame him, he sure's done his best. there's no KTM mechanic manual after 2008 models in the country and no online access to a 2010 one neither. there's no technical advisor in NZ for KTM for the mechanic and the only one in australia does not reply, neither via email nor via fax. it looks to me like the ECU is faulty but could be anything. so far I've wasted 5 days to try to get her fixed and transport her back to the shop and tomorrow I will need all day to return the trailer. I'm very frustrated after spending so much money on a new bike. she's a good bike when she goes but reliability is not her strength so far and service here in NZ is good on a mechanic/customer level but shocking on Factory/shop level. am also waiting on a new swing arm under warranty, old one got carved through by plastic mudguard.

After what I went through on the BMW, this is what I would try.

See if you can find a BMW EWS sensor ring. THey ended up being pretty cheap because they sold a ton of them, and people were pissed off. The part number has to end in 247. If you post locally, I bet GS riders have spares to loan you.

Adapt the wires to this new ring, use your spare key inside it to communicate to the ECU that it is the right key. Turn your key switch on with the other key, and see what happens.

RFID key Identification has been around a long time. Just not on bikes.

Also I would trace the wiring from the antenna ring to the ECU and make sure it was not pinched or damaged by the factory. Shouldn't be too hard if the tanks are off.

Thanks Spavxer, she's still under warranty so I let the shop do the fixing. got support this morning from the Australian technician and he'll email an update for the diagnostic computer to the local shop so they can find faults on the newer models and the immobilizer in particular. will keep you guys informed, again, local mechanic is great and keeps me in the loop.

Has the dealer solved the problem yet?

the dealer updated his software for the 2010 models and found a faulty immobilizer antenna. he's still waiting for KTM to confirm this to be a warranty case before he can order a new lock/antenna. with a bit of luck the parts could be here in a week or two. I seem to develop an interest in simple bikes, been looking at xr650l and dr650 forums all day.

One ride on a DR,KLR,XR will promply put an end to your interest in simple bikes

Ktm accept the issue to be under warranty and are putting together a new ignition/immobilizer with a new set of keys. been told they outsource the key cutting so it might take a little longer. lucky there's still a few months left in this summer.

I believe there are many inmates who would beg to differ with you.

When bikes become too clever for they're own good problems like these arise.

Anyway, at least the OP got his problem sorted. Too bad he spent his holiday with a trailer. Sounds like his dealer did the best he could but KTM might offer a little more support in the future?

I wonder how all of these new so called dual sports like the Yamaha,Ducati,Triumph etc. with all the traction control, key fob's and electronic gizmo's will do in the market and on the trail ?!:huh
IMHO they are going in the wrong direction. For instance, I loved fuel injection after switching from carb's.............until it started "acting up" !
Technology is great when it works......or........even if you can fix it, but when it breaks..........:eek1
Killer Whale KTM

"faulty immobilizer antenna"

"malfunctioning brake servo motor modulator"

"defective alpha wave transmogrifier"

And some people think my Norton Commando is hard to keep running in top form.

I bet that in 5 or 10 years we will look back at these bikes and be saying how much better and simpler,powerful and fun they were. The new bikes will have become much more complicated,power restricted, speed limited,emissions controlled to save us from our untrustworthy selves.