No Start / No Response To Key

I've got an 05 which sat for about 5 days and no longer starts or unlocks. It has the SKS

Symptoms and observations:

• Car will not unlock or lock via buttons on fob
• Car will not unlock via door handle touch sensor with key present
• Car will not lock via door handle push button
• Nothing happens when pressing the Power button with key in the car
• Nothing happens when pressing the Power button with key in the slot
• Pressing the brake causes a brief whirring sound like normal

Things I've checked:

• Key battery
  • Installed a new battery in the key
  • Red LED on key comes on when pressing buttons on the key (this was also the case before replacing the key battery)
• Car 12v battery
  • Was slightly low (12.1v)
  • Recharged battery outside of the car using a standalone charger overnight and tried again, same thing
  • Attached jumper cables to a running car and tried again, same thing
  • Attached a jump pack to the car - read system voltage at 14.4V and tried again - same thing
  • Cleaned the battery negative connection to body
• Checked EVERY SINGLE FUSE - all are OK. These were checked by removing and confirming continuity. Main fuseable link is okay. Fuseable link on the battery positive connector is okay. Small 5a fuse on the battery connector is okay. AM1 fuse is okay. DOME fuse is okay. AM2 fuse is okay. You name it, I've checked it.

I've tried with the Key button under the dash both pressed in and out. With it pressed in, nothing at all happens

If the key is in the car (or in the slot) and you press the power button nothing happens.

If the key is NOT in the car and you press the power button you get the flashing orange Key light on the dash.

I do not have a second key. Is there anything left to try? I saw a post somewhere that the guy said he had to replace a power control computer and that fixed his problem.

I saw another post that someone mentioned their connectors by the cabin air filter were loose - I checked mine and they are fine. The car has not had any recent service and has only been driven for the past couple of months. It was left parked for 5 days and now no longer works.

 

To add - interior lights work. Headlights and hazard lights work. Brake lights come on when pressing the brake. The car has the normal theft light that blinks every few seconds. When the door is open the door warning light is on. When the key is in the slot and the door is open the door chime goes off.

 

I've poked at this some more and managed to get TechStream to work.

I get a code for no signal when the key is inserted in the ignition. When the key is in the car I get a code for key proximity.

I bought a new blank key and when it is inserted I get a code for incorrect key code.

Any ideas?

 

It's old - older than the 3 years I've owned the car. I'd call it suspect. But externally charging it has done nothing. Jumping it has done nothing. Can confirm via measurement that the system voltage was over 14.0V with the jump pack attached for the 30 minutes I was sitting in the car fiddling with TechStream and car would still not start.

If jumping it got the car to start I'd certainly get a 12v battery.

The exact code for the key mismatch is B2795 - this occurs when the new, unprogrammed key is inserted into the slot. This tells me the slot is functional.

The exact code for no communication is B2796 - this occurs when the old, programmed key is inserted into the slot.

I'll confirm the remaining code for key proximity later today. This one just occurs when the programmed key is in the car. When this code is active pushing the power button does nothing. If this code is not active (key isn't in the car) pushing the power button gives the orange key light on the dash.

 

Okay following up on this one.

The 12v battery is fine. The old key I had just stopped working. The light on it lights up but it doesn't unlock the car or anything. I bought a new key. I paid for a pass code to be able to program the new key.

Programmed the new key successfully and the car starts. The old key seems to be missing the RFID tag in it so it does not work in the key slot and cannot be programmed (previous owner must have swapped the shell and lost the tag).

For now the car is stuck in programming mode - the "press the power button 5 times in 10 seconds" to exit the mode doesn't seem to work.

The theft light is on all of the time when the key is not in the car. And when it's in the car and the car is running the light blinks two times within a second, then is off for a second and repeats. This programming mode is the auto-key progamming mode when the immobilizer has been reset in techstream. How do I exit this mode?

 

One more follow-up to clean everything up. I managed to get it out of programming mode by spamming the power button. After cycling the ignition totally (power on for acc, power on for ign, power off) with my foot off the brake 6-7 times I must have managed to do it fast enough to have the car exit programming mode.

It's finally back to normal. For anyone else who finds this in the future:

The key inexplicably stopped working with the car. The key was also missing the RFID tag which means it would not work in the slot (only via SKS). This meant the key could not be reprogrammed and had to be considered lost/all keys lost. Swapping several new batteries through the key did not bring it back to life even though the LED on the key worked the entire time.

The final solution was to get a new SKS key, TechStream, and a VCI cable (the VM that's floating around contained the necessary drivers for the MiniVCI cable, would recommend to just use that). I paid for an immoreset pass code and had to do the following to perform the key reset:

• SmartKey ECU code reset (16 minute wait time)
• Immobilizer code reset (another 16 minute wait time, could not perform without having first reset the SKS ECU)
• Inserted new key and pressed power to program it to the immobilzer and at this point the car would turn on with the key in the slot
• Ran SmartKey routine to add a new key and from here the key would work on the doors and the SKS function would work
• Pressed the power button many times quickly to get the car to exit programming mode

For someone finding this who may run into the same thing - if you don't feel comfortable/able to pull all of that off you will probably just need to have the car towed to the dealer or have a locksmith come to you and pay the large fee for new key(s) and programming.