red key symbol

Hi everyone
I am in need of some advice I have a 1998 300 tdi,when you leave the car either with or with out the key and return couple of mins or hours later the red key symbol illuminates and refuses to start, the only option seems to activate the alarm with the key fob and deactivate then it will start, the fobs have had new batteries recently by the last owner, could it be simply they have not been set up right ? I have read somewhere that this snag is not connected to the spider if the key symbol is lit ? could all this be bypassed as alarm and immobiliser not really top of my disco want list.
thanks in advance

sounds to me like its the immobiliser just doing its job which is normal. i was working on someones megane and if you turned off the ignition and left it for a bit, the immobiliser kicked in and the car would start till its been locked and unlocked again. feel free to shoot me if i'm wrong people!

LOL, wifes Megane did this. My Disco didn't, until we had a real thump off-roading at Manby show earlier this year, now my Disco also does it. No hassle, extra protection I guess. I reckon the bump must have re-seated a connection or whatever ...

Yes I have read the handbook again and it is normal except when the key is turned it should register the key fob and let it start,I have now worked out that just the disarm button on the fob has to be pressed to allow starting,not a major issue but as it does a lot of stop start on site work just really frustrating and if I can fix it one way or another would like too. I have another disco with the same key fob alarm and this one is ok so I guess there is a fault ??? thanks for any replies

mine has done that since i got it, just thought it was how the immobiliser worked

there was a piece in lro a few months back, and it told of a wire you could put in to bypass the immobilser, BUT that would invalidate your insurance unless you told them and they agreed it.

bigpin said:

I have another disco with the same key fob alarm and this one is ok so I guess there is a fault ??? thanks for any replies

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Yeah sounds like it's a fault, probably better to get it fixed rather than disabling the immobiliser, if at all possible, cos, as Optimus Prime says, that would likely cause hassle with the insurance.
Good luck getting it sorted

let us know how you get on