Immobilizer stuck

Texalarm was a European alarm company that made dealer installed aftermarket alarms. They were used on a few makes. They were not factory installed but installed by the dealers who sold them as options.
My suggestion would be to remove the entire mess. Usually they are not that hard to remove as most simply get installed in one of the engine or fuel control wires and when activated they break the connection to prevent the car from running. The problem is to find the correct wiring diagram for that car and then following the wiring from the alarm module to the cars wiring. Because you have the 1.6 that wasn't sold in the U.S. I'd not trust that the U.S. wiring diagram would be the same. A decent shop should be able to remove it

You mention using a car wash. Before you do anything else I would look under the car and under the hood at the battery cables and wiring going to the starter. If the wash had a powerful spray it could have knocked a connection loose from the starter which would cause it to act this way. If you find nothing loose or damaged then I would remove the system as it could have gotten water into the alarm module or it's wiring which could do the same thing, but with it there it would make it harder to diagnose.

Hello Steve, and thank you so much for your insightful reply. You obviously know what you're talking about, it's immediately evident. I read everything you said and believe you're right. However...

Part of the problem (a big part, actually), is that I know absolutely nothing about cars, except I love them and I spend too much money on them. This purchase was a heart-over-head one, i.e. didn't have it inspected pre-purchase for a variety of reasons; it rode great, no leaking, all power options worked, top in perfect shape, etc. Only 247000 km after 24 years was decent.

About a month ago I decided to finally get it to a mechanic who was recommended to me for a complete "physical". I was told it needed 2 new rear tires (they were really dry and in bad shape, actually could have blown out at any point), new brakes/pads, new timing belt, alternator belt, at which time I also did complete fluid change. Picking up the car, i immediately noticed an improvement in handling and speed and general performance, so I was a happy camper. Yesterday, being a nice day, I took the car to an automated car wash, hadn't been washed since purchase in March, and as a result I went for the whole shebang, including a strong under body wash, which, as you say, may be the problem. But I don't know.
When I got back to my garage about an hour later, just as I pulled into my spot, I heard what I thought was my hitting the front of my car on the wall of the garage, but that was not the case. The car just stalled and that's when the immobilizer prevented me from starting the car. I will go back today to see if time away from the car has re-enabled the ignition, but I think you're right, it won't have.

I should never have bought a car with this TexAlarm crap. It was one of the biggest car-buying mistakes in my over 25 years of buying cars. I moved to the Netherlands 2 years ago and yes you're right, this alarm was only available here, but I've been told that almost all VW dealers at the time installed these immobilizers - I have yet to see a VW without one from this time period.

So the car is now "stuck" in the garage, no access to a mechanic, or lift, and I'm a complete useless moron when it comes to checking anything you mentioned. I will have to contact a dealer tomorrow to see if they can help me either by sending a tow truck, or s mechanic. I wonder if the guys who did the tires/repairs, etc. a few weeks ago would know, however unfortunately they're a 40 minute drive from where I live and for obvious reasons I can't do that.

Help! I will first look in the engine to see if the cables are loose (or broken!), then try the immobilizer again, but as for finding the wiring location, or the fuse, wire or whatever I am at a total loss. I once asked someone if the TexAlarm can be removed and was advised that it can't, but if you say that it was a dealer-installed (and NOT factory-installed) option then I think they didn't know what they were talking about.

Thank you for any advice, so sorry for the long sob story.
Andrew

Issue resolved. sort of. So, I had a thought that maybe it was the fob that was the issue, so I took the other one and voila! Car started up like a charm. Original fob still doesn't work, I don't know if the battery drained, or if now it will never work, i.e. does the immobilizer 'recognize' the frequency from that particular fob and block it for all eternity? I will try a new battery and see what happens. I will see about replacing the batteries in both of them ,actually. I am also going to investigate having the immobilizer removed/deactivated altogether, it's more of a pain than a benefit, especially in a 24 year old car. Thanks for your help in the meantime, if you have any thoughts on the above, I'd love to hear them. Cheers. Hope you're staying safe and healthy in this catastrophic time.

Well, it's good to hear it was the fob, yes they can shut down without any warning, even the new ones have that issue. I have a brand new one hanging on the wall for my wife's car that came out of the box as non working. Try a new battery, it may work. I tend to remove anything that could cause issues like alarms, remote start and such, or go through and install a way to bypass them if they fail. The fobs normally use a single frequency but broadcast a unique signal to tell the items that they are the correct fob. I've had them fail from bad batteries or just out of the blue one of the parts fails.

What really worries me is that should the new battery not be the answer, then I’ll have only one currently working fob. If that one fails, I’m bumming because there’s no other way to start the car. I guess I can contact an auto electrician to try to remove/disable it? Honestly this is taking away from all the fun it is to drive this car. I’ll let you know. Thanks again.

A picture for you.

Nice ride. Yeah, things like that can make it hard to enjoy a vehicle. I'd say remove it. Or replace it with a modern unit that you can get pieces for. The wife's car has push button start, no key or other way to start it, if that fob fails it becomes a lot of fun.

Hey again, well I opened the fobs and there is no battery. Everything is on the board. So I presume now the first one is basically dead now. Crazy!

Hmm, soldered in place? Take a shot of the interior of the bad one, might be able to get an idea on a repair.

Yes it seems that way. Here Are both sides of the board:

Also I think it may not be the battery because the light flashes when I press on the button. Anyway, I’m waiting to hear from an auto electrical tech sometime.

Oops my bad. There is a battery right next to the red light. I will remove it and get a new one. Stay tuned...

Was going to mention it but you found it. Let us know what a replacement does. It could be low or there could be a fault in the fob itself.

Hi, I decided that it’s too risky to have these things fail (or if I lose them), as If they do the car will be useless. So I’m having the whole thing removed and rewired on Friday by an auto electrician who specializes in VW audio and electronics. No more immobilizer. It’s a 24 year old car so nobody is going to steal it anyway.

Don't blame you one bit. I have had more issues with vehicles that had systems like that installed than I care to think about. They can make repairs difficult because you cannot tell if the problem is the vehicle or the add-ons.
Thank you for using 2CarPros.

Removed! What a pleasure. Now I have to decide what to do about broken antenna and speakers. Lol.

Try looking at Crutchfield.com they may show you some upgraded stereo parts to fit it. As for the antenna, it would depend on what you need, but a salvage yard might be a good place to start.