2001 Toyota Corolla question?

charchar88

Last night after stopping to pick up some food to go out in town I got back in my car and the car wouldn't start. No click no turning no anything. I got some help with my dad and the battery was perfectly fine but it wouldn't start. I looked at the manual for like 30 minutes to make sure I wasn't missing anything and to troubleshooting.































Anyway I had to get the car towed and today I watched the mechanics diagnose it and about 30 minutes into it they started it and told me it was a starter kill system from an anti-theft. There was nothing about that in the manual.































Anyone know what this is and how to disarm or prevent it?































They told me to turn the key for 5 sec then press the button until it stops blinking. Is that correct for a toyota corolla? I'm just asking in case it happens again.































I'm bummed after spending 85 bucks and there was nothing wrong with it.















They said since it was probably out of factory installed it wasn't in the manual.































I even troubleshooted on the internet and there was nothing about this fail safe thing. Is it not talked about?















I didn't recall hitting any switch or button or anything it just cut off. Is that common?

Huba

I've had Corolla for 20 years and never heard of this. Are you sure it wasn't installed by a previous owner? The mechanic who seems to know the system may be able to help you out. Go back to him and ask for a further explanation.

Toyota Tech Guy

This model does not come from the factory with any type of start defeat. At some point, this car has had an aftermarket alarm,security,or remote start installed. It may have a security system that was accidentally (i.e. a hidden switch you may have tripped), or by some fault in the system "awakened" causing the exact symptom you describe. I remove non factory security systems fairly regularly for this type of problem.















I would suggest having the offending aftermarket add on removed to eliminate future problems.