Hi guys,

A friend of mine has a Cinq Sporting. He had to change the steering column and all was working fine until this morning the car stopped starting.

The engine turns but the orange code ligth on the dashboard does not turn off. I opened the master key (the only one that came with the car) and the chip is missing from the inside (since the car worked before Im assuming the ECU is already unblocked).

We tried fuses, conecting and disconecting every plug and even help with another battery but the car is still a "no go".

Do you guys have any idea before we conect a disgnostics (which will be hard cause we dont have one where the car is) ??

I'm going to hazard a guess that the chip from the key was probably taped onto the original column due to the antennae "ring" not picking it up from the key. If you still have the original column check it over, alternatively a mckritch or gazzaman chip will disable the immobiliser.

Seems most likely. The chip is tiny -- a glass tube maybe 8mm x 3mm. Hope it didn't fall off and get trapped in someone's shoe!

The car already worked with the new column. Is there a place on the wiring where it could be taped onto ?

I will look for it first thing in the morning. Thanks for your help

It could even be taped to the antenna wire, right up near the switch, or inside the shroud. Works in proximity to the ignition switch, so was/is probably with 15cm or so of it.

Problem solved

The chip was hiding in another key (one that only opened the gas tank).

Now that is a happy ending!

Cinq ones are easy enough to clone, especially if the red key is still with you.