Cause
Faulty immobiliser control module
The security module that decides whether the car is allowed to start — reading the key or fob, checking it against what the vehicle expects, and authorising the engine and, on push-button cars, the release of the steering column lock.
Its failures strand the vehicle where it is parked, which is what separates it from most electrical faults: not a warning light to book in about, but a car that will not crank in a car park.
Suspect the cheap things first. A weak fob battery, a second key that works when the first does not, and a receiver antenna disturbed by trim work all present identically and cost far less. Suspect the module last, because replacing one means re-marrying it to the vehicle's keys and engine controller — a coding job, not a plug-in swap, and one that strands the car again if it goes wrong.
Typically specialist work. Needs equipment or training most home workshops do not have.
Some of these codes mean you should stop driving
3 of the 5 codes this can cause indicate a fault where continuing to drive risks damage or is unsafe. Which one you have matters more than the cause does — read the code's own page before deciding.
Codes this can cause (5)
Codes where this is a likely explanation first, rather than merely a possible one.
- U0426 Invalid Data Received From Vehicle Immobiliser Control Module Likely for this code High
- P0513 Incorrect Immobiliser Key Stop driving High
- P0633 Immobiliser Key Not Programmed — Engine Control Module Stop driving High
- U0423 Invalid Data Received From Instrument Panel Cluster Control Module High
- U0537 Invalid Data Received From Column Lock Module Stop driving High
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
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