CAN-PHANTOM Immobiliser hard lockout loop

[T6shuttlecock]

Hi all,
Hoping for a bit of insight or validation from anyone running a CAN-PHANTOM (or Autowatch Ghost) on their T6. I am currently stuck in a complete digital lockout loop and completely fed up with it.

The History & Timeline:
2 Weeks Ago: The van completely locked me out for the first time. It was acting totally bricked, which led to installing a brand new vehicle starter battery. That seemed to solve it initially...

1 Week Ago: Locked me out again, even with the new battery.

Monday: Took the van to the garage. The authorized installers looked at it, put the immobiliser into Valet Mode, and handed it back. On the way home, I took it down the bypass hitting 60-70mph. Parked up at home at 9pm, locked it, and left it overnight. (I know exceeding the speed threshold is supposed to automatically kick it out of Valet Mode for the next journey).

Tuesday 4pm: First attempt to drive it since Monday night. Key in, dash lights up, I enter my PIN perfectly. Instead of starting, the Phantom completely glitched. It refused to acknowledge the button presses, locked down the data network, and the MFD threw up the standard "SAFELOCK" alert.

Wednesday am: Van is completely bricked. Ignition sequence is totally deadlocked and it is ignoring all PIN inputs.

From searching the forum, it looks like a classic CAN-bus software freeze where the module has choked during the automatic transition out of Valet Mode—likely made even more temperamental by the recent battery changes disrupting the data timestamps.

My plan tomorrow is to yank the negative battery terminal for 5 minutes to force a hard cold-reboot on the Phantom module and break the lockout loop.

Has anyone else had the Phantom completely brick itself specifically after breaking the Valet Mode speed threshold, or had it fail repeatedly like this? It’s booked in to be completely ripped out on June 9th, but I just need to get the bloody thing down to the auto-electrician in one piece!
Cheers,
Andrea

 

[Dellmassive]

I've got the Ghost version and not had an issue.

But I had to remove it before VW would replace the engine...(Warranty work, long story)...

The van was stuck in there carpark, so instead of getting the company back in I located the ghost unit and snipped the power wire..... That completely disabled the Ghost... So that VW could work on it.

So just saying for you, and testing to trace the fault.... Then units can be disabled easily enough for diagnostics.

 

[T6shuttlecock]

I didn't fit it—it was done two owners ago, only owned for 3 weeks!

So I have no idea where it’s hidden in the loom. I actually had an auto-electrician lined up to remove it, but they refused to touch it without the official location certificate, which I can't get my hands on until June 9th when the authorized installers are booked to strip it out.

Plus, my partner doesn't drive and we have a 4-year-old to get around, so I can't risk accidentally snipping the wrong CAN-bus wire and permanently stranding the van outside the house!

That’s good to know about the power wire, though. It makes me think my plan to pull the negative battery terminal tomorrow to starve it of power and force a hard reboot is definitely the right first step to get it moving.