Hi there, So I have purchased a mk4 escort with an ST170 engine

It was bought with a fault so expected to get buried deep into this.

The gentleman i bought it off thinks it might have an immobilizer fault but he wasn't sure, The car turns over and "tries" to start but never actually fully starts and idles. It tires to fire a few times but then never actually fires up.

based on the fact its trying to fire, i assume it has fuel & spark, but I am not sure how the immobilizer on these cars work, do they still crank if the immobilizer has a fault?

Thank you in advance foany help