Key Fob problem with 1995 4.0 SE (battery keeps going flat)

Hello,

Ive just bought a Range Rover and have got a problem with my Key Fob. It cae up on the display as 'Key Battery Low', about 2hrs later the key was dead flat and i couldnt get the car started because the engne was disabled from the immobilizer. i put in new batteries, and it worked, but the display still said 'Key Battery Low'. i went away for two days, and just tried to start her up, but the key is dead again...

there must be some battery drainage issue.

has anybody experienced this before, or has any advice?

regards,

greg


(also, dumb question- how do you get the back seats to fold down? i cant seem to find a latch or a button...)

may be a bad fob or a short on the board, could even be that the rubber on the button is breakin up internally and keeping the contact made.

as for your rear seats (my car is in wales on holiday for the week so working off memory) there should be 2 buttons on the top of the seats or just off to the sides, press em in and push forward

Go and buy another fresh set of batteries for the key, ive bought brand new batteries before and had them die within a week. You dont know how long the batteries have been on the shelf. In the end I just went into a camera shop as I was passing and got some batteries from there as shops like that constantly sell em day in, day out rather than your local supermarket that might only sell a pack or two a week or something.

-Wills

gcordez said:

Hello,

Ive just bought a Range Rover and have got a problem with my Key Fob. It cae up on the display as 'Key Battery Low', about 2hrs later the key was dead flat and i couldnt get the car started because the engne was disabled from the immobilizer. i put in new batteries, and it worked, but the display still said 'Key Battery Low'. i went away for two days, and just tried to start her up, but the key is dead again...

there must be some battery drainage issue.

has anybody experienced this before, or has any advice?

regards,

greg


(also, dumb question- how do you get the back seats to fold down? i cant seem to find a latch or a button...)

Click to expand...

Hi greg, read the link below or search for "RF Reciever" there loads of threads on this subject, also if you haven't already look on ebay for "P38 key fob service kit" you will problaly need the one with new rubber buttons and batteries. Thre is a possibility that your reciever is playing around, a new RF reciever is about 150-00 GBP but it does cure a lot of problems and its easy to replace.


http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f10/rangerover-flat-battery-50300.html

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f10/rf-receiver-60498.html

As for the rear seats there is a button behind the rear seats on top of the side parcel shelfs by the rear windows just push down.

thanks for the replies.

i just went out and replaced the batteries (again) and am getting no joy. the small red LED on the key fob itself lights up when i push the buttons but nothing happens with the car. this could be a faulty key fob? i just want to get the car started, but the engine is disabled until the key fob works..

sound familar to anyone?

an advice?

regards,

greg

Greg do you know you vehicles "EKA Code"?

no,

i bought it last week, and it dosent have the handbook or any other info...

I suspect you might have to re-aline the key code try searching here for EKA code or key fob code alignment.

PS. It might help if you update your profile stating your location, someone may live in your local area.

thanks, will do.

gcordez said:

thanks for the replies.

i just went out and replaced the batteries (again) and am getting no joy. the small red LED on the key fob itself lights up when i push the buttons but nothing happens with the car. this could be a faulty key fob? i just want to get the car started, but the engine is disabled until the key fob works..

sound familar to anyone?

an advice?

regards,

greg

Click to expand...

First of all, now you have replaced the batteries again is the central locking working, are you getting any error messages on the dash AND, most importantly, when you turn the ignition on is the CHECK ENGINE light coming on??

-Wills

thanks for everyones help.

update- i managed to get the EKA code off the previous owner and enabled the engine. if i just lock the doors manually with the key, it dosent disable the engine. so, i guess i can hobble about for a while like this, but does anyone have an idea of how much a new Key Fob costs?

gcordez said:

thanks for everyones help.

update- i managed to get the EKA code off the previous owner and enabled the engine. if i just lock the doors manually with the key, it dosent disable the engine. so, i guess i can hobble about for a while like this, but does anyone have an idea of how much a new Key Fob costs?

Click to expand...

It's not the fobs! It's your RF receiver...I know because you describe exactly what I was getting.

Your vehicle is fitted with original RF receiver part number ARF1953 and that has now been the problem for so many P38 owners and is the ultimate culprit in most cases if not all.

You need to go to an official dealer and buy part number YWY500170. The RF receiver does not have part numbers on it, therefore the only way to ensure you get the right RF receiver is to buy it from an official dealer.

thanks,

but i had the AA man out last night and he tested the Key Fobs signal. he had a machine which had a sensor to see if it was emitting any signal from the Fob. it didnt register a thing at all coming from it. would that have something to do with the RF? it seems (and im hoping) that its a clapped out Key Fob....

gcordez said:

thanks,

but i had the AA man out last night and he tested the Key Fobs signal. he had a machine which had a sensor to see if it was emitting any signal from the Fob. it didnt register a thing at all coming from it. would that have something to do with the RF? it seems (and im hoping) that its a clapped out Key Fob....

Click to expand...

The only way to test is that theory its fobs is to use both fobs. If one works and the other doesnt then its the fob. I had terrible issues with my P38. I go stranded with a drained battery 3 or 4 times and got towed back to my main dealer each time at the cost of £100 odd quid to find that on testbook nothing was wrong. I also lost my RAC coverage for using it too much! Cheek of it!

I did huge research and found that the main problem is the RF receiver. It was defective from day one and has been revised by BMW 3 times after 2004.

Once I replaced it, it transformed the cars reliability instantly. I also replaced my key fob as well as it fell apart. But its the RF receiver that caused my battery drain as it picks up Wi-Fi, CCTV and pound shop weather stations which interfere with the Rf receiver waking it up and draining the battery each time.

thanks, ill definately get that checked out.

cheers

gcordez said:

thanks, ill definately get that checked out.

cheers

Click to expand...

You may or may not believe it, but 2 official LR dealers hadn't a clue about P38's and the problem with the dreaded AFR1953 RF receiver. I keep telling people and dealers that a testbook will not show or pick up the RF receiver problem as it's technically fully working and not faulty, just crap at what it was designed to do.

That's why when dealers put them on testbook's they take your money and don't fix the problem because they solely rely on the testbook system to find the faults for them to fix rather than be proactive and knowledgeable experts that you and I expect them to be.

If your P38 came with full service history check the paperwork. But I can bet just like mine, it hasn't been replaced.

Coming with 6 remotes should have given some indication there was something wrong with the fobs/RF receiver. The previous owner got shot of it for that very reason. Hence I got my P38 for cheap.

adamforeman said:

Coming with 6 remotes should have given some indication there was something wrong with the fobs/RF receiver. The previous owner got shot of it for that very reason. Hence I got my P38 for cheap.

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I don't claim to be an expert on this, but this whole thread has me more than a little confused.

Presumably the electronic alarm/unlock communication system has two basic components, the key fob unit (with the lock/unlock buttons on it), and the RF receiver which is presumably fitted to the RR itself and looks for the signal from the fob. Then, when it sees a valid one, it triggers the appropriate internal RR subsytem.

I don't understand how stray RF could flatten the battery in the fob unit. Stray RF could trigger the RF receiver in the car as that has to listen out for the fob 24/7 but surely the fob doesn't go active in any way until one of the buttons is pushed, does the fob even have Rx capability as I can't see why it would need it ?

bwarb said:

I don't claim to be an expert on this, but this whole thread has me more than a little confused.

Presumably the electronic alarm/unlock communication system has two basic components, the key fob unit (with the lock/unlock buttons on it), and the RF receiver which is presumably fitted to the RR itself and looks for the signal from the fob. Then, when it sees a valid one, it triggers the appropriate internal RR subsytem.

I don't understand how stray RF could flatten the battery in the fob unit. Stray RF could trigger the RF receiver in the car as that has to listen out for the fob 24/7 but surely the fob doesn't go active in any way until one of the buttons is pushed ?

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The reason why it causes the battery to go flat is that RF Receiver AFR1953's band range is set too wide and signals from Wi-Fi, garage door openers, CCTV systems etc get picked up by the RF Receiver which in turn wakes up the security system "BECM". This continues to do this until the battery goes flat. In addition to this, the BECM allows 100 keys to be received before performing a lock out. As a stray signal eg Wi-Fi or garage door opener isnt the correct code, it simply says thanks for playing and locks you out.

The new RF Receiver YWY500170, which was redesigned by BMW hence the totally different numbering, was changed with graphic notches in place to narrow down the band width to allow certain frequencies to activate the BECM.

Now this works 100%.

adamforeman said:

The reason why it causes the battery to go flat is that RF Receiver AFR1953's band range is set too wide and signals from Wi-Fi, garage door openers, CCTV systems etc get picked up by the RF Receiver which in turn wakes up the security system "BECM". This continues to do this until the battery goes flat. In addition to this, the BECM allows 100 keys to be received before performing a lock out. As a stray signal eg Wi-Fi or garage door opener isnt the correct code, it simply says thanks for playing and locks you out.

The new RF Receiver YWY500170, which was redesigned by BMW hence the totally different numbering, was changed with graphic notches in place to narrow down the band width to allow certain frequencies to activate the BECM.

Now this works 100%.

Click to expand...

But isn't this flattening the car battery itself, I thought this guys problem was his fob batteries going flat ?

bwarb said:

But isn't this flattening the car battery itself, I thought this guys problem was his fob batteries going flat ?

Click to expand...

This has yet to be established if its batteries / fob or RF receiver. If like my handset, I had to buy a new one.