Newbie with a problem

Afternoon all,
I'm new to the forum and I must say all the information on the site has been really good and helped me get to know my P38.

I do have one small issue though which I want to resolve.

When I got the Range it just had the one key and the message displays on the dash 'Key battery low' I went straight out and replaced the batteries but it still comes up. On closer inspection the components within the key aren't in the greatest of shape so I am now looking into my options.

The first option is simple I can go to the dealer and get a new key made for the car programmed to my becm etc using the VIN number and keep my old one as a spare.

The second option after speaking to a Range Breaker is to replace the parts. The chap has offered me the following for £200

• BeCM with vin number and EKA number
• ignition barrel
• door lock
• glove box lock
• 2 key fobs (1 & 2 for same Becm)
• 2 spare keys (not fobs)

All I need to know is will this work? Is it as simple as just changing these parts or will the BeCM need to be programmed to work with the other controllers like the ECU and Air Suspention.

Hope that all makes sence and I haven't duplicated a post. I did have a look through but couldn't see any on there relating to this.

Thanks in advance

Pete

Hey Pete :welcome2:

Whilst the price for all those goodies is great, the P38 is a ridiculously complex beastie and as you have already pointed out, it is often times not as simple as swapping components over and hey-presto it all works....

The BeCM is omni-present, that is to say it has it's dirty little fingers in all the other little pies in the shop...!!

The main one that will render the car immobile is the fact the the BeCM and the Engine ECU talk to eachother and check that they are 'matched' to eachother or else the car won't start.

This is solveable with a SyncMate tool (between £70-£120 depending on source - or free if a kind soul is near to you and is willing to pop over and plug it in for you) which will re-sync the BeCM and the Engine ECU....

Then there are the other fancy stuff the BeCM does...like controlling lights, dashboard, central locking, alarm, door outstations, HeVAC (to a certain degree), EAS (again to a certain degree) etc etc.....

If you swap in a BeCM that has had different functions activiated or deactivated compared to the specification of your vehicle, it can have odd results....

If the route you want to take is to swap these things over....I would suggest you get friendly with a local who has access to a Faultmate/Rovacom/Autologic/Test Book et al as there could be a large number of parameter settings to be tweeked, turned on or off or reset.

Keep us informed with how you get on with it all.....P38's are fantastic cars....but a pain in the butt.

surely the best soloution is to just go to a dealer and buy a new key/fob ready to go for your car, how much are they ?

New keyfob from the dealer ready programmed is £150.90p including VAT.

Just make sure you get a different key number to the working one you have, lock then unlock car with "old" keyfob, shove new key into driver's door and lock to synchronise - job done.

And the mileage will be wrong....

Blimey your right. It is a pain but I love it. I thing by the time I have paid for the units and then paid again to have the units programmer I'd be getting on for the price of two keys so I have decided to order a key from the stealer on this occasion. Before I do this tho is there any way of telling which key number I have? The outer fob parts have no numbers or anything. Does it say inside anywhere as a back up method?

Just as a resolution on this topic I bought a new Key Fob. A lot less hassle in the end and guaranteed to work.

Your new batterys could of been out of date or duff if it says your battery are low and your fob works in all other aspect I would start with another set of good make battery's try not to touch them with your fingers use rubber gloves ..,,

there was a way to see which number you have, the battery cover is a different colour, black and grey for keys 1 + 2. not sure which way round it is though.

but if you've ordered a new key, well done

I had a look under the batteries and the ring they sit on is only attached at one point so think it was getting a pretty poor connection. All sorted now though with a nice new key.