P38 Remote, central locking and receiver brick wall.

Hi guys,

Recently purchased a 1999 p38 4.6HSE:high5: which by all accounts I am very happy with bar one;
“ENGINE DISABLED”! I would love the pleasure of driving this lovely car more so please please help on the below;

Until recently, I had been experiencing the apparently common problem with the passive and or full immobiliser working well and the remote communication not so.
I have never been able to get my EAK to work as I don’t seem to be able to initiate the start sequence; when turning my key to the left four times, I get various reactions from the solenoid, locks, indicators etc (no beep) but no response when turning the key to the right from any.
After random amounts of elapsed time over several occasions at different locations, the fob would react and re-mobilise the system.



Given that the back of my fob was chewed up and the sprung battery contact was loose (one pin not soldered into back of PCB) I replaced the fob with a brand new one from my local independent Landy garage. problem still there.


Here is where I’m at now!
I got my detailer to work the interior of the car (particularly the back as previous owner kept several dogs in there!) He removed both covers below the parcel shelves as well as all carpet including on the tailgate. Noticing a short connection on the subwoofer and rear speakers, he moved the wires about to try to find the problem (can of worms I fear!) I believe this caused the fuse to blow that governs the tailgate etc.

Replaced the fuse, tailgate all good however the central locking doesn’t seem to work now and I now have had no communication from the fob over the last four days (never that long befor) which tells me that the issue has grown beyond the common receiver problem. I have removed all the rear trim again to try to find any loose connection etc and to check the RF unit.
Have now resigned myself to replacing the RF as the next port of call so can you please let me know the part number for the latest edition and any suggestions regarding the central locking etc.
Much appreciated,


P.S have read about wifi etc.



An on the drive Charlie

Datatek or Wammers, please help me!

I know you guys are good on this subject as boring as it probably is by now!

St.V8, Mozz, anyone!

Dorset Ranger said:

St.V8, Mozz, anyone!

Click to expand...

hi , if you P.M. me i will give you my no and sort it for you ,cheers mozz

hi , check your messages .i have sent you contact details ,cheers mozz

Have you located the RF receiver and checked the the aerial is connected? It's a common dodge to disconnect it and then the FOB will only work if you stand really close to the offside rear quarter glass. If the receiver is not the latest version it will be a good idea to replace it in any case. The EKA code problem could be down to a duff micro switch in the lock, best checked with diagnostics.

Thanks for coming back to me,.. have pm'd mozz,

yes, heve checked all the connections in the rear and even put the remote to the Rf. What do you think I should be paying for the latest Rf?
Figured the EKA was down to a relay or micro switch prob

Hi there,

If you try the following web site it gives instructions on checking door locks - left hand side of web page under Central Locking

P38 Range rover Becm Repaired & Programmed at a fraction of the cost!-P38 Range Rover Electrical Common faults and Fixes

Thanks Vaughan,

Very useful!

I would concur with Datatek, sounds like a duff microswitch, as you said with the key in the door lock iteslf, the response to the key turns is erratic.

Island 4x4 list the latest rec. at a hair over £163 RF Radio Receiver YWY500170 Island 4x4 - Specialists in Land Rover and Range Rover Parts and accessories for all models. UK and worldwide mail order.

You can get them off the Bay of E, but it has been known for people to put old internals in a newly marked up box....

When you press the buttons on the remote fob, does the LED light up??

Remember if you lock the car on the fob and unlock with the key you will have to enter the EKA code....

When my previous P38 Keyfob starting playing silly buggers I used to just lock it and unlock it with the key - but don't superlock with the key as you will need the EKA to remobilse again....

First thing to do is change the RF rec. then resync the keys - 99 onwards should have the easy-sync option which uses a coil in the ignition barrel to resync the keys - you will need a good RF Receiver for this to work too.

I could be wrong, but I think one of the full fat Diagnostics like the Faultmate Extreme can show live data from the lock microswitches - i.e. you can plug it in and the using the key in the lock turn it to lock and unlock and the Faultmate software will show if the lock status has changed indicating if the microswitch is working - but I could be wrong.

Thanks Saint,

Yes LEDs work on both old and new fob. Never unlocked using the key and have noticed that the problem occurred (before the recent detailers efforts!) when the car was being accessed/loaded for a prolonged period with the engine off and doors unlocked (passive I believe?) at this point, the communication between the fob and receiver or receiver and becm would occasionally fail leaving me enviably stranded!

Do I understand for what you wrote that the easy sync that uses the coil in the ign barrel needs a signal from the RF? This is encouraging if so as I am sure my RF is no good and the easy sync has never worked for me before.

The thing that is bugging me the most is that since the Detailer did his thing, the door CL does not work anymore (key or slam) and the comm failure from the fob is now permanent

Thanks for th RF info, would not buy from eBay if they were free!

Are the micro switches easy to replace? Sound like I should invest in a volt meter for this car at the least!! Any suggestions re features needed?

Saint.V8 said:

I would concur with Datatek, sounds like a duff microswitch, as you said with the key in the door lock iteslf, the response to the key turns is erratic.

Island 4x4 list the latest rec. at a hair over £163 RF Radio Receiver YWY500170 Island 4x4 - Specialists in Land Rover and Range Rover Parts and accessories for all models. UK and worldwide mail order.

You can get them off the Bay of E, but it has been known for people to put old internals in a newly marked up box....

When you press the buttons on the remote fob, does the LED light up??

Remember if you lock the car on the fob and unlock with the key you will have to enter the EKA code....

When my previous P38 Keyfob starting playing silly buggers I used to just lock it and unlock it with the key - but don't superlock with the key as you will need the EKA to remobilse again....

First thing to do is change the RF rec. then resync the keys - 99 onwards should have the easy-sync option which uses a coil in the ignition barrel to resync the keys - you will need a good RF Receiver for this to work too.

I could be wrong, but I think one of the full fat Diagnostics like the Faultmate Extreme can show live data from the lock microswitches - i.e. you can plug it in and the using the key in the lock turn it to lock and unlock and the Faultmate software will show if the lock status has changed indicating if the microswitch is working - but I could be wrong.

Click to expand...

Faultmate certainly allows the door outstation and lock to be operated although I have never had to use the option. I presume a Nanocom can do the same

Dorset Ranger said:

Hi guys,

Recently purchased a 1999 p38 4.6HSE:high5: which by all accounts I am very happy with bar one;
“ENGINE DISABLED”! I would love the pleasure of driving this lovely car more so please please help on the below;

Until recently, I had been experiencing the apparently common problem with the passive and or full immobiliser working well and the remote communication not so.
I have never been able to get my EAK to work as I don’t seem to be able to initiate the start sequence; when turning my key to the left four times, I get various reactions from the solenoid, locks, indicators etc (no beep) but no response when turning the key to the right from any.
After random amounts of elapsed time over several occasions at different locations, the fob would react and re-mobilise the system.



Given that the back of my fob was chewed up and the sprung battery contact was loose (one pin not soldered into back of PCB) I replaced the fob with a brand new one from my local independent Landy garage. problem still there.


Here is where I’m at now!
I got my detailer to work the interior of the car (particularly the back as previous owner kept several dogs in there!) He removed both covers below the parcel shelves as well as all carpet including on the tailgate. Noticing a short connection on the subwoofer and rear speakers, he moved the wires about to try to find the problem (can of worms I fear!) I believe this caused the fuse to blow that governs the tailgate etc.

Replaced the fuse, tailgate all good however the central locking doesn’t seem to work now and I now have had no communication from the fob over the last four days (never that long befor) which tells me that the issue has grown beyond the common receiver problem. I have removed all the rear trim again to try to find any loose connection etc and to check the RF unit.
Have now resigned myself to replacing the RF as the next port of call so can you please let me know the part number for the latest edition and any suggestions regarding the central locking etc.
Much appreciated,


P.S have read about wifi etc.



An on the drive Charlie

Click to expand...

Check the RF receiver is still actually connected and that your man has not dislodged the 3 pin connector to the RF receiver.

Excuse my greeness! Is that the white square plug that plugs into the front of the blue box under the rhs rear parcel shelve!?!?

That would be the one. Moral don't let people who may well be skilled at cleaning cars play with wiring.

He's a lovely chap but this is not the first time he has taken his job description beyond my requirments with bad results!! Hard to kick him in the nuts given he was only trying to help!!

Point talken though!

Dorset Ranger said:

Excuse my greeness! Is that the white square plug that plugs into the front of the blue box under the rhs rear parcel shelve!?!?

Click to expand...

The box is black on mine, there are 2 boxes, one is the radio signal amp

Ah yes this makes sense black box is smaller and to the left of the blue amp right?

Want to say a big that you to all that have tried to help so far

All plugs checked and connected to both black box and amp....still no life! Battery is running radio, lights etc ok so am guessing there is enough to operate the CL and RF??

If the fob is not synced to the car it won't work even if you connect ten batteries to it. If the fob is working, on your vehicle it should auto sync when you put key in ignition.