P38 diesel engine disabled .

[P38 Paul]

Hi peeps , I went to hospital today for a checkup , when I got there I switched it off , got out & the key fob wouldn't lock the car so I locked it with the key , when I came back out of the hospital it wouldn't unlock with the key fob so I had to use the key to get in , I then tried to start the car & all I am getting on the dashboard is engine disabled , it wont even crank over , I put a live wire to the starter & it cranked over but would not start , I have had the car bought back home , where do I start looking ? any ideas . GOD THIS CAR IS DRIVING ME NUTS .

[David Sparkes]

Sorry if it seems an obvious question, but once home, have you tried the key fob again?

The thinking is that the receiver in the car may have been swamped by the signal from a local aerial; once moved out of the location, if that was the problem, the receiver and fob should work as normal.

Regards.

[P38 Paul]

6 minutes ago, David Sparkes said:

Sorry if it seems an obvious question, but once home, have you tried the key fob again?

The thinking is that the receiver in the car may have been swamped by the signal from a local aerial; once moved out of the location, if that was the problem, the receiver and fob should work as normal.

Regards.

Yes , I have tried it & still no joy , it is fully disabled .

[elbekko]

Have you tried entering the EKA?

[P38 Paul]

2 minutes ago, elbekko said:

Have you tried entering the EKA?

Tried that & still no joy .

Edited May 17, 2021 by P38 Paul

[elbekko]

That's very strange... certainly sounds like it's immobilised. Do you have anyone nearby with a diagnostics kit?

[P38 Paul]

4 minutes ago, elbekko said:

That's very strange... certainly sounds like it's immobilised. Do you have anyone nearby with a diagnostics kit?

I am going down to the local garage tomorrow so I will ask them to have a look for me .

[Escape]

It does sound like the EKA is needed. When you unlock with the key, does the central locking work or only the driver's door?

Maybe try the EKA again, slowly and deliberately, making sure each movement is registered. You could have a faulty microswitch in the door latch, preventing you from putting in the EKA. But that wouldn't explain why it was needed in the first place.

[P38 Paul]

9 hours ago, Escape said:

It does sound like the EKA is needed. When you unlock with the key, does the central locking work or only the driver's door?

Maybe try the EKA again, slowly and deliberately, making sure each movement is registered. You could have a faulty microswitch in the door latch, preventing you from putting in the EKA. But that wouldn't explain why it was needed in the first place.

The central locking is locking & unlocking when I am entering the keycode & I have entered it a few times now with no joy 😢

[Escape]

Just to be sure, if you first use the key, only the driver's door opens, but after you enter the EKA all doors unlock? That does mean the EKA is correct and recognized. It could be the link between BECM and engine ECU, you'll need diagnostics to pair them again. You need to check the code in both the BECM and engine ECU, they need to match, if not you can change the code in the BECM. 

[P38 Paul]

20 hours ago, Escape said:

Just to be sure, if you first use the key, only the driver's door opens, but after you enter the EKA all doors unlock? That does mean the EKA is correct and recognized. It could be the link between BECM and engine ECU, you'll need diagnostics to pair them again. You need to check the code in both the BECM and engine ECU, they need to match, if not you can change the code in the BECM. 

The key was unlocking all of the doors & the tail before I entered the EKA code , I only tried the code as a last ditch attempt to get the engine started .

[Escape]

That's strange, normally if the central locking is working, the engine immobiliser should be turned off as well. It could still be the link between BECM and ECU. Can't think of anything else that could cause the 'engine disabled' message.

Do you have diagnostics or know someone to borrow from?

Filip

[MikeAK]

Have you tried re-syncing the keyfob? Maybe hey have got out of sync due to RF interference at the hospital 

P38 Range Rover Remote Fob Resynchronisation Procedure. 
If the battery in the fob has gone flat and has been replaced or the vehicle 
battery has been replaced or other things have rendered the fob unusable 
it may be necessary to resynch the fobs to the vehicle. 
1. Make sure all doors, bonnet and boot are closed.
2. Make sure all exterior door handles are fully closed. 
3. Put key in driver’s door lock 
4. Press and hold the remote lock button 
5. Whilst still holding the lock button in turn the key towards the rear of 
the vehicle. 
6. Still holding the lock button in count to 10 
7. Still holding the lock button in turn the key to the centre position 
8. Still holding the lock button in remove the key from the door lock 
9. Release the lock button 
10. Try the remote buttons. You must do this on both remote fobs.

[Escape]

If the engine is disabled, i.e. alarm activated, synchronisation is (usually) impossible. Also, the fact that the central locking works with just the key, means the key alone should also be enough to disable the alarm.

But it wont hurt to try of course, if not done already.
BTW, in my experience synchronisation is a lot easier: doors closed, put the key in, turn either direction while holding the corresponding button down and that's is.

[Simon_CSK]

The other thing that possibly could have happened is that the ECU and the BCU are out of sync. Think that needs a computer to re sync.

[P38 Paul]

UPDATE ! It was a broken drivers door handle 😒 Why didn't I think of that ?

[Simon_CSK]

1 hour ago, P38 Paul said:

UPDATE ! It was a broken drivers door handle 😒 Why didn't I think of that ?

I thought you had fixed that? 

[P38 Paul]

21 hours ago, Simon_CSK said:

I thought you had fixed that? 

I thought I had as well 🙄

[Escape]

On 5/25/2021 at 6:27 PM, P38 Paul said:

UPDATE ! It was a broken drivers door handle 😒 Why didn't I think of that ?

You mean the microswitches in the latch? They can cause lots of issues, including with the immobiliser/EKA, but I'm puzzled how the central locking could work with the key if there's a problem with the switches. Interested to learn more! And of course happy you found the cause and it was an easy fix. 😉

Filip

[P38 Paul]

On 5/27/2021 at 11:20 AM, Escape said:

You mean the microswitches in the latch? They can cause lots of issues, including with the immobiliser/EKA, but I'm puzzled how the central locking could work with the key if there's a problem with the switches. Interested to learn more! And of course happy you found the cause and it was an easy fix. 😉

Filip

Hi Filip , It was definitely the door handle & not the door latch that went faulty as they gave me the broken parts to show me , they recon when it broke it left the micro switches in limbo so it disabled the engine to protect it from getting nicked . I must "like yourself"  that I questioned it when he told me .