Hi
Went to the car today and the car is immobilized and i cant turn it off. My fob had been disabled before I bought the car so the alarm was turned off on the key.
This morning only the driver door would open and when it did the alarm went off and engine is immobilized.
How do i disable it? , does the the EKA key turning method work on pre 99 models as mine is a 95? I do have my EKA code card but its stored elsewhere so I was wondering if its worth the journey to get it.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Mick

Hi
Left the battery negative off for a few hours and it reset, Anyone who gets this issue please note, Another thread said leave the negative off for 20 mins, The first time i tried this it was off for 40 mins and did not reset, it took 2 hours plus to reset. Hope this helps.

Kr

Mick

I got key code stored in my fone ---- just in case -- came in very handy when mine did that at work

How do you get your key fob stored on your phone?

Code not fob. I have too, I've got a contact stored called EKA. Not sure how Mick reset his by disconnecting the battery, normally all that does is cause you to have to reset the windows.

Hi all
Can you enter the EKA code via the driver door in P38s before 1999 reg?
All advice online said "If your car is 1999 onward"
Has anyone entered the code with key turns on a pre 1999?

Cheers
Mick

I've entered EKA code on a 97 DSE it worked same as mine ?

Yes you can enter the EKA no matter how early. Difference is that on a later car you need to do 4 turns to lock first, then enter the first number with turns to unlock. On an early one you start with the turns to unlock using the first number of the EKA. Where online did you find bollox about only being able to do it on 99 onwards? There wouldn't be a lot of point having an EKA if you can't enter it. You need a car with a BeCM with V36 or later firmware (from around mid 97) to be able to enter it with a Nanocom or other diagnostics but on all other cars you enter it with the key in the door lock. I have to enter it manually on a regular basis on the Ascot (a 96) as it needs one of Marty's fob filters which means the battery goes flat after a couple of weeks.

Ok, seeing as there’s an existing topic I’ll try putting this on here.

For all the months the car’s been in my garage getting worked on I”ve had the battery on or off as needed - no issues as far as I could see, and I wasn’t always as good as I should have been about following the ‘igntition off, disconnect within 30 secs’ procedure. Still, no issues.

Took the car for its MOT, and when I collected it there was an “alarm fault” message on the display - but it didn’t seem to cause any particular problem.

Running about in the car today it seemed a little ‘sluggish’ sometimes on responding to the lock/unlock on the key fob (new battery about 8 months ago - buttons barely used since).

Then at one location I’d left the car unlocked while chatting to someone - maybe 15 minutes - came back and it was immobilised. Jumped out, lock/unlock, and it started.

Got home, plugged in the nano and cleared the alarm fault.

But….. what’s going on? What did my MOT tester do? I’ve had the immobiliser thing kick in before too, but it spent days ‘powered up’ in the garage, and unlocked, without having an immobiliser fit…? Puzzled, me.

Edit - meant to ask too. I’ve read something, somewhere about the alarm sounder being nicad powered, and that these can die. What’s the real story?

Alarm Fault is normally an iffy connection on the ultrasonic sensor above the passenger side B post. Pull it out, unplug it, squirt of contact cleaner and plug it back in, job done.

If you haven't used the Nanocom to turn off passive immobilisation, then what will happen if you unlock the car, open a door but don't start it within a set time (either 30 or 60 seconds), the immobiliser kicks in again in case you accidentally left it unlocked. In theory, as soon as you put the key in the ignition it should transmit and unlock signal automatically but won't if you had left the key in the ignition. Going into the BeCM setting with Nanocom you will find one simply named Immobiliser and it will be set to Enabled. Change it to Disabled and save the settings and it won't do it again. This is the setting that some people think turns the immobiliser off completely but it doesn't, only passive immobilisation. The other setting I always change is intermittent wipe which by default is disabled. Enable that and if you have the wipers on continuous and you stop at a set of lights, they drop down to intermittent while you are stationary and start up again as soon as you exceed 2mph.

If you unlock the car but don't open any doors, it assumed you pressed the button on the remote by accident so relocks after a set period too.

On the Nicad power question I gather there is a backup battery on the sounder, so it keeps going if it has the main vehicle battery disconnected and its been set off. Impression I got is only some cars have it. I guess Richard didn't see that question in answering the rest of the above or possibly you post edit crossed with his reply, I think he has dealt with one first hand that failed. Not sure what impact the battery failure might have, but given the age and type of part it is i'd think failure fairly likely.

Might be more info in Rave about it if you want it from the manufacturers side as to what should happen?

Thanks guys,

Well, I thought I’d cleared it, but this morning it had come back. The thing is, I haven”t had a roof liner (and therefore no ultrasonic sensor above the B pillar) for months and months. All the time it was in my garage and being taken in/out; and my short private road runs pre-MOT, there was no sign of this. Just came on after the MOT.

Interestingly now though, on the Nano, it doesn’t appear as a fault to be cleared - but does on the dash…

I have to say one of the things I never do with this car, having read so many horror stories, is leave the key in the ignition, or even in the car! So I think my keys are both transmitting and unlocking, but I will definitely go in and change those settings. If they work for you after 444,444 miles I’m sure they’ll suit me.

I’ll also check out rave for the alarm sounder. Should I assume it’s dead by this stage (22 years) or is it likely there’s still some life in it?

If your key fobs are working OK then it’s easy to check if the BBUS is working or not. Lock the car with the fob. Wait for the alarm to arm (red led flashing slows down) then unlock with the key. The BBUS should clearly operate. Cancel by locking with the fob.

To check if the battery is still operational, switch the ignition off, wait 17 seconds and then pull the BBUS connector at its rear. If the BBUS operates then the NiCd battery is still OK. Reconnect connector and then lock/unlock the vehicle and switch the ignition on. BBUS will then be reset.

BBUS = Battery Backed Up Sounder.

^ I’ll definitely come back and do those BBUS tests at some point when I feel stronger. They do seem simple enough.

However, today, the ‘alarm fault’ message just disappeared. All by itself as far as I can see. So I feel it’s a question of letting sleeping dogs lie.

the "alarm fault" (the sensor in the car that is) only comes up every 5th time the key is used when in fault , according to rave that is. just an FYI

Thanks mad-as - when I went into the error code via nanocom for the first time, there was something about 5 times or 5 cycles, but as a nanocom newbie I didn't save or photograph the message before clearing it.

There's no doubt though I was getting the 'alarm fault' message in the dash every time the key was put into the ignition - just another one of the beeps it fires my way routinely.

Richard, I noticed that you mentioned, a bit earlier, that you set the options for passive immobilisation and the option for the wipers to turn off, very briefly, while the car is stopped, for instance at traffic lights [I had a Merc 220E that did this].

I went out to see where the settings for these options are, using the Nannycom, but I can't find any of these options anywhere. When I start Nanny I get a couple of headings such as Motronic, Bosch and EDC, after selecting the car - P38. After choosing EDC there are four heading - EDC [again, I think it said], Wabco C, Wabco D, and the gearbox [ I think I have the Wabco letters correct].

I have been through all the headings but nowhere is there anywhere to change these settings. In fact, I can't see where I can do things that people have mentioned - such as turning on the aircon, or unlocking the tailgate - stuff like that.

I did see an entry heading called "Instruments" but that didn't do anything.

I definitely bought the software for the diesel but I am at a complete loss as to how to find any alterable optiond, except for the EAS and mechanical stuff like the fuelling etc.

Perhaps you could point me in the directions that I need to go ?

Pierre3.

power on Nanocom
press R-Rover p38
Choose engine type (EDC)
This should show 4 options (Going off motronic here as I don't have the edc module)
Press the righthand arrow twice (next to the red circle with white x on it at the bottom) to scroll across - Edit having checked the emulator Jack posted below, the EDC menu is slightly different to Motronic at this point.
Select BECM
options
Right arrow twice - I think wiper speed may be the setting you want here?
Press X
Select alarm
The top setting "immobilizer" is the one for passive immobilisation
Then x again
press write settings

Should then be done, you may find you need to x back out to the main menu to be able to start the car and test.

If you can't see/access those options, check you have both unlock codes for the p38 entered - in your case unlock08 (p38 systems) and unlock07 (EDC). If either are missing, login to https://www.nanocom-diagnostics.com/restricted and expand the codes bit on the righthand side of the page, and check if you have the codes there. If you do, enter the missing one into the Nanocom, if not and you've brought the edc and p38 modules, then you need to ask Blackbox to assist you. You also need the green lead, but that should be all ok if you brought the kit to work with the diesel p38.

I went out to see where the settings for these options are, using the Nannycom, but I can't find any of these options anywhere. When I start Nanny I get a couple of headings such as Motronic, Bosch and EDC, after selecting the car - P38. After choosing EDC there are four heading - EDC [again, I think it said], Wabco C, Wabco D, and the gearbox [ I think I have the Wabco letters correct].

Sounds like you need to use the right arrow to move to the next page of ECUs where you should find more options.

There's an Nanocom emulator on the website so you can look around and explore the various ECU options. https://emulator.nanocom-diagnostics.com/