My 2000 diesel pulled about 12 or 13 milliamps when asleep, which I understand is typical for later cars.

Spiggy: are you a factor of 10 out on your meter readings after 2 mins? 0.12 amps is 120 milliamps. Also pulling 2 to 3 amps for the first 20 secs would presumably be the interior lights? I have never measured it. Maybe I should think about converting to LED interior lights.

If you're not worried about superlocking or the window features from the fob, an aftermarket locking system can be fitted to eliminate the original RF receiver altogether. It does require your drivers door latch to be working properly, but is very simple and reliable otherwise.

All of the work is done in the drivers door, and you end up with a separate fob that emulates turning the key in the door lock - so the alarm/immobiliser are still activated. The key will still work in the lock as normal too. The only thing I'm not sure about is the ultrasonic sensor - if that is only activated on superlocking then presumably it wouldn't be possible to enable that with this method. I don't superlock my new P38 for the same reason I didn't the first - I don't trust the locks! :)

I did this on my first P38 after the receiver kept killing the battery and I couldn't put £200 on the mk3 version. I figured for £10-15 in parts this was worth a go and it worked very well. I had some non-remote key blades cut to lose the flip key entirely. I have pictures and could do a write up if its of any interest.

Put your meter on and pull each fuse one by one to find the draw. I did this when I could not get the correct reading. I found that when I pulled the diagnostic fuse it dropped. Stupid me had left the nanocom attached to the obdii port. Once disconnected I got the right reading.
You should be able to isolate the circuit that is responsible.

Let down again tonight. Filled the car with diesel in a busy garage and would not start - "engine immobilised", then "press key fob".
WTF, I need to bite the bullet and buy the Mk3 RF receiver. Cheapest I can find is Island 4x4 at £216 +VAT.
Anybody got a cheaper source?

There is one on eBay at the moment for £225 - which is a bit cheaper than the Island 4x4 of 216 + VAT.

I still think it's daylight robbery... I just need to find someone who is good with RF, decoding and programming to be able to make something to do the same job... I'm 90% sure I know what the 3rd gen looks for before it passes on the info to the BECM - it's just a case of making something to identify it and filter out the rest of the nonsense before waking the BECM up.

Try Dave at east coast rangies, he doesn't list all his stuff on eBay, I think he's back from hols this week,, 07527953807. If he doesn't have id be surprised

dave3d wrote:

Let down again tonight. Filled the car with diesel in a busy garage and would not start - "engine immobilised", then "press key fob".

Mine does that all the time? If I don't lock it while filling up, it will immobilise after 30 seconds or a minute (can't remember which) and I've got into the habit of pressing the unlock button on the fob before I try to start it. If I don't, depending on how long it's been left, sometimes I can press unlock with the key in position 2 but if it's been left a longer time, I have to turn the ignition off, press unlock and then start it. The important thing is when you press unlock, do you hear the door latches do anything? Mine will cause the motors to try to unlock even though they are already unlocked.

That's the passive immobiliser kicking in. If you turn that off in the becm then it won't automatically immobilise again.

Usually with the coil around the ignition, it should trigger the key to send a code to the becm to mobilise it again (it won't cause the doors to unlock again like it does with pressing the actual button, but the LED should flash on the fob)

If the coil around the ignition is faulty, or the key transmission isn't getting through, then you'll get the engine disabled message. If the passive immobiliser system is working properly, the if would send the code, mobilise the engine, and then let you start it straight away.

Gilbertd wrote:

dave3d wrote:

Let down again tonight. Filled the car with diesel in a busy garage and would not start - "engine immobilised", then "press key fob".

Mine does that all the time? If I don't lock it while filling up, it will immobilise after 30 seconds or a minute (can't remember which) and I've got into the habit of pressing the unlock button on the fob before I try to start it. If I don't, depending on how long it's been left, sometimes I can press unlock with the key in position 2 but if it's been left a longer time, I have to turn the ignition off, press unlock and then start it. The important thing is when you press unlock, do you hear the door latches do anything? Mine will cause the motors to try to unlock even though they are already unlocked.

Although I have the coil around the lock, I have NEVER seen the LED flash at any time except when I press a button on the fob, not on either car. Maybe the coil isn't doing anything? Possibly, if Dave doesn't normally have to press unlock, his coil works most of the time but just sometimes it doesn't so it needs the button pressing instead.

Entirely possibly that it doesn't do anything.

I disabled my passive immobiliser on mine because the coil is damaged on mine, and as it's such fine wire it's hard to fix it. I have a couple of spare coils sitting in the garage, so I have been planning on swapping it at some point.. But I got sick of having to press the remote. I think the rotary coupler in mine has been replaced before, and they must have been a bit heavy handed when doing that.

There is a component on the logic board (think it's a mini power transistor or MOSFET from memory) which is used to pulse the coil, so it could also be possible that has burnt out. The pickup coil in the key fob also has a habit of coming free I think (little blue box on the underside of the board - a few people have said that when they have opened their fob up to refurbish it, it's fallen out) which would also mean that even if the ignition is sending the pulse to the key, it might not be received and the chip triggered.

I replaced mine about 3 or 4 years ago. Again the outlay of the receiver hurts but it does solve the problem.

I actually got mine from Westover Land rover for £180 and surprisingly they have supplied other genuine parts cheaper than elsewhere.Worth a try but it was a few years back I bought it.

I always lock the car door on the fob after filling up and going in to pay. I then open it on the fob, but this time it was immobilised when I came to start it.

I was also sure I turned off the immobiliser in the BECM, as well as the alarm and everything else I could think of. It is not needed - when was the last time a p38 got stolen?
However I changed the BECM a while back, so maybe I need to recheck.

I have removed the blue aerial lead and now the fob needs to be literally 12" away from it. The problem is that when it is immobilised and the key is in the ignition, it says press remote, but the distance from the key switch to the receiver seems to be a bit too far, even inside the car. I have tried leaving one key in the ignition and using the second fob right next to the receiver. Also I suspect there is a lot of electrical noise on a garage forecourt. Either way I am fed up with the hassle. It usually happens on a busy garage forecourt with a queue behind or else in the dark when I am all dickied up and going out for the night.

I think the one on Ebay for £225 is a ridiculous price. It actually costs more than the new part, as there is no VAT chargeable. Another downside is no warranty. There is also another now for £190. Chris: I rang the guy from East Coast Rangies. He does not have one in stock but he also charges £200 + for a s/h one.
I know what is going to happen, the minute I buy it Marty will say "sorted it, its an easy fix".

Now ordered ............... £259.20...........arghhh

I also lock the car with the fob while paying unless there's someone else in the car with me, it seems a bit rude to lock them in..... I can't remember off the top of my head how long it is between unlocking and starting the car for the immobiliser to kick in but it's either 30 seconds or a minute, and I've had to press the fob button if I've unlocked it and not started it immediately. Usually if I've got something to put in the boot or I'm faffing around with the sat nav when I first get in the car. Mine always needs the fob button pressing before I can start it if it has been left unlocked for any length of time which it often is if I'm working on another car as my toolbox lives in the boot.

There is a lot of wideband electrical noise on a filing station forecourt from the processors in the pumps and the display units (bank cashpoints also kick out a lot of crud too) but I've never known it to be a problem. Even with the first generation receivers, with the antenna connected, a signal that will affect the fob operation needs to be very strong and close(ish) to 433 MHz.

As an aside, prior to 433 MHz becoming a European standard, there were about 7 different frequencies used in different countries so manufacturers had to fit different central locking systems for different markets. One of the first cars to use it was the new (then) 7 series BMW. I got called in with my professional hat on by the local BMW agent. They had sold a top of the range 7 series to the MD of a well known chemical plant that claims to produce an alcoholic beverage that they laughingly refer to as lager with the advertising line of 'if C**g made....' Anyway, said MD had taken his daughter and a friend to the swimming pool in the centre of Northampton and parked in the car park next door. Also next to this car park was the fire station and as well as the Fire Service radio system on 70-85 MHz was an amateur radio repeater on 433.075 MHz. The receiver in the BMW, on 433.920 MHz, flatly refused to acknowledge the 10 mW from the keyfob when the 25W transmitter was in operation (despite it being much further away and on the wrong frequency). Doing some tests with the dealers demonstrator, we found that if the car was moved about 100 yards further away to the opposite side of the carpark, it would work. I wrote a report that basically said, in a very nice way, that the receiver was crap. This went to the dealer who forwarded it to BMW UK, who forwarded it to BMW in Germany who forwarded it to the subcontractor that supplied the receivers (the same company who's name appears on a lot of the relays used in a P38). The reply that came back was, "if you only pay 9p each for a receiver, what do you expect?" An upgraded receiver was offered as an option to be fitted to any cars where the owner complained and then became standard fit on all models a couple of years later. I suspect the receiver module in the first generation P38 unit is the very same unit that became standard in the later BM's as they still suffered just nothing like as badly as the original ones. Big difference is the receive aerial on a BM is in the front screen pillar so a driver is likely to be standing much closer to it than on a P38. They also don't have a BeCM that keeps getting woken up so the battery doesn't go flat either.

If you are going to lock it to go in, and there's a place where RF is everywhere and you have troubles, then lock it the old fashioned way with the key in the door.

If you lock it with the remote, but then unlock it work the key in the door, it will either expect the remote to be pressed, or EKA entered. If you lock it with key in the door. Then you will be able to unlock it with the key in the door and then start it/drive it.

It's part of the security 'feature' so if you give someone a valet key, they can lock it, and then unlocm/restart it and bring it back to you... however if they decided to copy the key etc then came to nick the vehicle, if it was locked with the remote, then it would mean they couldn't just get in and drive away...

I can kind of see the logic, but also think it's stupidly overcomplicated these days...

I sometimes lock mine with the key in the door if I'm parking up somewhere where I think there is likely to be interference.

The new RF receiver solves the problem of constant wake up and battery drain, but if it's being bombarded with RF, then it sometimes doesn't catch the P38 signal either... however it means you can have the antenna connected and have a better chance at picking up you fob transmission from inside the vehicle for example.

I wonder if that is what I have done. Locked it on the fob and then come back and used the key to open it after the fob did not work. Can't remember.

Anyway my troubles are now over, or are they? Keep watching this space.

They will be as long as you reconnect the aerial. While it won't suffer from any other problems, it'll not work as it should without it. Having worked with RF, and dealing with interference to it, for the last 33 years, I wouldn't recommend anyone disconnecting the aerial. Replace it with an inch of wire maybe but not disconnect it completely. But with the third generation receiver, you can just connect it as was originally intended.

I think the reason for the security being as complex as it is, is down to when it was designed. At the time any 10 year old could steal a Vauxhall Astra, any Ford could be broken into by poking a pozidrive screwdriver in the keyhole and bending the door panel and the door skins on a VW Golf were so flimsy the approved security measure was a damn great lump of steel plate that you fitted around the door handle. A very expensive, luxury car like the P38 needed something to stop it disappearing within minutes of you leaving it parked anywhere. That's the reason for things like the Key Code Lockout if you get the EKA wrong 3 times, to stop someone just trying random codes until they get the right one. Modern cars are no different, just the available technology has improved.

There's times when I wish someone would steal mine, insurance company valued it at 4.5 k , sure I can find another for that, lol

Did your insurance company give you a guaranteed value then Chris? For me to get my bike guaranteed value in the UK I had to send in photos and proof that the value I wanted was obtainable .
Fortunately here in France most insurance companies as part of their policy pay 20% on top of the book price.

Got the new receiver from Island 4x4. Ordered late Friday and delivered Tues morning. It took literally 2 mins to fit.
Aerial wire is back on and both fobs are working. The fobs even work from inside the house now. They have not done that for ages.