What did I do today? Took it out, drove it around and took a picture of another milestone on the odometer (and yes, that is miles.....). If I'd have filled up with LPG at 388800.0 and not at 388799.9, I'd even have had the trip meter showing all the 8s too.

Grey/White and Grey/Green, 12V one way round sends it up, the other way round sends it down.

In that case either the fob isn't transmitting or the receiver isn't receiving a signal from it. I've got a known good receiver I can send you to try if you think it might help.

Had a look at your VIN and the S reg is correct. Haven't checked it on Microcat yet (as the laptop with it on is also loaded with my sat nav update software and I lent it to my daughter) but from the serial number it is a 98 model car and the number would put it towards the end of production for a 98. My car is an early production 98 model and was built in November 97 but not registered until March 1998. Model year production started around October the previous year so I would suspect yours was built around September 98. So it has a registration number relevant to the year as S reg runs from 1st August 1998 until 28 Feb 1999.

Frank, so it sounds like the S reg plate that is on it is a personal plate that someone has put on it and not the original. If you want to PM me the VIN, I can put it into Microcat which should give the registration number it was first registered with.

But, that still doesn't help you with getting the fob to work so you no longer have to use the EKA. The method of syncing the fob in the door lock works on all cars right up to the end of production, the later cars don't sync the fob it merely turns off passive immobilisation automatically. If the fob batteries have been changed then it will need to be synced. It uses a rolling code so will have lost sync when the old batteries were removed. First you need to check if the fob is transmitting and if the receiver is receiving. Sit in the car somewhere dark and look at the LED next to the gear lever, it will be glowing dimly. Wait 2 minutes and it will go out completely, signifying that the BeCM has gone to sleep. While watching the LED next to the gear lever, press a button on the fob. If the LED doesn't come back on dimly, the receiver is not getting the signal from the fob either because it isn't transmitting anything or the receiver isn't receiving it (but, as you've already replaced it, it is unlikely you've suffered 2 faulty ones).

If the LED comes back on dimly, then the fob is transmitting a code, the receiver is receiving it, it is just that the code is wrong. Now it may be that it is wrong because the two components have lost sync, in which case they need to be synced, or, someone has swapped the fob (and probably locks) for one from a different car. In which case it won't be possible to sync as the code in the fob doesn't match the code programmed into the BeCM. If the latter, then it is possible to change the lockset bar code programmed into the BeCM but that can only be done by a specialist such as Marty (and possibly Sloth?) who would need the fob (to read the fob code) and the BeCM (to programme with the correct code).

However, with a 99 car, then it definitely will be possible to enter the EKA with a Nanocom and, hopefully, once it has been entered, you won't need to enter it every time if you lock with the key. However, be cautious, the fact that it doesn't always take the EKA suggests that the microswitches in the latch are starting to get worn so don't always respond as they should so it could still leave you locked out one day.

davew wrote:

(And I am sure it must be mentioned elsewhere but I do wish LR had written that "passive immobilisation" is simply
just a fancy name for having an RF pick-up coil aroud the ignition barrel..... ie 'passive' is basically a misnomer too !

But it isn't. It is passive in as much as the immobiliser kicks in if you unlock the door but don't start the engine within a set time so it is passive as it doesn't require any input from the driver, it is merely timed. There's a number of ways the locking and immobilisation works.

If you unlock the car on the fob, the immobiliser is turned off and the doors unlocked but if you don't open a door within 30 seconds, the car will lock itself again and set the immobiliser. It assumes you pressed the button by accident and this prevents you unlocking the car with your key in your pocket and walking away leaving it unlocked.

If you unlock the car with the fob, open a door but don't start the engine within 30 seconds, one of two things will happen. If passive immobilisation is enabled on an early car, the immobiliser kicks in after 30 seconds and when you do eventually try to start the car the dash will display Press Remote or Enter Code. At this point you need to either press the unlock button on the fob again or enter the EKA code to turn the immobiliser off before it will let you start the car (there is a third option which is to get out of the car, close the doors, lock it with the fob, unlock it again with the fob and start it within 30 seconds).

On the later cars when you turn the ignition on, the coil around the ignition sends a magnetic pulse which is picked up by the large surface mount Inductor on the end of the fob PCB which causes the fob to automatically transmit the unlock code. This is picked up by the receiver mounted under the RH rear parcel shelf just the same as when you unlocked it. So it isn't an RF pick-up coil at all, it is there purely to generate a magnetic field. You can see it operate as the LED on the fob will flash when you turn the key in the ignition.

If passive immobilisation is turned off in the BeCM, then you can unlock the car and as long as you open a door within 30 seconds, it doesn't matter how long you wait before trying to start the car, the immobiliser was turned off when you unlocked it and it doesn't turn back on. In that case, you will never get the Press Remote of Enter Code message on an early car and the fob will not transmit when in the ignition on a later one.

I wouldn't believe that guide, both methods are wrong. The first method is a little more complicated than that and the second method does not synchronise an out of sync fob, it is merely the normal operation if passive immobilisation is enabled. It stops you being asked to press Unlock or enter the EKA if you unlocked the car but didn't start it immediately so the passive immobilisation kicked in and immobilised it again.

I'd rather do heater O rings any day compared with exhaust manifold gaskets. On a RHD, the very back bolt on the RH manifold is a real pain to get to so I would assume the LH one is similar for you.

Halfords battery in a DSE, there's a recipe for a non start if ever I heard one......

That's right, I think it is 2000 model or later, although that does assume the coil around the lock barrel hasn't broken, which it often has.

and there speaks the barbecue expert, so any advice from Morat must be correct.

It sounds about right to me, at the very least I'd expect over 10 Amps per heater. I had a Peugeot 406 HDi company car a few years ago and with additional kit installed if it was left for more than 4 days (like over a bank holiday weekend) it would need a jump start. When the ignition was first switched on, it would crank over fine but not start as the heaters hadn't had time to do their thing. If I turned the ignition on and waited for the glow plug light to go out, I could see the panel lights dim as the heaters drew the last remaining current from the battery so then it would no longer have enough to spin it over on the starter.

I'd be more concerned if it was drawing a lot less as that would suggest that not all of the glowplugs were working.

I went to Inverness once, many years ago. Made a welcome change from getting eaten alive by the midges on the West Coast......

To do a proper Summer Camp we'd need Marty to be about so we can use his workshop facilities and make sure Morat is there to drive the barbecue. Although Marty seems to be away working more than he's at home these days. If there's an alternative location, we could have a headlining session elsewhere but whoever provides the location would need to be aware that they would be finding bits of sticky orange coloured foam stuck to the underside of their shoes for weeks afterwards.

Hi Donald and welcome. Experienced, yes, considerate, yes, but sometimes the ribbing can appear less than polite. But, many of have met up in person at times so a bit of sarcasm creeps in. How far North in Scotland? Gordon who runs this forum is near Glasgow (which I know isn't that far North) and there's a couple of others in his area.

dave3d wrote:

Keep the Avo 8, a collectors item. It is probably appreciating in price. Haven't seen one for years.

That's good to hear, I've got 2, may try flogging one of them. They may be big and clunky but if you are looking at a varying voltage you can't beat a big needle compared with a digital display.

I've got a clamp on meter that I inherited from my father but it wouldn't help as it only does AC and has 2 scales, 0-200A and 0-1000A. Not sure how accurate it is either as I tried it on one of the mains tails in the house and it reckoned I was only drawing 4A. For checking current drain I just use a cheap multimeter on the 10A scale. I've only blown one up over the years..... The central locking draws about 8A, the BeCM when awake draws around 2.5A and when it goes to sleep the draw should drop to about 20mA. The Sealey tester is what an AA man used many years ago to diagnose a burnt out petrol pump from when I ran an LPG fuelled Saab too low on petrol. The pump wasn't drawing any current so it was pretty conclusive that I'd buggered it.

I put a smear of the red raspberry jam brake seal grease (the stuff we all have a 30+ year old tin of) on the inside of the boots on the plug leads. That way they don't stick to the plugs and you can get them off when the time comes.

Central locking won't trigger until it has had the EKA entered (the clue is in the name, Emergency Key Access), the key will only open the drivers door. If you enter the EKA and then turn the key to unlock, all doors will unlock, that's the easy way of knowing it has accepted the EKA and the car is going to start.

If you have reconnected the blue wire to the receiver, it now has an aerial on it so you may be able to sync the fob. You'll need to enter the EKA first (you can't sync while the immobiliser is active) and get it into the state where it will start. Then try syncing the fob using the key in the door lock, turn to lock, press and hold the fob lock button then repeat in the unlock position. If you are lucky, you'll then be able to unlock with the fob and after that you can lock and unlock with fob or lock and unlock with the key without having to enter the EKA. Remember that if Passive Immobilisation is still turned on in the BeCM, you need to start the car within 30 seconds of unlocking it.

dave3d wrote:

Will your nano work on a diesel if you have a petrol licence?

It will work on all systems except the engine. I've used mine on a DSE for ABS, HEVAC and EAS and have looked at everything else for stored faults and it's fine, it just won't connect to the engine (but my generic code reader will work on that).

Shouldn't need it, as long as it was a like for like swap. What's the problem?

Now it's really new year, Happy new year to all.