P38 Remote Receiver Problems

Thought I would "relay" some problems with the RF receiver experienced on my P38. On cold mornings the engine (DSE) would race for the first few minutes, auto gearbox would lock in 3rd only and suspension would drop onto bumpstops. Every message that the BeCM could think of would come up. On normal mornings the battery was frequently flat. It was only when we went away for a few days that I realised it was back to normal.

The cause was that I park my vehicle outside my office on the end of our house. The RF receiver was picking up signals from my wireless modem and automatic weather station (433 Mhz) causing the BeCM to wake up constantly which drained the battery.

Although expensive at £126 plus VAT, I replaced the old one with the updated unit part no. YWY500170 and everything is back to normal including remote locking. The best way to test for rf receiver problems is to disconnect it under the rear r/h parcel shelf and use the key in the door lock. (only takes five minutes)

I hope that this is of use to others who may be experiencing similar problems. Information is available on Battery Drain on a Range Rover 4.0/4.6

BrianH said:

Thought I would "relay" some problems with the RF receiver experienced on my P38. On cold mornings the engine (DSE) would race for the first few minutes, auto gearbox would lock in 3rd only and suspension would drop onto bumpstops. Every message that the BeCM could think of would come up. On normal mornings the battery was frequently flat. It was only when we went away for a few days that I realised it was back to normal.

The cause was that I park my vehicle outside my office on the end of our house. The RF receiver was picking up signals from my wireless modem and automatic weather station (433 Mhz) causing the BeCM to wake up constantly which drained the battery.

Although expensive at £126 plus VAT, I replaced the old one with the updated unit part no. YWY500170 and everything is back to normal including remote locking. The best way to test for rf receiver problems is to disconnect it under the rear r/h parcel shelf and use the key in the door lock.

I hope that this is of use to others who may be experiencing similar problems.

Click to expand...

Nice one Brian, I'm sure that will prove useful...

B

I had exactly the same problem (flat battery) with my P38 from my 433MHZ remote weather station.

You don't have to disconnect it completely and resort to using the key in the door. I just disconnected the antenna input to mine and although the range is much reduced I can still use the remote and my flat battery is a thing of the past.

Is it not possible to just make a band pass filter for the existing receiver rather than paying over a ton for a new one.

Mud Flap said:

You don't have to disconnect it completely and resort to using the key in the door. I just disconnected the antenna input to mine and although the range is much reduced I can still use the remote and my flat battery is a thing of the past.

Is it not possible to just make a band pass filter for the existing receiver rather than paying over a ton for a new one.

Click to expand...

i was thinking of something like this too, i wouldnt be up to the job but the ideas are there!
luckily i have a couple of friends who are very good at these sort of things, i may have a foray into it.............

BrianH said:

Thought I would "relay" some problems with the RF receiver experienced on my P38. On cold mornings the engine (DSE) would race for the first few minutes, auto gearbox would lock in 3rd only and suspension would drop onto bumpstops. Every message that the BeCM could think of would come up. On normal mornings the battery was frequently flat. It was only when we went away for a few days that I realised it was back to normal.

The cause was that I park my vehicle outside my office on the end of our house. The RF receiver was picking up signals from my wireless modem and automatic weather station (433 Mhz) causing the BeCM to wake up constantly which drained the battery.

Although expensive at £126 plus VAT, I replaced the old one with the updated unit part no. YWY500170 and everything is back to normal including remote locking. The best way to test for rf receiver problems is to disconnect it under the rear r/h parcel shelf and use the key in the door lock. (only takes five minutes)

I hope that this is of use to others who may be experiencing similar problems. Information is available on Battery Drain on a Range Rover 4.0/4.6

Click to expand...

I have attached two pics of the new unit (YWY500170) and the Old Unit for reference purposes, if it is of help to others in identifying them. They are identical on the outside but are considerably different on the inside.

BrianH said:

I have attached two pics of the new unit (YWY500170) and the Old Unit for reference purposes, if it is of help to others in identifying them. They are identical on the outside but are considerably different on the inside.

Click to expand...

The old unit is on the left and the new one on the right

i have had my aerial wire disconnected from the reciever for 4 days and when it started today it spun over very nicely!

say hello to LR dealers..........

say goodbye to £150.........

I ran my P38 with the RF aerial disconnected for a while. This seemed to have two consequences:
1. As mentioned you have to hold the key close to the rear o/s quarted to get the remote to work.
2. (Not seen this mentioned B4) but I found if I didn't start the engine within about 1minute the immobiliser would activate which meant I had to get back out the vehicle go to the back and operate the remote again (I always locked and unlocked the car again - but maybe an unlock would have been enough) then get back in and start the engine within the 1minute.
Not a big deal but got annoying after a while so I ended up getting a replacement RF receiver.

mikeateves

mikeateves said:

I ran my P38 with the RF aerial disconnected for a while. This seemed to have two consequences:
1. As mentioned you have to hold the key close to the rear o/s quarted to get the remote to work.
2. (Not seen this mentioned B4) but I found if I didn't start the engine within about 1minute the immobiliser would activate which meant I had to get back out the vehicle go to the back and operate the remote again (I always locked and unlocked the car again - but maybe an unlock would have been enough) then get back in and start the engine within the 1minute.
Not a big deal but got annoying after a while so I ended up getting a replacement RF receiver.

mikeateves

Click to expand...

i had similar probs, the first time i went to start it after a few day with the aerial lead disconnected i had "engine disabled" message come up! it seems the reception noeeds to be maintained between remote and vehicle for the engine to start, i didnt try to start it straight away, since then i have started as soon as unlocked and it hasnt happened again!
my reciever seems to be the first ever made and from the pics above it looks like the second attempt was screened more, then for the third they actually produced a better more acurate unit.....



going to LR's now to collect my new one, if it dont solve the problem il be very unhappy at £152................

redrange said:

i had similar probs, the first time i went to start it after a few day with the aerial lead disconnected i had "engine disabled" message come up! it seems the reception noeeds to be maintained between remote and vehicle for the engine to start, i didnt try to start it straight away, since then i have started as soon as unlocked and it hasnt happened again!
my reciever seems to be the first ever made and from the pics above it looks like the second attempt was screened more, then for the third they actually produced a better more acurate unit.....

going to LR's now to collect my new one, if it dont solve the problem il be very unhappy at £152................

Click to expand...

So.........did it solve it?
Im almost afraid to ask

would upgrading to this receiver help me? ive got a new post going, my remote fob is totally dead for the second time in 2 months. new batts fitted. car wont even accept my eka code.(not even the initial 4 unlock turns)
i usually have to be near the car for the fob to work,and sometimes have to press the lock button,when its already locked so it will unlock. the two times this has happened though, its been parked outside my house, outside inteferance?

hi ya i got my new rf receiver last week , and no probelms ! peace of mind as well ! imagine if you are running late or parked somewhere that has lots of signals for the sake of £150 brick , i know no that there is no probelms !

Can anyone show me where that receiver is hidden, because I turn the car upside down but I can't find the receiver.?

Above rear driver side wheel in the boot

Thks

Is this item a simple unplug old unit and plug in the new unit??
Is there any recoding to do?
It could be one less electrical fault on my P38.

I know where there is a P38 for breaking, i'm having the BECM off it next week !!!!

Hi, i have recently aquired a P38 from my father in law which has been back and forward to the garage due to mysterious battery drain and after several atempts they have (hopefully) sucessfully diagnosed the problem as RF receiver interference so they have wrapped the existing unit in lead! Seems to be working ok at the moment but was thinking of replacing the RF receiver for the later revision just to make sure.

Is the replacement of the RF receiver as simple as unplugging the faulty one and plugging the new one in or will the car need some sort of reprogramming for everything to work again ?

Also, just to top it off, since coming back from the garage working! the passenger side window,central locking & electric mirror have stopped working.

Any ideas how i can sort this problem without disabling the whole car ?

Thanks

hi ya All i can tell you is that once the garage put in the new rf unit ,i have never had any more probelms , my probelm was that my neighbours and myself had wireless routers and it was wakin up the battery every 2 mins ! my mate was up with his range rover left it overnight same thing happened to him except the AA ,said it was the starter motor ,i said it wasnt ,guess what after puting in a new starter motor ,it was the same as mine !! you do have to get your car reprogrammed ,but including the rf unit it cost me £240 money well spent for peace of mind and a perfect start every time ! hope this helps regards david

Hello all,

I won't bore you with all the details, but of course I've suffered all the above, needless to say. I made the big mistake of going on holiday for a WHOLE WEEK with my 95 reg RR parked right next to my house. How could I have been so careless?? After a lot of faff I charged the battery, finally got the EKA code to work (thx to the many threads in here) and even more faff later even managed to stop the darned thing locking itself every few mins. That did involve it locking me in requiring me to climb out the driver's window once but less said about that the better.

Anyway, my question is this.... is changing the remote receiver an easy (very very easy) job for someone with zero car mechanical background or is it something that needs to be done by a garage? Am I going to have a problem setting my fobs to work with it again and have all the alarm malarkey again? I was looking for a step-by-step procedure on changing the receiver to give me a clue. Anyone able to offer advice or suggestions please?

Many thanks all. However I do now feel like a proper P38 owner now that I'm having problems and even managed to fix a few myself. I'm assuming if I order YWY500170 I'm after the correct part.