P38A 1999 P38 Central Locking Fun (or lack thereof)

Hello everyone,

I don't usually like starting a new thread until my older threads come to a conclusion - but since I've not gotten anything new to share about my ABS situation (Ignoring it for now until I have time to replace the Modulator) - I figured it would be a good a time as any to start chipping away at this the rest of this poor old P38s issues.

When I bought the car it came with what you see below (I put a new shell on the fob as the old one was falling apart) - Pretty much just the two bare key blades and a fob.


One key blade unlocks the doors, the other does the ignition - The fob does absolutely nothing (Ill explain it more further down)

Basically I assume that the lock in the door broke at some stage (Maybe microswitches as well or something?) and a previous owner decided it would be easier to just swap in another door handle with matching key blade...

The one good thing (at least) is that the key blade does lock and unlock all doors.

More lovely oddities of this P38 in question:
I think that the immobiliser is disabled - no matter how many times I've disconnected the battery etc it has never ever given be any engine disabled / keycode lockout. (I dont even know the keycode)

Also its got "Alarm fault" on the dash (I assume this is because since I cant lock with the fob its never able to go through all its normal security arming steps)

I think that the door outstation is fine since all the door functions work/all the doors lock/unlock from the drivers door - I have also checked the RF receiver and it appears to be fine (Its plugged in anyway)

Things ive done to try and get any response from the key:
Just to clear this up - the key does "work" - the light lights up and keeps flashing if you hold the button.
I cannot sync it with the vehicle - I've tried :
1. Putting in the door, turning to lock position, holding lock button, doing same for unlock etc - no response.
2. It appears that from 1997 onwards they have passive immobilisation coil in the ignition - so I placed key in the ignition - turned to ignition II with fob right next to the barrel - no response from key.
3. Ive also tried step 1 while holding the fob right next to the receiver and still no response.

Where do you think I should start looking next? Is there a chance this vehicle had some kind of battery drain or immobilisation issues in the past and a previous owner just completely disabled both the immobiliser and remote central locking? Can this stuff be toggled from the BECM? How do I even know if the fob I have is linked with the BECM?

I have a second car for parts that has a working fob, should I swap parts between the two cars? (cant swap BECM due to ECM issues on the parts car)

Thanks.

The FOB is likely to be an Ebay special as the seller provided with the dead P38 I bought, if so it will never work.
Both EKA and the immobiliser can be disabled in the BECM to allow the car to be used with just the key blade, this will not cause an issue with the alarm, I run 2 P38's like that so your alarm issue is likely to be something else.
Unless you swap the BECM, you cannot use the working FOB from your scrapper. What you can do is fit the ignition barrel and door lock from the scrapper so at least you only need one key blade.
If you have diagnostics, you can check the VIN number in the BECM to see if it matches the one on the plate and then order a new FOB from a stealer.

MikeFl4 said:

Hello everyone,

I don't usually like starting a new thread until my older threads come to a conclusion - but since I've not gotten anything new to share about my ABS situation (Ignoring it for now until I have time to replace the Modulator) - I figured it would be a good a time as any to start chipping away at this the rest of this poor old P38s issues.

When I bought the car it came with what you see below (I put a new shell on the fob as the old one was falling apart) - Pretty much just the two bare key blades and a fob.
View attachment 269212

One key blade unlocks the doors, the other does the ignition - The fob does absolutely nothing (Ill explain it more further down)

Basically I assume that the lock in the door broke at some stage (Maybe microswitches as well or something?) and a previous owner decided it would be easier to just swap in another door handle with matching key blade...

The one good thing (at least) is that the key blade does lock and unlock all doors.

More lovely oddities of this P38 in question:
I think that the immobiliser is disabled - no matter how many times I've disconnected the battery etc it has never ever given be any engine disabled / keycode lockout. (I dont even know the keycode)

Also its got "Alarm fault" on the dash (I assume this is because since I cant lock with the fob its never able to go through all its normal security arming steps)

I think that the door outstation is fine since all the door functions work/all the doors lock/unlock from the drivers door - I have also checked the RF receiver and it appears to be fine (Its plugged in anyway)

Things ive done to try and get any response from the key:
Just to clear this up - the key does "work" - the light lights up and keeps flashing if you hold the button.
I cannot sync it with the vehicle - I've tried :
1. Putting in the door, turning to lock position, holding lock button, doing same for unlock etc - no response.
2. It appears that from 1997 onwards they have passive immobilisation coil in the ignition - so I placed key in the ignition - turned to ignition II with fob right next to the barrel - no response from key.
3. Ive also tried step 1 while holding the fob right next to the receiver and still no response.

Where do you think I should start looking next? Is there a chance this vehicle had some kind of battery drain or immobilisation issues in the past and a previous owner just completely disabled both the immobiliser and remote central locking? Can this stuff be toggled from the BECM? How do I even know if the fob I have is linked with the BECM?

I have a second car for parts that has a working fob, should I swap parts between the two cars? (cant swap BECM due to ECM issues on the parts car)

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Is the RF reciever plugged in? Try holding the fob next to the aerial in the rear quarterlight (O/S) when doing the key sync in the lock. Press button to lock and turn key to lock. Then press button to unlock and turn key to unlock. Might have to repeat. Sometimes it requires diag to clear the RF memory first. Needs all microswitches working in the door too. If all locks pop up and down with the key and the boot button works then probably OK there.

EDIT: just seen you said RF receiver is plugged in. Might need diag.

Datatek said:

The FOB is likely to be an Ebay special as the seller provided with the dead P38 I bought, if so it will never work.
Both EKA and the immobiliser can be disabled in the BECM to allow the car to be used with just the key blade, this will not cause an issue with the alarm, I run 2 P38's like that so your alarm issue is likely to be something else.
Unless you swap the BECM, you cannot use the working FOB from your scrapper. What you can do is fit the ignition barrel and door lock from the scrapper so at least you only need one key blade.
If you have diagnostics, you can check the VIN number in the BECM to see if it matches the one on the plate and then order a new FOB from a stealer.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply,

Here is what I was thinking would be the best option:
Remove the BECM and ECM from the scrap car and get them sent off for repair (and have the eka/immobiliser disabled etc)
Remove the door handle from the scrap and good car, then mess around with the lock wafers until I get the current ignition key blade to turn in the lock.
Then I would basically have matching locks for door, ignition and glovebox.
Install the repaired BECM and ECM into the "good" P38 - use the now coded fob to operate the locks.

I guess Id send the BECM, ECM and Fob to Les in Wales as he seems to be the guy to do all this stuff - He can make me a second key with fob aswell as far as I'm aware?

Then literally after I transfer all that stuff into the "good" P38 - if it still doesn't work I know its only going to be something like RF receiver etc that's broken?

Grrrrrr said:

Is the RF reciever plugged in? Try holding the fob next to the aerial in the rear quarterlight (O/S) when doing the key sync in the lock. Press button to lock and turn key to lock. Then press button to unlock and turn key to unlock. Might have to repeat. Sometimes it requires diag to clear the RF memory first. Needs all microswitches working in the door too. If all locks pop up and down with the key and the boot button works then probably OK there.

EDIT: just seen you said RF receiver is plugged in. Might need diag.

Click to expand...

Thank you also for the suggestions, I think the same about the microswitches as all the locks etc work perfect - just no response from the fob. Although I have no idea whether the fob is coded to the car, I haven't really investigated into the RF system very much, just made sure it was plugged in etc.

I dont have a P38 specific scanner but Ill probably be getting a Nanocom sooner rather than later...

I think Ill give my previous comments suggestion a go as - once I know the fob belongs to the BECM - I can safely start troubleshooting actual issues.

MikeFl4 said:

Thanks for the reply,

Here is what I was thinking would be the best option:
Remove the BECM and ECM from the scrap car and get them sent off for repair (and have the eka/immobiliser disabled etc)
Remove the door handle from the scrap and good car, then mess around with the lock wafers until I get the current ignition key blade to turn in the lock.
Then I would basically have matching locks for door, ignition and glovebox.
Install the repaired BECM and ECM into the "good" P38 - use the now coded fob to operate the locks.

I guess Id send the BECM, ECM and Fob to Les in Wales as he seems to be the guy to do all this stuff - He can make me a second key with fob aswell as far as I'm aware?

Then literally after I transfer all that stuff into the "good" P38 - if it still doesn't work I know its only going to be something like RF receiver etc that's broken?

Click to expand...

No need to fiddle with lock wafers, the ignition barrel is a simple swap as is the door handle and glove box lock which would give you a lock set that matches the BECM. I can tell you how to swap the ignition barrel but not on the forum. Are you sure the BECM from the scrapper is faulty? With a Nanocom, you can sync your existing ECM to the replacement BECM.
Rick the Pick is IMO the best place to send the BECM if you want it checked.
If your scrapper has an RF receiver, might be an idea to try that as receivers do fail, they are not code so just plug n play.

Datatek said:

No need to fiddle with lock wafers, the ignition barrel is a simple swap as is the door handle and glove box lock which would give you a lock set that matches the BECM. I can tell you how to swap the ignition barrel but not on the forum. Are you sure the BECM from the scrapper is faulty? With a Nanocom, you can sync your existing ECM to the replacement BECM.
Rick the Pick is IMO the best place to send the BECM if you want it checked.
If your scrapper has an RF receiver, might be an idea to try that as receivers do fail, they are not code so just plug n play.

Click to expand...

Ah, I wouldn't mind so then if you could tell me how to swap the barrels. I cant remember exactly now but I was following some guide to replace the ignition barrel and it looked awful - removing pretty much every single component from the steering column assembly - I just thought it would be much easier to just match the door locks to the current barrel.

Interesting that you can do that kind of pairing with a Nanocom - I need to get myself one!! I just need to figure out a few insurance problems with the P38 first then Ill start buying stuff for it again!

Possibly the BECM isnt faulty, this was the vehicle which had the battery terminals put on the wrong way around so from all the diagnosis done at the time it was pointing towards a fried ECM (would have just been sending the ECM and BECM as a pair incase the issue happened to be elsewhere)

Ill go out now and swap over the receivers, if it worked it would mean that we could skip over all this BECM stuff and just swap the locks. (obviously the scrap receiver works as the fob works perfect in the scrap car)

Please send me on the info of how to swap the barrels!

MikeFl4 said:

Ah, I wouldn't mind so then if you could tell me how to swap the barrels. I cant remember exactly now but I was following some guide to replace the ignition barrel and it looked awful - removing pretty much every single component from the steering column assembly - I just thought it would be much easier to just match the door locks to the current barrel.

Interesting that you can do that kind of pairing with a Nanocom - I need to get myself one!! I just need to figure out a few insurance problems with the P38 first then Ill start buying stuff for it again!

Possibly the BECM isnt faulty, this was the vehicle which had the battery terminals put on the wrong way around so from all the diagnosis done at the time it was pointing towards a fried ECM (would have just been sending the ECM and BECM as a pair incase the issue happened to be elsewhere)

Ill go out now and swap over the receivers, if it worked it would mean that we could skip over all this BECM stuff and just swap the locks. (obviously the scrap receiver works as the fob works perfect in the scrap car)

Please send me on the info of how to swap the barrels!

Click to expand...

PM me with a email address, I will not put the lock info on a forum for security reasons and liability.

Good news!

One of the many issues with my P38 has been solved today - thanks to the info from @Datatek

My P38 now has one key that unlocks the door, ignition and glovebox.


Its on the old fob just for now but ill change it over to a new shell once I get a second key cut.

Next step is to buy a nanocom - swap over the BECMs - code to the car - and hopefully, working fobs!

MikeFl4 said:

Good news!

One of the many issues with my P38 has been solved today - thanks to the info from @Datatek

My P38 now has one key that unlocks the door, ignition and glovebox.
View attachment 269365

Its on the old fob just for now but ill change it over to a new shell once I get a second key cut.

Next step is to buy a nanocom - swap over the BECMs - code to the car - and hopefully, working fobs!

Click to expand...

Easy job According to a dealer, you have to buy the whole column
I wrote the VIN number associated with the replacement in the owners hand book for future reference.