Broken Remote Keyfob

Hi - after the untimely demise of my last P38 a couple of years ago (slipped liner) - I've just recently bought a 'grand old girl' - a 96 4.6 HSE with 132k on the clock - i just couldnt get rid of the Range Rover bug after my first experience

The car has a few jobs that need doing.

The car came with a broken remote keyfob (only one). The seller advised that the keyblade works to open the drivers door and start the car.

The damaged keyfob came with the car - the buttons are missing. After a little bit of research on this forum and others, I'm thinking I can buy a second hand remote fob with a blank keyblade, and replacement buttons and battery cover etc, and then transfer the electronic 'guts' of my keyfob in to the replacement fob, get the keyblade cut to match the blade I have and 'Bob's your uncle'. .....hopefully.

However I'm wondering what has been 'disabled' on the car to allow it to be opened and started with just the keyblade alone?

Can anyone see any pitfalls to the plan ? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer

If the electronics in your FOB are OK what is the point of transfering it to another FOB? The buttons are an integral part of the FOB PCB, only the rubber pads can be replaced which can be done on your own FOB.

Sorry - just for further clarification - the casing on the original fob I have is broken - i think by looking at it, it has been broken to remove the keyblade.

This is why I want to transplant to a 'newer' keyfob with the keyblade intact

cheers

bouncerdrum said:

Sorry - just for further clarification - the casing on the original fob I have is broken - i think by looking at it, it has been broken to remove the keyblade.

This is why I want to transplant to a 'newer' keyfob with the keyblade intact

cheers

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You will need to split the replacement fob to insert your electronics.They are glued/plastic welded together.There is no guarantee you will be able to split without damaging it.

You should prove your damaged case fob works first anyway otherwise you will be wasting your time.It sounds as though your fob is u/s as the PO would surely have just replacedthe button pad.

If that's the only key that you've got I'd strongly suggest that you bite the bullet and buy a new one from a stealer. Then, when you've got a key that you know should do everything, you'll be able to find out what works and what doesn't. Then you can try and ressurect the old key but if you fail you won't be immobilising yourself.

dogsbody said:

If that's the only key that you've got I'd strongly suggest that you bite the bullet and buy a new one from a stealer. Then, when you've got a key that you know should do everything, you'll be able to find out what works and what doesn't. Then you can try and ressurect the old key but if you fail you won't be immobilising yourself.

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You make a good point there - guess I'll have to dig deep and go the dealer with £150 in my back pocket ....

Any ideas what has been done to allow the key to work by itself????

The key fob does 2 things (well, 3 if you count the mechanical key blade!), remotely control the central locking using the buttons and passively control the engine immobiliser by close contact with the ignition barrel. I presume you are using the key with the broken fob still attached when starting the car? The car can have upto 4 key fobs programmed to it, fob 1 and 2 are suppied from new and operate the memory seats for positions 1 and 2 (if fitted). Replacement fobs can be any ID, you need to specify when ordering. Your original fob shuld have an ID sticker on it (but has probably fallen off). Once you have the new fob, there is no programming to do to the car but it will need to be synchronised to it, I think on the older Rangie this is done by inserting into the drivers door lock and while turning to the locked position press the lock button. Newer cars it's simply inserted into the ingition to synchronise. A second hand fob CANNOT be programmed to the car and are next to impossible to open to remove the electronics without destroying it.

Thanks Alan,

I just wondered if anything had been disabled within the BECM, to allow the keyblade to work independantly of the keyfob - so I'd know what needed to be re-instated once I'd purchased a new remote from a dealership.

I was unaware that the immobiliser could be disabled. Perhaps a BECM expert can comment? I know a bodge I did on an old VW with a broken key fob was to tape the chip from inside the fob next to the ignition barrel pickup coil so I could use a non-chip key supplied from Mr Minnit, though as you have the fob it's obviously not stuffed inside the console! I guess then that your immobiliser has been disabled, a state I'd be happy to leave mine in. I do have a BlackBox Faultmate, but can't recall there was a setting to disable the immobiliser.

AFAIK you cannot disable the immobilizer system.
I suspect in this case the EKA code may have been disabled in the BECM.Thus allow use of the key without entering the EKA code each time.
If a working remote was now used to lock the vehicle and then the mechanical key was used to unlock,then you may find the vehicle immobilized.

If you unlock with the key and the FOB is still working it will still respond when put into the ignition and the car will start fine. At least my diesel does.

The keyfob can be repaired. We repair them all the time, & we can open the cases up, although the machine we use to do it cost more than the range rover you bought.

By disabling the passive immobiliser will allow just the key to unlock & start the car, The alarm activates on a key turn in the lock, unless the alarm has been disabled as well.

Datatek said:

If you unlock with the key and the FOB is still working it will still respond when put into the ignition and the car will start fine. At least my diesel does.

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I think it depends on the BECM settings(market) and Model year.My 1995 Gems will not do this unless eka code is entered.

Rick-the-Pick said:

The keyfob can be repaired. We repair them all the time, & we can open the cases up, although the machine we use to do it cost more than the range rover you bought.

By disabling the passive immobiliser will allow just the key to unlock & start the car, The alarm activates on a key turn in the lock, unless the alarm has been disabled as well.

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Hi Rick - so if i was to send you my broken Keyfob, and the 'donor' keyfob - you could do the transplant of the electronics for me?

bouncerdrum said:

Hi Rick - so if i was to send you my broken Keyfob, and the 'donor' keyfob - you could do the transplant of the electronics for me?

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By the time you have bought the donor fob,postage to and from ,repair time,what do you think the cost to you will be

It never hurts to pursue a repair option that might offer some saving against what an OEM supplier would charge.

I would hazard a guess that I'm not the only one who doesn't march straight to the dealer to solve most of these cars' problems

bouncerdrum said:

It never hurts to pursue a repair option that might offer some saving against what an OEM supplier would charge.

I would hazard a guess that I'm not the only one who doesn't march straight to the dealer to solve most of these cars' problems

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Agreed,we all try to do what we can to save a bit.Sometimes it is just best to bite the bullet and buy a new fob.I recently replaced one of mine which had failed and could not be repaired.Cost was £125 from dealer in Basingstoke.
As I understand it you have no idea if your fob electronics works at all,so transfering into a new case may be a waste of time and money.

JohnP38 said:

As I understand it you have no idea if your fob electronics works at all,so transfering into a new case may be a waste of time and money.

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Yes. you're right.

Thinking about it , I think my safest option will be to buy a new remote from Land Rover, then attempt to repair the existing one I have.

Do the remotes have ID tags ( i.e. are they physically marked to tell you which key number they are ) so that I don't order the same number key that I already have.

Thanks for your help

There is a recessed rectangle on the the rear of the fob where a label is fixed denoting the key number.

bouncerdrum said:

Yes. you're right.

Thinking about it , I think my safest option will be to buy a new remote from Land Rover, then attempt to repair the existing one I have.

Do the remotes have ID tags ( i.e. are they physically marked to tell you which key number they are ) so that I don't order the same number key that I already have.

Thanks for your help

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If you are not sure what number key you have I would suggest ordering a Key Number 3 as that would not have been issued with the car and so you have a good chance that the one you have is not a Key 3.