P38 alarm/immobiliser removal

Hi all,

I have a year 2000 P38 with the 4.6 Bosch engine.

The battery died and she's totally immobilised herself!

Got a few things to try today, including getting the EKA code from my local dealer.

My question is, does anyone in the North Shields/Newcastle area have the equipment to remove my alarm/immobiliser?.....I will happily cross your palm with silver!

I think the only person who might be able to do this reliably is @Rick-the-Pick.

Grrrrrr said:

I think the only person who might be able to do this reliably is @Rick-the-Pick.

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Alarm , Immobiliser and need for EKA code can be disabled with Nanocom until he fixes his problem.

By the way is anyone having trouble getting on to Nanocom or even Black box site or is it just me?

The immobilsation can never fully be removed. You can restrict the possibility of getting immobilised by approx 75% but the dreaded KeyCode Lockout cannot be removed. This is built into the electronics. Some people say that the EKA code can be deactivated, but this is your only option of entry if KeyCode Lockout appears.
In Japan they have the EKA disabled. They have no options when they immobilse other than to replace the becm.

Take a detailed look at your keyfobs & the battery area, are look how the battery connect when the holder is in situ. Work out how the contacts contact & work from there.

Rick-the-Pick said:

The immobilsation can never fully be removed. You can restrict the possibility of getting immobilised by approx 75% but the dreaded KeyCode Lockout cannot be removed. This is built into the electronics. Some people say that the EKA code can be deactivated, but this is your only option of entry if KeyCode Lockout appears.
In Japan they have the EKA disabled. They have no options when they immobilse other than to replace the becm.

Take a detailed look at your keyfobs & the battery area, are look how the battery connect when the holder is in situ. Work out how the contacts contact & work from there.

Click to expand...

Nice one, I'll have a look later and take a few pics for reference on here.....

Say I did have to change the CDL switch in the door, is that an easy task and if so, will it wreak havoc on the already huffy electrical system???

Rick-the-Pick said:

The immobilsation can never fully be removed. You can restrict the possibility of getting immobilised by approx 75% but the dreaded KeyCode Lockout cannot be removed. This is built into the electronics. Some people say that the EKA code can be deactivated, but this is your only option of entry if KeyCode Lockout appears.
In Japan they have the EKA disabled. They have no options when they immobilse other than to replace the becm.

Take a detailed look at your keyfobs & the battery area, are look how the battery connect when the holder is in situ. Work out how the contacts contact & work from there.

Click to expand...

Passive immobilisation can be disabled as can alarm and EKA code requirement. As far as i am aware the only reason you would need to enter EKA is to reset passive immobiliser. ECM immobiliser cannot be turned off but that has nothing to do with the other functions. That needs to be synced to the BECM from the ECM. Keycode lockout only appears if you enter the EKA code incorrectly three times. All you have to do to stop it ever happening is to open and close the drivers door after two fails. And it will never appear.

shiftyoldscoob said:

Nice one, I'll have a look later and take a few pics for reference on here.....

Say I did have to change the CDL switch in the door, is that an easy task and if so, will it wreak havoc on the already huffy electrical system???

Click to expand...

Older latch microswitches are easy. Newer ones less so. Even easier is to contact @martyuk and bung him a few quid for one of his nicely refurbished ones.

Wammers, That not the case.
The becm has a built in feature that protects the vehicle from any electrical failure.
Any one of the other ecu's that is either monitored or controled by the Becm has the potential to cause the becm to alarm & enter the Keycode Lockout feature.
This is to protect the vehicle from causing further damage due to a faulty module thats failed. Any faulty door lock, dodgy fuse box, an electrical malfunction including the becm itself etc. can cause the Keycode lockout.
We spend quite a bit of time reverse engineering the fault & most of the time can pinpoint the failure on the vehicle. Most of the garages abuse this ability we have. We also have to spend time explaining this to owners that have paid to have all security features deactivated & their becm will still alarm into a Keycode lockout. This is why we spend vast amounts of time thoroughly testing every single becm.
with this in mind we try & advise everyone that it's not a good idea to turn the EKA function off.

Rick-the-Pick said:

Wammers, That not the case.
The becm has a built in feature that protects the vehicle from any electrical failure.
Any one of the other ecu's that is either monitored or controled by the Becm has the potential to cause the becm to alarm & enter the Keycode Lockout feature.
This is to protect the vehicle from causing further damage due to a faulty module thats failed. Any faulty door lock, dodgy fuse box, an electrical malfunction including the becm itself etc. can cause the Keycode lockout.
We spend quite a bit of time reverse engineering the fault & most of the time can pinpoint the failure on the vehicle. Most of the garages abuse this ability we have. We also have to spend time explaining this to owners that have paid to have all security features deactivated & their becm will still alarm into a Keycode lockout. This is why we spend vast amounts of time thoroughly testing every single becm.
with this in mind we try & advise everyone that it's not a good idea to turn the EKA function off.

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I am not suggesting functions should be turned off permanently. Only that they can be disabled until the fault causing them is fixed, rendering the vehicle usable until that time. Rather than the owner being stuck on a car park waiting recovery because of a random intermittent lock switch fault. Not every electrical fault needs a BECM refurbish.

Thanks for the replies so far guys, really appreciate it!

I honestly think it's the CDL switch in the door as he previous owner said sometimes the doors would lock and unlock while driving, also when the car was running the other day the same thing happened to me...

I think I'll buy a key fob repair kit and fit a new CDL switch and take it from there!....is the CDL an easy job or does it require any resetting etc?

Also a point to note is that both keys are labelled "key 1"?

shiftyoldscoob said:

Thanks for the replies so far guys, really appreciate it!

I honestly think it's the CDL switch in the door as he previous owner said sometimes the doors would lock and unlock while driving, also when the car was running the other day the same thing happened to me...

I think I'll buy a key fob repair kit and fit a new CDL switch and take it from there!....is the CDL an easy job or does it require any resetting etc?

Also a point to note is that both keys are labelled "key 1"?

Click to expand...

If both keys are key 1 they'll each need resynching to the car each time you use them. Just use 1 of them.

Locks locking and unlocking while driving rings a bell. Boot button, maybe? Might be worth a search. Locks locking and unlocking at rest points at RF intereference. If you haven't the latest RF receiver you ought to at least use the 2 fob trick.

CDL dead easy. Door card off, latch out. Switches are at the bottom.

If the last owner told you that the locks are " Bouncing" that's a sure sign of door lock mechanism failure.

A precise & accurate history on these vehicles can produce a spot on diagnosis.

Give Marty a shout for one of his refurbed drivers door locks.

Rick-the-Pick said:

If the last owner told you that the locks are " Bouncing" that's a sure sign of door lock mechanism failure.

A precise & accurate history on these vehicles can produce a spot on diagnosis.

Give Marty a shout for one of his refurbed drivers door locks.

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Yes indeed if that had been said earlier maybe he would have been sorted by now. Half a story half a fix and much speculation.

wammers said:

Yes indeed if that had been said earlier maybe he would have been sorted by now. Half a story half a fix and much speculation.

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Only just found that out from the previous owner when I spoke to him (he's a pal) about the issues I was having. Then when it happened to me and after much reading on line I put 2+2 together

The importance of a servicable driver door lock mechanism is hugely understated.
With this fault it doesn't matter what diagnostics you have, if the lock is faulty it's not telling the car you're in it.
Even with the passive immobilser off, alarm etc, if the car isn't being told you've unlocked the door to get in you ain't gonna go anywhere.

With the passive immobiler turned off the vehicle still requires that key turn in the lock, so in short, turning the passive immobilser off just deactivates the need for the fob signal & places the responsabilty to the key turn in the door lock.

This exact fault has caught me out countless times in the past.

Sorry - just got home and seen the notifications!

I've got your PM shiftyoldscoob, and have replied... I've been out today looking at a P38 for another owner that hasn't run in awhile (finally got it started!) and had a load of window switchpacks to repair too - but I have about 30 door latches in bits which I'm trying to get them all cleaned and ready for reassembling.

Hopefully will get the chance to do some of that this evening/tomorrow and will have stock of refurbished latches again soon!

I think Ill go ahead and high jack the thread here as I'm experiencing these issues on my 2001 2.5 P38 DHSE. I only have one key and it's been working ok until recently when I began experiencing the ghost locking and unlocking and some weird night time interior light, headlight and alarm activations. I went way for 4 days a couple weeks back and when returning the battery was completely dead. Upon recharging, all systems are in chaos. Windows, sunroof, key code and all. I really don't want to give up on an otherwise great car. Iv'e tried the driver door lock reset, but the key has zero effect. I'm guessing from previous posts, it might be the micro switch??? Any help would be so much appreciated.

You might be right!

Why thank you kind Grrrrrr.