P38A BeCM and Engine ECU Re-sync problem

Hi everyone, my name is James and i am a new member who requires help from some P38 guru's.

I parked my P38 outside my house on tuesday night and it was fine, I came to take the kids to school on Wednesday morning and it was dead.

Admittedly in the course of owning this particular P38, over the past 2 years of ownership i've had a flat battery on a couple of occasions (kids leaving interior lights on and a mysterious power drain) but i've always managed to get it started until now.

I charged the battery up and the engine would turn over but would not fire up (no spark or fuel) so I rang Elite Landrovers in Deepcar who told me it sounded like a BeCM to Engine ECU Re-sync would need performing but due to a diagnostic equipment problem they could not do it so recommended Autotronix Sheffield who came out last night.

After plugging in numerous computers and trying to get them to Re-sync, it was having none of it. He told me it was most likely the BeCM that was not liking the immobilizer code thus not resyncronizing. He told me that he could probably get it working if i could get it to his worshop where he could plug it in online but could not do it mobile. Another option before bringing it to him was to try a Syncmate, but the company who hire them out are closed until 19th October which is just my luck.

So what im asking is if there is anyone local to the Sheffield area who has a Syncmate to try or any equipment/expertise that could get me and my family moving again? I would be willing to put some fuel in your tank if anyone can help me.

Thanks James

Once you get it going you will have to find out what is causing your battery to go flat. If the battery is good and the alternator is charging then check your r/f receiver. Make sure it's the latest version, the older one's pick up spurious signal which will flatten you battery and could burn out your front door locks (the voice of experience).

Thanks for that, I will have to get the multi meter on it once it's sorted. My P38 is a 2000my 'W' reg

lots of post's re. the r/f receiver including photo's of the internal's (posted by saint I believe) just do a search. Easy to pull the blue wire connector (aerial) from the r/f and stand close to the o/s rear window to use your fob. But we are getting ahead of ourselves, get it started first:welcome:

tomcat59alan said:

lots of post's re. the r/f receiver including photo's of the internal's (posted by saint I believe) just do a search. Easy to pull the blue wire connector (aerial) from the r/f and stand close to the o/s rear window to use your fob. But we are getting ahead of ourselves, get it started first:welcome:

Click to expand...

Mozz and Datatek have posted the internals...I may have done once, but if I did, it was only a re-post of one of their images!

Thanks for the advice and the welcome guys, I will disconnect the blue wire to the r/f receiver tonight but if there is someone local who could help me get it going that would be fantastic.

Treat yourself to a Nanocom as an early Christmas present.

What engine is it?
If it's a Thor petrol I have a sync mate you can borrow.
My son has the sync mate at the moment, he's in Aughton.
I'm away for the weekend so won't be online but I've sent you a PM with my number, give me a call if you need it and I'l try to arrange something.

It's a bit of a concern that a 4x4 specialist came out with numerous systems & couldn't get it sync'd up.
Is it a petrol or diesel model?

Hi Don1, yeah it's a 4.0 Thor engine (Bosch) that would be great if you could help me out and I would really appreciate it. I'm in S5 area.
Just don't understand why the auto electrician couldn't do it with his many computers.

Have you ever known them not to want to sync or do you reckon he just wasn't doing it right?

Check your PM and give me a call.

SteelCityRover said:

Hi Don1, yeah it's a 4.0 Thor engine (Bosch) that would be great if you could help me out and I would really appreciate it. I'm in S5 area.
Just don't understand why the auto electrician couldn't do it with his many computers.

Have you ever known them not to want to sync or do you reckon he just wasn't doing it right?

Click to expand...

Speak to Rick the pick, he's the expert, it's his profession

Rick-the-Pick said:

It's a bit of a concern that a 4x4 specialist came out with numerous systems & couldn't get it sync'd up.
Is it a petrol or diesel model?

Click to expand...

Hi Rick, it's 4.0 petrol Thor. It was a bit strange when he couldn't do it and it was the worst feeling ever.

It does indeed point to the handshake between the engine management & becm.
On the Thor engine you have to place a code within the becm. It's not a case of performing a security re-learn like the gems.
Alarm bells are ringing in that a specialist couldn't achieve the re-sync which could mean other sinister forces are present.
The black-box sync mates WILL do the job if it's just the handshake that's needed, so try & borrow or better still, buy one & if this fails give me a shout.

HEY -UP RICK nice to see you on here hope your well mate , give us a ring soon cheers mate ,,, regards MOZZ

Rick-the-Pick said:

It does indeed point to the handshake between the engine management & becm.
On the Thor engine you have to place a code within the becm. It's not a case of performing a security re-learn like the gems.
Alarm bells are ringing in that a specialist couldn't achieve the re-sync which could mean other sinister forces are present.
The black-box sync mates WILL do the job if it's just the handshake that's needed, so try & borrow or better still, buy one & if this fails give me a shout.

Click to expand...

Judging from what so many main dealer experts seem to tell people I'd almost suspect another plonker before going any further.

Hi guys, I thought I would update you with my progress since earlier.

My P38 is back up and running!!!

A very BIG thanks to DON1 who kindly let me borrow his Syncmate tonight. I plugged it in and after a couple of cranks it fired up, much to my relief.

Also a thank you to everyone else who posted advice on my thread, really glad I joined the forum and to find a lot of genuine people who just want to help each other out is just fantastic.

Lastly, would I recommend using the fore mentioned auto electrician? I'll let you guess my thoughts on that.

Ah, it was a plonker then.