Land Rover Forums - Land Rover Enthusiast Forum

Tell us what the flashing red theft light is doing?

Try the 1515 code sequence in the driver's door.

Emergency Key Access ("EKA") Procedure
(Disarming Alarm & Starting Vehicle when Remote is Lost or Fails) Overview and Instructions
The EKA procedure is provided as a back-up method of disarming the alarm and re-mobilizing the vehicle if all else fails. (For another equally good if not better method see the "Key in Position II" procedure below). It uses a series of locks and unlocks with the key in the driver's door lock cylinder. From owner reports to date, this feature seems to be enabled on 1996 and later models in Europe, but not North America or Australia -- but see below for a generic EKA code procedure that works in North America.

The manuals are vague and contradictory on when EKA might be necessary -- the shop manual says it is if you lock the vehicle with the remote handset and then you lose the remote or it fails. (This is understandable on models with passive immobilization which cannot be started without the remote, but the manuals are enigmatic on why this could happen on vehicles without passive immobilization). You still need the key part of the remote, or one of the spare mechanical keys supplied in later model years.
According to the manual, if the remote has failed or been lost and you try to open the door with just the mechanical key, the alarm will sound twice. (Of course, this does not make sense because you should be able to get into all models quite satisfactorily with just the mechanical key. Perhaps they are referring to situations when the remote has malfunctioned in a way that upsets the BeCM, or the alarm has been set off for some reason). If you then try to start the car, the message center will display "ENGINE DISABLED PRESS REMOTE OR USE KEY CODE". (This part makes sense on vehicles with passive immobilization, as described above, or perhaps if the alarm has been activated).
Make sure the doors, windows and bonnet/hood are closed, get out and lock the car again with the key. (Note: on 1996 and later models, you have to turn the key to the lock position four times for this step if the remote handset was not used to lock the vehicle). Then turn the key the required number of times according to the following sequence. (At each step the side lamps warning light on the dash will light to show it has recognized the input).

To enter the first digit, turn the key the required number of times to the unlock position.
To enter the second digit, turn the key the required number of times to the lock position.
To enter the third digit, turn the key the required number of times to the unlock position.
To enter the fourth digit, turn the key the required number of times to the lock position.

Turn the key to the unlock position to unlock the doors. The alarm will now be partially disarmed; if you try to open the hood the alarm will sound. After five incorrect attempts (3 for 1996 and later models) at this procedure, the BeCM goes into a 10 minute lockout mode (30 minutes for 1996 and later models), during which time the message center displays "KEY CODE LOCKOUT" and further attempts at EKA will not work.
The EKA code is supposed to be on your "security card" but I don't have one for my vehicle and Staffan Tjernstrom, who first alerted us to this information, mentions that getting it probably involves knowing your dealer very well, and maybe a few pints of good beer! Alex Rudd informs me that he has used the EKA method to recover from alarm problems, and that in the UK you can present or fax your owner's log book (or email a photo of it) to a Range Rover dealer to prove ownership, and they will give you the code.

Update February 2005: Confusion between LHD and RHD vehicles has been reported regarding this procedure. Alex Rudd from the UK reports "I have seen quite a few versions of using the EKA code on the net, most of which are wrong (I know, I've tried them all, and waited hours during the EKA Key Lockout session!). The correct one to follow is the version from the Range Rover handbook, which starts the key code entry on the clockwise turn - most of the others I have read refer to starting on an anti-clockwise turn, which then doesn't work." I think this contradiction is due to the difference in key lock direction between LHD and RHD vehicles (Alex's is a RHD model). This was confirmed by Ian Gibree who had to use the EKA on his Dutch-plated LHD Range Rover when interference from a cell phone tower stopped his remote from working. He used the procedure in his handbook starting withteh anti-clockwise turn and it worked. Thus it seems that the first turn should always be to the "unlock" position.

Careful if your BeCM has been Replaced: Now that some owners have changed the BeCM in their vehicles, be sure you have the right key code for your vehicle before you try this procedure. Alex Zahariev reports (May 2009) trying it on his 95 model with the correct code for his VIN, but after a few tries he got the "Key Code Lockout" message and the shop had to physically cut the door open. It turned out that his BeCM was a replacement from a later model salvage vehicle and had been changed when his 95 had been flooded.

Generic EKA Procedure on NAS Range Rovers
The EKA feature does not seem to be enabled on US vehicles, or some Australian ones, and is not mentioned in their owners' handbooks (but see "rest of world" section below). However there does seem to be an abbreviated version of the procedure available on NAS models, intended to be known only by Land Rover dealers and using a generic code (1515) for all vehicles. One US owner with a 2000 Range Rover had his vehicle stranded with a dead battery and no remote available, but when jumpering it got the message "Engine Disabled, Press Remote". Since he did not have a remote, he managed to reactivate the vehicle using a variant of the EKA procedure that the dealer confided -- the dealer was fairly sure that almost all NAS P38's have the same EKA code, which is:
Unlock once
lock 5 times,
unlock once,
and then lock 5 times.
Aidan confirms that he found out from Land Rover that the normal EKA is not applicable to US spec P38A Range Rovers, but the generic "null" code (1515) is used. For example, when replacing a BECM it asks for the code and a null # is inputted (1515).

Ignatius Wong wrote in to say the generic 1515 code he got from this page also worked on his 1996 Discovery when it its alarm system froze everything and prevented him from turning over the engine. starting the vehicle.