Keys and Fobs
 

New 99 D2 owner here, please school me on keys and fobs. I have 1 key/fob with a new battery but remote lock/unlock doesn’t work. The LED on the fob illuminates when a button is pressed. The previous owner recently had a new battery and alternator put in, so I don’t know if a disconnected/reconnected battery in the truck might be part of the problem. Ultimately here are my questions:

1) Is it possible or easy to “synch” the fob with the vehicle so the remote locking works?

2) Does the fob have anything to do with engine immobilization? I would like to have a backup key made but don’t want to pay a fortune for it at a LR dealer if I can just have a metal one cut at the hardware store.

Thanks for any info you can provide me with.

Wow what timing!!! I was literally about to make a very similar post. Reading this morning I understand our 99-04's need to be programmed, via a landrover authorized shop or dealer or via a tuning device such as hawkeye/nanocom etc.

Still I'm confused on the question about if a key has already been sync'd if it needs to be programmed again, I would think not but I see mixed info on this. On the Disco 1 this is a very simple matter but of course they ****ed us to make money on the Disco 2 and the dealer must be used for most key issues. I hope someone can clear it up with solid info.

HOWEVER, a second simple key with no fob, can be made and will work fine to unlock and start the vehicle. I know since I have no fob at all. These keys do not have a chip.

In my case, I bought mine with nothing but brass keys and no fobs..... so I'm looking to buy a fob for $199 and have it programmed, if I'm lucky maybe someone in the Seattle area has a hawkeye or nanocom etc and would program a key for me but that'd just be good luck which I rarely get. lol

-Greg

Of the two options I would much rather be able to make another key than have remote lock/unlock. The Disco isn’t my daily driver so I can live without that.

If I already have the fob which (I assume) is a factory original do I really have to pay $200 to have it remote lock enabled? I almost (almost) can’t belive that that would be the case every time the battery is disconnected...

If you want a extra key just go to Home Depot and have a key made. Done. :)

I'm wondering the same thing on your second question and feel the same way about the situation. lol

Shouldn’t need reprogramming, unless something very strange happened.
Most shops can’t reprogram, but I did find one random local garage years ago that could.

Went into the LR stealership near me - they wanted $260 to program an existing fob.
I declined.
😳

Do NOT do this. The Valeo keys that a Discovery 2 use are notoriously finicky, and it's highly unlikely that some minimum wager at HD will be able to make a key that will work reliably. Spend the extra $7 and have a locksmith make one.

Yeah, $7. There's not actually any transponder for these, so any key will do. My locksmith uses Ilco RV-4 X239 key blanks.

Thanks Jason, that’s good to know, I’ve heard a few things about “store duplicated” keys being troublesome. I’ve got a few locksmith options locally I’ll check in to. Thanks for the key blank recommendation as well.

I bought a new blank key empty fob because my buttons were mashed out. I moved the guts over and had the key cut at Home Depot and its working great. I kept the old one in case I got locked out.

My question just for clarification, if I wanted to use a smaller key could I just use a simple key to get rid of the fob as long as I'm ok without the remote lock/unlock?

yes. the mechanical key works fine and enables/disables the alarm just like the remote does. my parts truck came with nothing but a single fob-less key and i used it that way for a year.
one caution is that the lock pin between the keyhole and the internal mechanism is known to sometimes fail, and since that's the only mechanical lock on the vehicle it's possible to be completely unable to open any door unless you can reach all the way to the unlock button on the dashboard. abran/carrs4x4 sells a replacement lock pin which is a substantial improvement over the original part.

Yes. As noted above the ILCO RV4 fits the DII. It's a simple metal key. Any place that cuts keys can cut it for you. If you'd like it to have a plastic head get the ILCO RV4-P.