How a car can exist on this earth and not be able to be started is absolutely insane.

I bought a very nice 08 LR3 in Sept. Buckingham Blue over tan HSE. 102k miles. Overall superior condition. Upon arrival I noted it had 4 “generic” keys. Strange but ok. Only 1 key would operate the unlock/lock so I figured batteries were dead. This should’ve been my first red flag that the prior owner obviously was having some issues, but I didn’t put it together.

Runs amazingly, no issues no lights all is well.

Well fast fwd a few weeks and I go to drive one afternoon and the 1 key won’t unlock it via remote. I use actual key to open the door and of course alarm goes off and it won’t start. Try all 3 other keys, no start. Pull battery cables. Let sit overnight, install cables alarm again, no start.

Tow it to local euro shop. They hook up opus (auto logic) and try and reprogram keys. Communications with the ECU are flaky and times out/wont respond. Also tried the gap tool and during the process of programming a key. It also froze up. This should’ve been my first red flag that there was an ECU problem.

Miraculously, I don’t know how we did it, but one key decided to program and started working out of the blue and I thought all is well.

Took the truck out of town to our mountain cabin and was in and out of it at least 10 times throughout the day no issues at all. Drove home that night parked it and actually did not even lock it went inside. Went to bed. Woke up the next morning. It was 20°. I go out and the key will not start the vehicle. Tried the second key it would not start the vehicle. I could hear the relay clicking, but the red light on the dash continued to blink every two seconds meaning the immobilizer was active. In addition, the remotes would not send a signal whatsoever to the car to unlock or lock. To rule out a dead battery, I had a shop come out and replace my interstate battery with a new one, but same results.

It is absolutely amazing to me that a car cannot be started in this day and age. I am 150 miles away from another shop that apparently has the Land Rover software and will try and diagnose it, the Dealer flat out told me do not bring it to them as they do not work on these anymore.

So my logic says that the BCM is fried or toast and it’s not truly a key issue. I checked the area of the BCM and there’s no water ingress that I can tell.

Before this all functions worked correctly with all electrical, I’ve not had any hiccups anything whatsoever. Now I will try to tow it out of a mountain driveway that is narrow to get it to a shop. I’ve owned two other LR3’s and an LR4 plus an 08 full size Range Rover and I’ve never heard of this issue and can hardly find anything on the Internet.

Needless to say, my faith in this platform has been tainted after all I’ve ever heard is this is the most reliable Land Rover ever produced. Give me a Range rover classic or discovery 1 any day.

 

Well its old and it helps to properly maintain them. Obviously this one has not been by the previous owner. You are blaming the truck for being neglected. I would just sell it since you obviously are not interested in fixing it, just complaining.

 

these aftermarket keys/fob? it worked from sept to a few weeks ago. thats a lot of starting just fine. do imobilizers on these just take a dump for no reason? when the shop got one key to re program they stopped there? meaning only one key got re programmed i wonder if they "erased " all the other known keys for the vehicle in process. meaning all your other keys would also need to be re programmed to the car?

 

I bought some aftermarket keys for my LR3 as I had one key and the buttons were destroyed, kinda gives a person the queasies only having one key. I used my existing key to start the process, programmed my 2 new ones, and found that in the process I had deprogrammed my existing key. My thinking is that the GAp only lets you program 2 keys? Both new ones work so that's fine. the old one was in really rough shape anyways.
I also recall that you had to have all the keys you wanted to program ready and waiting when you started the process. If you program a new set the old ones won't work until you program them again.
I also question if you have to be within internet connectivity to program the keys? That could be problematic at a remote location.

 

Sounds like you know it all. You clearly have zero idea about this vehicle and offer no ideas or solutions other than complaining about my complaining. I’ll keep you abreast.

 

He DOES! (know it all)

 

And he's right about this one.

 

Of course he is...I was being serious above; Dakota knows just about everything there is to know about the LR3.

...and @WeBeCinya your post is riddled with hyperbole and inflammatory comments about a vehicle you bought with 108,000 miles on the ODO, and said message is posted on an LR3 enthusiast message board. What sort of response were you expecting after insulting all of our vehicles?

idk if you should sell it or not, but if you are going to keep it, you're going to have to adapt a more patient and methodical approach to sorting out the issues. In my opinion it's worth it in the end.

 

Look, he may know everything about an LR3 and I’m just out of my element. Definitely some frustration in my first post, which should be understood. I’ve owned over 40 Land Rovers and currently have 9 with this being the only one that’s not running, so I’m pretty familiar in the 20 years of ownership in the patience category.

Once all the snow melts and I can get up there and tow it back home I’m going to get it to a local specialist that can definitely sort it. I just find it very ironic that I can drive any of my other vehicles and always find a way to get them started and on the road, but not this one.

I probably should stay in my lane with what I’m familiar with and enjoy the vehicles that don’t have all these complexities.

I’ll be sure to let you guys know what the deal is when I know

 

Nice recovery. Super helpful people here but I think you came off a bit entitled. Positive attitude goes a long way. Onwards.

Based on your posts, it sounds like you're thinking BCM. Why? I'd be looking for a poor connection somewhere as the key shouldn't just stop working like that. The central junction box is behind the glove compartment in a spot where common leaks can penetrate and cause issues. Looks like this is where the BCM is as well, so maybe you've been through that. But I'd give the CJB a good once over. ECU in the engine compartment behind the battery as well. Inspect and go through a can of electronics cleaner. The same right-side A-pillar leak causes flooding in the wiring at the passenger's feet and wreaks havoc there, certainly a known issue for remote key fob symptoms. I'd pull up the kick panel beneath the glove box, remove the sill plate and spend some time going through that wire trough.

Might be nothing and I am known to have my head up my exhaust, but it's a good place to start and get you some momentum here again. GL.

edit: or the cluster? Not sure if this is one of the behaviors of a flaky cluster but there are a bunch and it's another pretty common root cause. Symptom list: https://clusterfix.net/store/product...luster-repair/