BBS SPY wrote:

@ VMatas

Then your problem must be with your key or it not properly being learned to your vehicle.

@ djcleckie

If your origional key is later found, you should be able to recover this and use it as well as the new one

StornowayStu wrote:

Sorry for not following up but I'm still putting the pieces of the jigsaw together.

Long story short, I couldn't get the eBay "virgin" remote to work with my LR3/D3. I ended up coughing up $260 to my friendly main dealer who used my VIN to get a remote with key cut based on the pattern at LR HQ. They told me that I would need to get it paired with my vehicle by service at a cost of $120. I took the key and ran. I had been told by some that as it stood it would still start the car but remote functions would not work. Well it didn't start the car and the remote functions didn't work. However using the Mongoose with the JLR SDD software (I did not yet have my Faultmate MSV) worked a treat - ten minutes later I had two keys working. At no point did I need to press any of the remote buttons. I think that is an older procedure that predates the LR3/D3.

Now I like a puzzle from time to time, so although I got a full refund from the eBay guy I still want to know what goes on behind the curtain. My suspicion (and I'm buying an RFID transponder key reader to test it!) is that when the key is ordered from LR, it is cut and the VIN # and or some other identifier is encoded into one of the many memory slots in the transponder tag. I have heard that LR know the first six key "numbers" of every LR based on the VIN # and choose one of those. I have not yet been able to test.

My theory then runs something like this:

1/ New key containing the VIN# is introduced to the LR3/D3 and the car answers with a code which allows the key to trust the car
2/ Part of the pairing then bonds the key by allowing the car to trust the key based on the earlier exchange
3/ All keys present and trusted are activated. Missing keys are marked by the car as inactive.

I have been told that the encoding of the VIN # (and or the trust code) is a one off write - you would need to replace the transponder chip with a new one if you wanted to recycle a preowned key fob. Seems like a bunch of eBay sellers are unaware or don't care.

The other option would seem to be cloning your existing key with some of the transponder tools out there - in this way the LR3/D3 doesn't actually know it's a different key, to all intents and purposes it's an identical twin. Now I don't know if that is actually possible with the LR yet, it is with some vehicle brands.

So I'm waiting on the reader coming in and when it does I'm going to be examining my original key, the key I had supplied by my LR dealer and a couple of other keys I have begged and borrowed to compare against. I'd like to put together the equivalent of Bodsy's Brake Bible for those wanting a cost effective key solution.

I don't need to do it because I now have two working keys, but hey, winter is approaching and it's always nice to have a hobby on those dark winter nights Oh and I'm a little mad too. Go Science!

Current status says you will have to cough up the dosh to your dealer for an official key but you don't need to pay them to pair it if you have a Faultmate or other tool like SDD/IDS.
Other options may emerge soon...