[Raymond Ruse]

Had to remove and charge battery on 2010 TF. Both fobs working fine before recharge. Now one fob works and one doesn't. On close inspection, the one that works is the same as the one in the handbook (inside and out). The one that has stopped working is different (same outside, different inside). Does anyone know how I can reset the second fob to make it work again?

 

[98luke]

Not sure why they differ. Can you show some photos of the fobs?

 

[Raymond Ruse]

Three pictures attached below. On the right - the worn alarm fob that I have used since I bought the car. This is the one that stopped working after I charged the car battery. The inside looks nothing like the picture in the MG service book. On the left, the clean one that has always been a spare - this looks just like the one in the MG service book and still works after charging the car battery. I have changed the battery in the first fob but no luck, I've looked at several suggestions on discussion threads that tell me to press buttons a number of times to reset etc.etc. but nothing seems to work so far. I just can't understand why it would suddenly stop working. Any suggestions would be very welcome.

 

[Man in the Car]

The one one the left appears to be an original Pektron/MG Rover or SAIC/MG Motor remote fob, and probably came with the car originally. The one on the right is a more recent XPart/Genuine MG Rover Pektron replacement (possibly the original was lost or damaged and needed to be replaced).

Whilst the internal layout of each is different, they should operate the same (and indeed it appears to have been doing so until now).

Have you tried swapping the battery from the working fob to the non-working one to verify that it is not simply that the battery has expired?

If it still does not work with a known good battery, it is probable that the SCU has 'forgotten' the last code for that fob. It is a known issue that the SCU sometimes 'forgets' some or all of its settings (including the fob rolling code) if it has been subjected to a reasonably long period of low power from a failing/discharging car battery. As you mentioned removing the battery to charge it up, I suspect that may be what has happened here?

There is no re-sync procedure for the Pektron type fobs; they should just work if the SCU has the correct code. Neither is it possible to read or retrieve the code from the fob to reprogramme the SCU to recognise it. If the code in either the fob or the SCU has become corrupted, the only solution is to get a brand new fob (complete with its initial barcode).

I am not sure who manufactures the current XPart supplied fobs, but it is clearly a different company from the one that manufactured the originals - and as they are also priced significantly lower than the original factory fit ones used to be, I wonder if they might be less robust, so it could be that the fob itself has failed (although it would be a bit of a strange coincidence for that to happen at the same time that the car battery was disconnected). ( I also note that the newer XPart fob uses a different sized battery cell, which will no doubt cause people some confusion in the future!)

Sometimes when the SCU doesn't re-initialise correctly after having the car battery disconnected, it can be worth trying to force it to reboot again by disconnecting the car battery again for several minutes and then reconnect. Others have found that this does sometimes rectify the issue (but it has been known to take quite a number of times repeating the procedure before it has the desired result.

 

[Raymond Ruse]

Thank you for your comments, very helpful. The batteries in each fob are different (CR2032 vs CR1220) but I have changed the battery in the fob that isn't working. Tried disconnecting and reconnecting car battery several times but no joy unfortunately.

I sent an email to Rimmer Bros. who replied:

"The way in which these keys are to be programmed is using specialist programming equipment, it cannot be done at home. The equipment would be a T54 testbook machine, I would recommend a local dealer or similar."

So next step is to try and find a friendly dealer who has a T54 machine.

 

[ArntyR]

I haven't needed to do it personally but I understand that a PScan can use the initial barcode to program a brand new remote/fob to your car's scu. There might be a 'forum-er' in your area with PScan diagnostics, or a T4 dealer if you need to go down the new fob route.

Like Man in the Car I've heard that any previously used Pektron fob can't be made to sync to a different Pektron scu. I'd suspect that if yours has forgotten its code, somehow, then it can't be overwritten or retrieved either.

'Technozen' might be your friend here and I'd recommend at least a visit to his website. You might even see the need to send your scu + fobs for his attention. If you're a new TF135 (Pektron scu) owner you might not know about the relative frailty of the original relays in these scu units. I have a '10 TF, too, and I'm not convinced that the 'SAIC' units were made to be any less frail than the 'MGRover' version. Technozen's replaced all 5 of mine with much more reliable parts. One of these relays controls the security double locking process - and you could find yourself having to break stuff to get back into your car if it fails. (Sorry to be a purveyor of doom. but it's not a pleasant experience!)

Personally I'd feel a bit uncomfortable with only one fob and a Pektron scu. Do you know your EKA code 'just in case' something goes wrong with the singleton? And have you made sure it works? nag...nag...

I know that my PScan can identify (and personalise) the EKA code from a working remote/scu combination - and I know Technozen can retrieve it with his kit as well.

Hope this helps.

 

[Man in the Car]

I sent an email to Rimmer Bros. who replied:

"The way in which these keys are to be programmed is using specialist programming equipment, it cannot be done at home. The equipment would be a T54 testbook machine, I would recommend a local dealer or similar."

So next step is to try and find a friendly dealer who has a T54 machine.

They will only be able to programme a brand new fob complete with the barcode that tells the Pektron unit to recognise the original code for the fob. These are quite expensive, and a T4 session to match it to the SCU will normally cost half an hours labour charge.

The best thing to do is as ArntyR has suggested and contact Paul/technozen either via his website (technozen-electronics) or his eBay account (technozen_electronics on ebay) for further advice - he can supply and programme new fobs a lot cheaper than going to a an XPart service centre is likely to be - the only drawback being that you would need to remove the SCU and post it to him (normally takes 4 to 5 days for it to come back to you). Where the Pektron fobs have lost sync with the SCU however, he can sometimes manage to recover the fob operation without the need for programming a new fob, so certainly well worth making contact with him.