LR2 2009 Model Remote Key intermittent

40

Asked by Daavi Aug 04, 2017 at 02:06 AM about the 2009 Land Rover LR2 HSE

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have an LR2 (Freelander) 2009 Model. I had a flat battery, the 3rd in 4 years,
jumpered the battery to start it, then and bought a 3rd party sealed battery -
ridiculously expensive Land Rover battery.

However, now that the car is running OK, I am having difficulty opening the
doors with the remote. This happened occasionally before the battery
problem. Sometimes all the car windows open with the driver door opening.

Yesterday I tried to open for 10 minutes without any luck, eventually used the
manual key, and the alarm sounded. Started the car no problem. At the end of
the journey, locked the car without a problem.

I have checked and there appears to be no battery in the remote, but the
symptoms appear to be battery related.  Any ideas, especially with all
windows opening at the same time. Is there a big "reset" one can do after a
main battery change?

1 Answer

40

Hello Everyone, With no answers forthcoming, I though to check out YouTube to see if the LR2 remote control can be repaired. My confusion was that both of my remote controls "died" at the same time. I came across several videos showing how to change the battery. WHY: why change the battery? Well if you can afford the GBP250 charge by Land Rover for a new remote control, then don't bother with the battery. The battery was not designed to be changed by customers, only by technical people! Not knowing whether this would solve my problem, I followed one of the videos and "cracked" open the remote control housing. You will need to do this gently, as you may well damage the plastic housing and the components inside. The remote control unit consists of two plastic shells that have been glued together - mine were particularly tightly glued, so again, be careful....watch the videos! If you are adept at using a soldering iron on circuit boards, go ahead. Otherwise find a mate who does. The rechargeable Lithium battery is held inside a plastic holder. There is a tricky manouvre in getting the plastic holder released while desoldering the battery. Best option is to use solder wick or a solder sucker, otherwise you may loose the circuit board track (as I did!). The battery is a Panasonic VL2330 3V type with pins attached. I was not able to find such a battery in Saudi Arabia, so I did the next best thing and jigged a 2032 3V to do the same thing....well almost. WARNING: do not, I repeat, DO NOT try and solder onto the 2032 battery directly - this is very dangerous, as I stupidly discovered. Lithium batteries should never be heated above 200C - because the battery contacts act like a heat sink, the battery rapidly transitions into smoking mess when a soldering iron is touching it. Be warned! Given that I discovered soldering 101 the hard way, I eventually managed to get the 2032 in place with some jiggery pokery - the 2032 is physically smaller than the VL2330. I had to find a way of keeping the battery in place so that I could reinsert the circuit board in the plastic housing that you will need to glue back together with super glue. WARNING: Be careful not to get any glue on your fingers, as you may then end up carrying the remote control around with you wherever you go! Good news is that the battery change resolved my problem - and so it should, considering that my car is a 2009 model and rechargeable batteries will eventually die. RECOMMENDATION: use a Panasonic VL2330 with pins. It will be a bit more expensive that the run of the mill Lithium batteries, but it fits the job required in the older LR2/Freelander remote controls. Have fun.....

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