Hello all,
When I bought my 2010 XKR, it only came with one key fob. I found a local locksmith to program another smart key. It worked great until about a month ago, and car would not recognize it while I was traveling. The key fob would not dock, wouldn't fit in the slot. Long story short......the locksmith made me another one and it works, but it doesn't dock either. Now the original key won't dock. Both are working "wirelessly", but will NOT fit in the dock. Any ideas on what I should do? I've lost confidence in the "new" key since the last one stopped working while I was out of town.

 

The fobs won’t fit in the dock? They’re too fat?
Have fob shells been changed? Bloated battery? Crap fallen into the dock, blocking the fob?

 

I can force them in and it finally grabs, but doesn't seat the fob because I can just pull it out. When it does finally seat, the car doesn't even try to start. It's dead. The original key fob has fit before, doesn't now. I can take the fob out of the dock and it starts. Weird.

 

Do you leave anything plugged in when you leave the car, such as phone, iPod, OBDII code reader, etc., or leave the Smartkey fob in the car? Do you use a battery maintainer regularly?

I suspect a weak battery may be the cause of your problem. How old is your battery? Is your XKR your daily driver and, if so, how many miles do you drive it? You may want to have a local auto parts store load test your battery; most do it for free.

 

Programming key to work remotely and programming a key to work with a dock are two different procedures, as far as i remember. And it is actually not that easy to add a new key not affecting the old one (to work with a dock).

I believe that it was not properly programmed.

Ps. It does not fit well the dock because it is not an original key but a AliExpress clone. They are slightly different (looks the same, beside lack of Jaguar engraving on the back, but they have a slightly different size and it does not fit dock well).

 

How do you know it's a clone?

Graham

 

Had one and know what it means
Original moves smoothly in a dock (might be refused when not programmed). Clone needs a little push to get it in.

But you can buy a used original and replace electronics inside. That helps with size "resistance", but still requires coding to work in a dock.

 

Also the OEM fob pieces are very inexpensive from the main dealer, just a few dollars if they need replacing.

 

One thing about Jaguar keys...
In order to get ONE NEW one programmed, the existing one has to be removed First, and then BOTH must be newly programmed together.

 

A problematic part is a black plastic which holds electronics inside. That is not a usual part of a "refurbishment" set.

 

Doesn't that have to be done in the presence of the car in order to sync the keys to the module in the car?

 

It has to.

 

I would get a locksmith who specialises in key fobs to re-programme your keys. I lost one, and rebuilt the spare using an aftermarket body from ebay, RAC (breakdown cover in the UK) gave me free key fob insurance because they had overcharged me previously on something, so I took out a new one on them. This guy came out, asked for the spare, did stuff with his equipment and then I had 2 working keys - all my previous issues vanished

 

The first programmed key did not have the Jag logo on it because the locksmith said it would save a little money, but this second key does have the logo. I’ll let him know and ask if the fob has to be programmed differently to use the dock. Btw, he showed me where he orders keys and his cost was over $200.

 

Notwithstanding his screen name, UKWyldcat is in the USA (Tennessee), where most locksmiths don't have the proprietary Jaguar SDD software or experience to properly reprogram our Smartkeys. There's simply not enough demand here to justify that cost. It's a lot different here than in the UK, where Jaguars are far more plentiful and most locksmiths have the necessary equipment and software to do the reprogramming.

I recommend taking the car and both keys to your local Jaguar dealer and have it done right by an experienced technician in 1 hour or less.

Time is money. How much time has already been wasted by that local locksmith who didn't do it right the first time? I understand the desire to save money, but reprogramming a Jaguar Smartkey is a highly specialized procedure and using a locksmith is a good example of being "penny wise and pound foolish."

 

This Forum has a wealth of information, so before you start to do anything it always makes good sense to search the Forum for helpful advice.

Read this entire 2016 thread about Smartkeys:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ion%85-171095/
in particular, my Post #31, in which I explained that I bought a used OEM Jaguar Smartkey on Ebay and had it reprogrammed by my dealer. Just make sure that you get a written guarantee from the seller that the used Smartkey has been cleared and can be reprogrammed. I saved hundreds of dollars over the cost of a brand new OEM Jaguar Smartkey.

P.S. Here's one for $94.99 delivered:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/JAGUAR-SMAR....m46890.l49292

 

Agreed with this!!!
When I needed a new key I searched every business with "Lock" or "key" or "smith" in their name. I went to or called probably thirty different places, and they all said "Sure, I can do anything", and it turned out "They couldn't do anything".
I went to the dealer and sucked up the cost.

 

A related comment. My smart key recently started to give me intermittent issues. So I replaced the battery in the smart key (CR2032) and all is now fine. Checking the removed CR2032 battery, the voltage had dropped to 2.9V which was enough to cause issues.

 

A few other tips I've posted previously:
1. Don't buy cheap batteries on Amazon, Ebay, etc. as you don't know how old they are or if they're genuine. Buy them locally from your big box home improvement store or chain pharmacy, where you can check the expiration date and be sure they're not knock-offs.
2. Keep a spare fob battery in your glove box so you can replace it as soon as it dies.
3. The prongs that secure the battery inside the fob often stretch with age and repeated battery replacement. If that happens to your fob, don't try bending the prongs because if they snap off your fob is toast and you'll have to replace it. To maintain a good connection, switch from a CR2032 to a CR2035, which is a wee bit thicker and will fit snugly under the stretched prongs.

 

+1 on using the dealer to program your fobs. I paid the dealer premium to get genuine Jaguar fobs, and once the dust settled, I knew I had done the right thing. Also, if you have an early build '07, your fob is a single channel unit and not a multi-channel. I don't remember off the top of my head the VIN of that change, but mine falls into the single channel category. OP will not have that problem, but others may.