Thanks for your reply asimplelife.
I ran a scan on it the other day, but i was short on time. It sent back 3 codes. One was faulty coolant temp signal to the IC, one was
PCM Communication fault (might be the clue)... and one was something else.
I listed them in the FORScan forum with more detail.
One cleared & didn't return, but the coolant &
PCM dtc's persisted & smartshield did not surrender.
Anyway, I won't be back home 'till next month so it's on hold for now....
And I have both the original keys with transponders too.
Was hoping Mr Furious found the issue... very similar to my problem methinks. Maybe i can round out the thread next month.