Key Fob Doesn't Work All Of A Sudden

[Reebs]

Today, completely out of the blue I went to central lock the car using my key fob, and......no response.


O.K, I thought, must be a low battery in the key fob, so got out my very occasionally used spare key fob, and that had non response on the car either.

Both key fobs lit up red as they should when pressed, but would not lock or unlock the car.

So I did a search on here (easier said than done), and found the old Re-Sync the key fob ploy (ie) press the paddlock button 4 times to re-sync it to the car......still nothing.

I found a post where a member had a similar problem and said they managed to partially re-activate the key by having it in the ignition with the engine running, and pressing the unlock button, this unlocked the doors for him, so I tried this, and it did indeed unlock the drivers door only, but sadly, when taken out and used to lock the car in the normal way, it still doesn't do it :shrug:

What if anything can I try next? It seems odd that the car and fob were working perfectly earlier in the day, yet all of a sudden after a short drive, the car is no longer responding to either key fob.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

P.S, the key will start the engine without trouble (so not an imobiliser fault), and I can use the key in the door to lazy lock, and centrally lock & unlock the car as normal.

[JohnDotCom]

Might sound silly, but have you actually changed the battery?
I had that once without the warning on dash and red light still came on.
Hopefully same for you. :)

[tone]

I had exactly the same problem last week.

Took it back to garage as its still under warranty and they had to take it to nearby ex Rover dealer to have the keys re-coded although they haven't said WHY it happened in the first place which would be helpful.

I'll be speaking to them tomorrow so I'll try and find out what happened.

Tone

[Reebs]

I had exactly the same problem last week.

Took it back to garage as its still under warranty and they had to take it to nearby ex Rover dealer to have the keys re-coded although they haven't said WHY it happened in the first place which would be helpful.

I'll be speaking to them tomorrow so I'll try and find out what happened.

Tone

Gosh, that sounds expensive (car not under warranty now :p:), I've never heard of this happening before myself, but maybe it is a recognised fault albeit rare.

Any extra info you can get Tone would be helpful ;)

JDC, the key fob battery was replaced at it's last main service only three months ago, and the one in the spare was replaced at the service before that (but has had no useage since), so I don't think it could be that, also, if the battery in both were flat, It wouldn't have unlocked the drivers door when I had the key in the ignition :shrug:

[JohnDotCom]

If you still have the Bar Code slip for keys it shouldn't be a problem to recode I believe on T4.
Give Lates a PM for advice on this (or phone his mobile).

[Reebs]

If you still have the Bar Code slip for keys it shouldn't be a problem to recode I believe on T4.
Give Lates a PM for advice on this (or phone his mobile).

Good call, I do have the barcode, so maybe it won't be too expensive, if it comes to that.

[patrolman pete]

This happened to me last year. The remote keys wouldn't open the car outside the house but away from the house they were okay! This went on for about a week then it was fine and has been perfect ever since. It was suggested that there could have been a lot of radio waves or signal interferance in the area that may have caused this.

Just a thought! :shrug:

[Greeners]

have a read of this... (http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=31178&highlight=police)

[Reebs]

Well, I left the car locked (using the key in the door), and came in to put up the original post, then gave our toddler a bath and have now just gone outside to try again, and in that short space of time, it now works perfectly again :shrug: :shrug:

I've even just taken the car round the block and locked it without any problems via the fob, so the problem has cleared itself.

I read your thread Greeners, and if it is extraneous RF interference, I wonder what the source could have been in my case?

Would the proximity of say a laptop cause these issues I wonder, perhaps a neighbour may have had one in a new spot :shrug:

But I will monitor this closely to see when and if it happens again, and under what circumstances.

BTW, it is quite mild outside, so not temperature related.

Thanks all for the speedy replies. :)

[tone]

Glad to hear its working again but if I were you I would want to have a definative answer as to why it happens when it does.
I would be very surprised if a laptop caused it they work on different frequencies and radio signals.
Mine was parked in exactly the same place every day where I had parked my previous car. Both had worked fine, there had been no additional equipment placed nearby then suddenly it doesn't work.
The courtesy car I've got is parked in exactly the same place and its key fob lock/unlock works perfectly everytime.

I think it is more to do with the strength of the signal being received by the receiver in the car and how it is powered rather than any possible outside influences, but as said in earlier post I'll try and get the answer next week.

[baxlin]

Reebs, I've had something like this on two occasions. In fact there are threads about it on here.

Fortunately for my sanity, the car parked adjacent to mine also refused to react to the remote. A BMW 3-series on one occasion, a people carrier of some sort - they all look the same - on the other.

Next time of trying, no problem. Cause? atmospherics, I suppose, no idea, really!

But if it happens again, use the key, move the car, and try again, before spending money & time on the problem.

HTH

malcolm

[Chris K]

For what it's worth

On the hottest day this year - remote on my keys (neither) would unlock/lock the car

= I figured it cant be anything to do with the keys

Next day it started working fine again

= must been very, very high temperature in the car/on the sensor

Assume you tried holding remote to your head? - for some unknown reasons seems to amplify the signal a staggering 4-5 fold

[EnEnGee]

Weird. I also had a strange locking phenomena with our CDT tourer coming down the M6 the year before last. We stopped at Corley services for a cuppa and the fob would not lock the doors when we got out.

My wife got her key out and tried hers and also no joy. We ended up locking the car the old fashioned way using the drivers door lock so we could go into the service building. When we returned to the car around 20 minutes later, it unlocked as normal. We had had no problems with the locking system before, and it hasn't recurred. I couldn't fathom why this happened at the time and still can't.

Perhaps, as said above, there was some degree of RF interference in the area.
:shrug:

Regards