Remote door unlock becomes unresponsive in cold weather

Yousuf Khan

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Jan 28, 2014, 10:05:20 AM1/28/14

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Whenever I leave my Tribeca outside when it's below 0C (32F), the range
of the remote door unlocker goes down tremendously. I've found that it
doesn't respond at all unless I take my key out to the front-right
corner of the car, right near the headlight, where I presume the radio
receiver is located. Is this an issue that I'm just gonna have to live
with, or is this fixable?

Yousuf Khan

John McGaw

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Jan 28, 2014, 8:04:17 PM1/28/14

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Are you sure that the battery inside the key fob is good? Having the remote
put out a weak signal with an old battery in the cold is to be expected.
Besides, it is the work of a few minutes and small change to replace the
battery while troubleshooting the rest of the system will be time consuming
and possibly expensive. I always try the cheap easy things first.

Yousuf Khan

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Jan 29, 2014, 12:14:57 AM1/29/14

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The car battery was changed last year, it's brand new. I've used two
separate fobs, the primary and spare keys, and they both have the exact
same issue.

Yousuf Khan

abj...@sbcglobal.net

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Jan 29, 2014, 6:35:20 AM1/29/14

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On Tuesday, January 28, 2014 9:14:57 PM UTC-8, Yousuf Khan wrote:

> The car battery was changed last year, it's brand new. I've used two
> separate fobs, the primary and spare keys, and they both have the exact
> same issue.

There is a chance both key batteries have lost charge.

Find the receiver box, and wipe it clean, maybe some junk,
leaves got in the way.

Basia

abj...@sbcglobal.net

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Jan 29, 2014, 6:38:57 AM1/29/14

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Leafs. Thick ones, like Toronto maple leafs.

:))
Basia

Yousuf Khan

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Jan 29, 2014, 8:53:35 AM1/29/14

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On 29/01/2014 6:35 AM, ba...@sbcglobal.net wrote:
> On Tuesday, January 28, 2014 9:14:57 PM UTC-8, Yousuf Khan wrote:
>
>> The car battery was changed last year, it's brand new. I've used two
>> separate fobs, the primary and spare keys, and they both have the exact
>> same issue.
>
>
> There is a chance both key batteries have lost charge.

The problem only occurs at certain temperature levels. Above a certain
temperature, both keys work from several yards/metres away. Below that
temperature, you have to be almost on top of the car.

> Find the receiver box, and wipe it clean, maybe some junk,
> leaves got in the way.

Well, the engine is basically one of those sealed units, big piece of
plastic on top of it, so that you can't even see much of the engine.
Only have access to the battery, and fluid filler caps, and that's it.
Don't know where the receiver box is, as I can't see it.

Also again, the problem is temperature related. If it was leaves and
stuff, the problem would be apparent at all times, but it's not. Below 0
degrees C, the distance is reduced. I can tell this because when I have
left the car inside a semi-heated garage, where the temperature goes up
over 0C, and the range is good again. Take the same car just outside the
garage, where it's below freezing, and the range is awful.

Yousuf Khan

gregz

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Jan 30, 2014, 1:48:27 AM1/30/14

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I might assume the receiver is acting up when cold. Almost not tuned to
right frequency, drift. Sounds rf related.

Greg

John Varela

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Jan 30, 2014, 1:09:04 PM1/30/14

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A weak battery could cause that symptom. I vote with John McGaw that
the first thing you should try is a fresh battery in the fob.

--
John Varela

Yousuf Khan

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Feb 3, 2014, 11:35:51 PM2/3/14

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On 30/01/2014 1:09 PM, John Varela wrote:
> A weak battery could cause that symptom. I vote with John McGaw that
> the first thing you should try is a fresh battery in the fob.

Today, I started to test to see if I held the button down longer, if
this would work. So far, it looks like it might be working. I'll keep
conducting the test. Typically in the summer-time, I'd just give it a
brief press (tenth of a second or so) and it would open up, but maybe in
the winter, I'll have to adjust my timing?

Yousuf Khan

Yousuf Khan

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Feb 7, 2014, 10:13:02 PM2/7/14

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On 30/01/2014 1:09 PM, John Varela wrote:

> A weak battery could cause that symptom. I vote with John McGaw that
> the first thing you should try is a fresh battery in the fob.

Okay, so it turned out that the batteries in both key fobs had batteries
that went down at the same time.

Yousuf Khan

John Varela

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Feb 9, 2014, 7:33:35 PM2/9/14

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Glad that your problem was so easily solved.

--
John Varela

Yousuf Khan

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Feb 10, 2014, 7:44:30 PM2/10/14

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Yeah, the coincidence of the twin failures fooled me into believing that
there was something more complex going on here.

Yousuf Khan

John Varela

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Feb 11, 2014, 1:35:41 PM2/11/14

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On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 00:44:30 UTC, Yousuf Khan

<bbb...@spammenot.yahoo.com> wrote:

> On 09/02/2014 7:33 PM, John Varela wrote:
> > On Sat, 8 Feb 2014 03:13:02 UTC, Yousuf Khan
> > <bbb...@spammenot.yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >> On 30/01/2014 1:09 PM, John Varela wrote:
> >>> A weak battery could cause that symptom. I vote with John McGaw that
> >>> the first thing you should try is a fresh battery in the fob.
> >>
> >> Okay, so it turned out that the batteries in both key fobs had batteries
> >> that went down at the same time.
> >
> > Glad that your problem was so easily solved.
>
> Yeah, the coincidence of the twin failures fooled me into believing that
> there was something more complex going on here.

I had a similar experience some years ago. My headlights went out so
I was sure the problem was a switch or the relay but in fact both
bulbs had burned out at the same time.

--
John Varela

slos...@gmail.com

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Feb 7, 2018, 11:54:00 AM2/7/18

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My remotes do it too when it gets to about 4* above freezing. New batteries have not improved it. I now have to keep my remotes covered and at a decent temperature so they keep working.