MIKES-C7

I understand that this top has been discussed a number of times however I will describe my issue below to see if anyone else has had this problem. Before I take it into the dealership I thought I would reach out this forum to see if anyone has had a similar problem with some function ability of the remote as described below. Thanks again for you assistance.


A. Car front a passenger drivers doors will not open with the electronic exterior touch pads
B. Car passenger and drivers doors will also not open electronically from the inside.
C. Car will not start from with the inside start button and NO REMOTE KEY FOB DETECTED comes up in dash.

Now let explain what functions the remotes are allowing be to do.

A. I can lock and unlock the doors with the remotes
B. I can open the truck with the Key Fobs remote function.
C. I can open the truck with the push button on the car.
D. I can start the car with the Remote Start function on the Fobs.
E. I DO NOT need to access the truck with the manual key function.
F. I can start with the Fob in the Column however the doors will still not open electrically.

So since I can do these functions the Key Fob is transmitting / communicating with the car I would assume.

Lastly

I already change the batteries in the remotes and batteries tested at 3.25V on fresh batteries. I did this twice just in case.
Car Battery Voltage is 12.75V and starts just fine. I also let it sit on the Battery Tender for 24 hours.

owc6

The two most likely things are bad fob battery and bad car battery.


How old is your car battery? (my real guess).

Zymurgy

Fob batteries. These are classical signs of weak fob batteries. I know you replaced them with batteries that tested at 3.25v. That's probably with no load. Did the battery package have a "good till" date on it? Fresh batteries will have a date that is years in the future (typically 5-7 years). Very common to get bad "new" batteries because they have been in inventory somewhere for years.

NSC5

Does this problem only occur when the car is parked at one location or have you tried it at other locations? It is possible that there is another device in the area that is interfering with the vehicle transponder making it difficult for it to link up with the fobs. There are a huge array of devices operating in the same frequency range as the fob and if you or a neighbor installed a new gadget then it could be interfering.

But it is most likely the fob batteries and new coin cell lithiums will typically test at 3.35-3.4 volts open circuit however open circuit doesn't tell much about battery function and many DMMs provide very poor accuracy when you are trying to measure in the tenths of a volt.

If you have been buying the batteries online, try picking one up from Walmart or similar because a lot of the online batteries are counterfeit and of extremely poor quality.

MIKES-C7

Car Battery is original and starts up without any problem on remote or if fob is installed in column. I have not taken in to load test however still odd that other parts of the key fob are functioning.

MIKES-C7

Fob Batteries are dated 2028 and fresh. Again why would other parts of fob be working such as remote start, truck open access as well as lock and unlock. It would seem this if the fob was having a battery issue that these other function would be having issues as well. Thanks again for the reply.

owc6

Well, in my experience, just because either the fob or car battery tests as fine, doesn't mean it really is. First off, your car battery is pushing it for a normal car, and for a Vette, it's really pushing it.

New fob batteries may not be fresh. The last multi-pack of 2032s I bought was 80% sub-par and wouldn't work passively on the Vettes.

Fob batteries may work well enough to actively unlock or start or pop the trunk (pushing a button on the fob), but may not be strong enough to be used passively (when the car queries the fob). As it was said upthread, buying fob batteries from a place that cycles them everyday (such as Walmart) is a good starting point.

MIKES-C7

The problem just started this weekend and I have not moved the car other that from the garage to the driveway. I just did not want to get stranded somewhere. So as I noted earlier if the new replacement batteries were an issue why would all the other functions in the remote be working such as the remote start, trunk access/open and door lock and unlock.... Seems off that all these other functions would not be working given how they are all tied together in some way.

Batteries are also dated 2028... I sell Watches all over the world and always have a few hundred various batteries in stock that I purchase from suppliers as well as battery testing devices. Most test 3.24 - 3.30 out of the package. I have no problem trying a Wally World battery just to confirm one way or the other.

Let's assume another Fresh Battery makes no difference. What would be the next probable cause. Has anyone had a Bad RCDLR issue with similar symptoms.

eboggs_jkvl

Go through this decision chart. If you get to the bottom, the RCDLR is in trouble and off to the dealer you go.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c7-g...s-and-rke.html

Go to "C7 RKE/Fob Not Detected"


Elmer

phil hunter

I had nearly the exact thing happen to my 2017 GS. Car had been sitting for a couple of weeks with the factory charged connected. Thinking it was the fob batteries I replaced them both to no avail. Checked battery voltage and it was fine. Used the slot on the steering column to drive the car to the dealer, who tested the car and could find nothing wrong and no codes stored. Dealer performed a "global reset" and car functioned normally. No idea why this happened.



Phil

JerryU

That was my experience. Had a 1 year old battery I had put in "just to be safe" not open the door periodically, then it required putting the FOB in the slot to start. Assumed it was the FOB. Took the FOB I don't use that had been in a drawer for ~3 years. In a day or two it was doing the same!

Checked both with an old analog battery checker that loads the battery depending on size and has a big analog meter (said it was old!) that read just in the GREEN OK range. Bought new quality batteries not those from China I bought on Amazon and my "checker" read strongly in the GREEN GOOD area. Both FOBS worked fine.

Digital meters draw very little current and can read voltage fine BUT the instant current is drawn the "effective voltage" lowers. The C7 needs quality fresh batteries.

May not be the OP's issue but worth buying new batteries from a relabel source.

MIKES-C7

Well, I got it working. The Fob Batteries were not the issue. As noted in previous post I have a load tester for these types of batteries since I sell Watches all over the world in my home business. So the ones I replaced them with were fine however I did go ahead and make a trip to Wally World and grabbed another pair just to satisfy the curiosity.

After replacing the batteries and driving it around the symptoms did not change. So before I went out and replaced the actual car battery or more fun yet take it to the dealership I went ahead and disconnected the battery for 5 minutes and then reattached. Well upon doing so the system starting functioning again. So I guess a reboot of the onboard computers did the trick. In my normal job I have been in the Automotive Parts Business for 38 years so I have some experience when it comes to automotive issues.

If this happens again I plan on changing the car battery. Yes it is the original however load test currently reflect that the battery is not in need of replacement. The only thing that I can think of that could have triggered this whole thing was I had killed power to my garage door opener last week to replace a wall switch and since it sends out an RF signal just maybe it could have caused some kind of issue with the Fob-Car communication.... That is a long shot however other than that I think I will just need to see what happens.

Appreciate all the help from everyone that responded on this forum. I think this is a good example that one size does not fit all when finding a solution to a problem. You all had given me a various things to look at which was helpful in trying to find a fix before taking it into the dealership as a last resort. We all know how knowledgeable the dealerships tech's can be when something is not black and white.

Thanks again for everyone's assistance. Mike

cdominguez

My problem is a little different and I didn't want to create a new post for it.

The key fob wouldn't start my car from inside my house, starting yesterday. I went out to the garage, and then it worked. Thought it was weird, but whatever. Key fob worked everywhere else that I went without a hitch,. Tried to remote start it today(at my house), and nothing. No buttons would work no matter how close to the car I am. But the key fob still worked once inside the car from my pocket. Decided to grab the other fob, same problem. Disconnected the car battery for 5 minutes and I had 2 batteries still fresh in the package from a few years ago, put them in, still nothing. Read that maybe the batteries were old so I went to the store and purchased a fresh set(expiration date 2028). Got outside the store(without testing the old new battery), put the newest battery in, and key fob worked like a charm. Went home, put the other new battery in the spare fob, tested it, and nothing. Tried my #1 fob, and nothing. Read on another post that sometimes the batteries with cross hatches won't work and I saw my newest batteries had cross hatches. Went back to the store, but after getting there decided to try my fob before I went in. Lo and behold it worked just fine.I got outside of my neighborhood and tried my fob before getting to my house. It worked fine. Got home, and it didn't work. I drove down my street, stopping at each house to figure out where my fob started to work. I found that there's a bubble around my house(about 5 houses each way on both sides of the street) that my key fob will not work in. I've decided that something is causing interference with my fob. I'm not really sure what would cause such a large bubble of interference though. Just for kicks, I flipped the main breaker for my house and still nothing. I found it interesting that about 3 houses down, I could hear audible clicking noises coming from their backyard when I would press and hold my trunk button, but no other time. And it was pretty consistent and I tested it for probably 2 or 3 minutes.

Anybody have any ideas on what I can do? I like being able to open the garage and remote start my car to let the engine get warmed up and the inside of the car to cool down(my garage is 90 degrees during the summer months here in Texas).

eboggs_jkvl

Sounds like your house is in a death ray bubble!

So, you press "Unlock", then press "Start" and nothing happens no matter where you are in relation to proximity of the car?

Elmer

cdominguez

I tested in the driver’s seat, so my position never changed. I’d drive down a house, park, and press and hold the hatch to have it open. Get out and close it when it would open, go to the next house and repeat. Once I reached the point where it wouldn’t open, I’d go in reverse to the point it last worked, hit the button and it’d work. I’ve had the car for 7 months and never had a problem until Thursday night. I don’t know what somebody could have installed that would mess up my frequency for that large of an area.

eboggs_jkvl

Any high power lines in your area?

cdominguez

Nothing close by. My next door neighbor was saying that his sprinkler system wasn’t working. Perhaps a broken power line is acting as an antenna? He’s supposed to have somebody come and fix it tomorrow, so maybe that will fix the issue. There is a lot of construction around the neighborhood, but nothing on my block.

eboggs_jkvl

How about large black vans with dozens of antennae sticking out with a .gov license plate?

owc6

This is what I immediately zeroed in on. Have you pinned down exactly what is making clicking noises when you press your trunk button? Talked to that neighbor and see if turning off whatever it is will solve your problem?

cdominguez

I was testing it at 11:30 last night, so I couldn’t ask them. I’m going to try going down there and trying it again later today. There’s a street behind my house that I’m going to test tonight. That would help determine what side of the street the disturbance is coming from.