Just got back from the shops, went to lock car with button and it was dead. Nothing happened at all when I pressed the key fob.

 

So I locked it manually, fiddled about (lock unlock)and the alarm went off. The only way to cancel the alarm was to insert the key in the ignition and turn it on and off.

The weird thing is I returned to the car after 5 minutes and the remote fob is now working fine.

Any suggestions please?. I mean is it just a glitch with the computer re setting itself or am I in for a problem with the signal receiver.

By the way when it was not working I tried BOTH key fobs with same result.

 

Harry.

It's seems all back to normal now, strange.

 

I thought I would at least have had an opinion or two as to what might have caused this.

 

C'est la vie.. :p

Just had the same with mine - 

 

Dealers changed the diodes in the door initially, and then that didn't work they changed the convenience control unit.

I occasionally have this with mine. Also when I get out after a drive sometimes only the drivers door unlocks and I have to get the kids out through the window. Happens about once a month but kids aren't always in when it happens so ut doesn't bother me then. It's still a PITA though.

Well it hasn't happened since so hopefully it's a one off but as this shouldn't happen I suspect it will remind me again soon .

 

If I do get a recurrence I'll have it checked out and report findings. Cheers guys.

 

Harry

I have this on occasion. I just lock with the key instead.

Happens to me too. Just been into Simpsons Colne before the warranty runs out. No fault found! Typical that there is never a fault when you want it to happen!

 

As others have said, just use the key to lock it, but the horn bleeps sometimes! Ohh well....

Hi Horkin, this phenomena can happen to all makes of car occasionally. There can be varying causes of course, but often as probably in your case, it's down to powerful microwave interference from other vehicles (or whatever) broadcasting using radios, or from other sources such as aircraft and masts. This may seem unlikely but it does happen more than we think. The radiation scrambles the coding as you press the key fob and nothing happens. In theory this shouldn't happen and mostly doesn't. But if a strong enough signal is generated not too far away, then it can. In addition, if your battery is low in the key fob it is also more likely to be affected by this phenomenon. Typically for example, it's been found that a taxi passing nearby can cause this depending on frequency and power of the transmission. It's becoming less common as the industry is more aware but it is still sometimes an issue. Recently, my neighbourhood had a en-mass visit from the local police who flooded the area with officers who were door knocking warning us that criminals were operating in our area using just this technique to scramble coding on car locking and alarm systems to prevent the car from locking. After you are out of site of your vehicle they plunder it's contents, even stealing the odd car from time to time too. Typically, this is done in a supermarket car park from a parked vehicle (often a Transit I'm told) but any public place is game so we were told. Thieves have been caught red handed doing this by the police. Although there are no visible signs the cars are not locking, when you try the door handle it isn't locked. The equipment they use is sophisticated and linked to a laptop and instantly generates a pulse causing havoc with the car locking systems, a bit like a radio broadcast from a taxi or police car but even more powerful and wide band to make sure of maximum success. So try you handles every time after pushing the key fob locking button.

 

Glad you problem hasn't re-occurred Horkin.

Hi Estate Man, thanks once again for your input to one of my posts. It's always helpful when others can add their two penny worth!

 

I am indeed aware of the criminal scam you refer to and the possibility of interference from signals. Of course it's hard to tell if there's a taxi or police car just out of sight but I think I can eliminate masts as it happened in my usual parking bay and I haven't had interference before.

Being in Lincolnshire we do have a lot of military aviation around so, a possibility.

 

One thing I have wondered, maybe you could comment. I have had the car central locking re-programmed about a month ago. Previously I had to press the fob once to unlock the drivers door only and again to open all, it was a real PITA. So I had it reprogrammed to one click opens all AND all doors lock automatically at a speed of around 10mph  and unlock again once the car is stopped and ignition switched off.

Now my wife, being the impatient person she is   has a habit of trying to open her door before I switch off the ignition and to do this she has to pull the handle twice. Could it be that she has been pulling the handle as I have been switching the ignition off and that this has confused the program which would eventually reset itself?. 

 

Finally it has not been caused by low fob battery as BOTH sets of keys (fobs) didn't work.

 

I've had no probs since.

 

Harry.

Hi Horkin, not too sure on that one. The re-programming in itself shouldn't of course affect anything. But maybe as you mention, your better half did!  Perhaps she did cause a glitch by starting the door handle opening process before the doors had unlocked or just at the same time they were unlocking themselves and it resulted in the glitch occurring. Computers are not infallible as we all know, a bit like me!! You probably will never have that thing ever happen again. So I guess you probably don't need to be concerned. But it was good to raise the issue here because we can see several people have had this issue, which in my experience is often not caused by an easily identifiable electrical problem with mechanicals or electronic hardware. Nice to talk to you Horkin, drive safe mate!