Annoying problem

[welshwizard]

With the remote door opening

Long day at work, iffy appraisal, just want to get home, I click on the remote and nothing happens Not the first time its' happened but then I've always had the spares to hand.

But last night at least I had some exercise walking some of the way back home And walk back to work this morning.... Ho hum! At least the spares were able to open the car

[twisted-pixel]

and you can't open it with the key??

a colleague at work has this problem and he has to open the doors with the key and then shut the alarm off with the key in the ignition. When my car went in last week for a fault, they mentioned that the keyfobs were being replaced as part of a recall because of this very problem. but you always have the key as a backup

[troll]

The remote control key fob has a battery that can be replaced, however this should last about 4 years in normal use. When it's running low the manual says that the SID should give you a warning that the battery is low.

I had this problem the other night when it wouldn't lock the car, I put it back in the ignition and restarted then turned off, got out and tried locking again, no problem. I wondered if It was the result of mistreating the key! throwing it about etc, which might have something to do with the intermittent working, I'll take 2 keys on long journeys to be safe!

I haven't heard anything about a recall, my warranty is up next March so I'm making a list now!! Keep us posted on how this pans out for you.

[johnrice]

My my04 2.2TiD has had three replacement keys, the last time, at the beginning of this year, they changed both keys and the only difference I noticed was that the unlocking was just fractionally slower but they have not failed (yet )
I went through all the problems you've all had, so carrying round a spare key was a pain - had to be careful where I parked so I could access the NSF door
My garage didn't mention anything about a recall though, but then they don't seem to.

[danparfitt]

I recently had my Jan 04 cars keys changed by the dealer as part of a recall. The car went in for some other warranty work and they initiated the change of both keys. I had once been locked out of my car at sainsbury's but that was the only time in 18 months of ownership!!

[welshwizard]

[ QUOTE ]
I went through all the problems you've all had, so carrying round a spare key was a pain - had to be careful where I parked so I could access the NSF door


[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, that was the problem. I had parked so close to a fence that I could not even get to the passsenger door to unlock it with the key The problem seems to arise when the keys have been in my pocket for whole day

[dmcglaughlin]

Not sure if this is how Saabs do it, but there is a feature of many/most modern car alarms that is designed to prevent eavesdropping.

In the bad old days, someone with a radio scanner who was close enough could intercept the radio signal when you locked your car, wait until you had gone, then they would play back the same signal, thereby unlocking your car, and off they went.

Now, the manufacturers have a way of using hundreds or thousands of key combinations, one-by-one. So, when you buy your car, you start off by using code number 1, then code number 2 etc. Once a code has been used, it can't be used again.

Unfortunately, the world isn't a perfect place, and sometimes things can get a little out of synch, e.g. buttons on keyfobs can get pressed accidentally, or stray radio signals can make the alarm think that an attempt was made to lock/unlock the car. As a result, there is a sliding window of codes that are valid at any time, e.g. codes 1-10 may be valid the first time you use the car, and then 2-11 etc.

[ QUOTE ]
The problem seems to arise when the keys have been in my pocket for whole day

[/ QUOTE ]

This may well be your problem - do you have lots of other items in your pocket, or do you fiddle with the keys when stressed? If so, you may have pushed the button more times that the sliding window will allow - your key could be now trying to send code 1057, but your car is only going to accept codes 1041-1050 from that particular key.

If that's the case, then putting your keys in a different pocket should help, particularly if you have one of the older 'slug' keyfobs which looks just too easy to activate accidentally.

To make the system work, there is a separate counter for each key, which is why the other key still opens the car.

I know that for other alarm systems there's a way of resynchronising the keycodes using special connectors, e.g. in the glovebox, but I suspect that putting the correct key in the ignition may well do it. Alternatively, it might mean a visit to the dealer.

As an aside, it is possible to confuse alarm systems by driving/parking too near to certain radio installations - a few years ago, some Lexus cars were notorious for not working if driven within a few miles of a particular army base. This is similar to the problems of being near to powerful transmitters, but in the latter case you can fix it by towing the car out of range or blocking the signal.