Keyless entry issue

[Marley Don]

Over the winter months I began to notice a problem in the morning with keyless entry when unlocking the car in the morning - basically it wasn't working.

To unlock the car I had to use the key, which became a bit annoying. The problem then got worse, where I had to press the lock and/ or unlock button on the key fob in order to get the car unlocked.

Took the car in for a service mid-March and mentioned this to the dealer, they had a look and said they couldn't see a problem - it didn't play up for them.

Annoyingly I thought this might be the case as the fault usually occurs first thing in the morning. I asked the dealer about the battery life in the key, he said they are good for years, but as a precaution I changed the key to the spare which had never been used.

over the last 4 weeks the problem has got worse, and now happens pretty much every morning.

Just booked the car into the dealer, but wondered if anyone else has had a simliar problem?

The car will be 3 years old in June, and its issues like this that I know will cost me dear when it is out of warranty so I'm keen to get it sorted before then.

[GJB]

What car?

[Marley Don]

XC90 Momentumn MY2016

[simonjedrake]

Does it only play up at your home or in alllocations?
By eliminating the former removes the possibility of a local based radio/GSM mast causing interference on the same channel as the cars keyless frequency.

[Marley Don]

It happens the most first thing in the morning, which is when the car is parked on the drive. It is generally ok at other times of the day or other locations. But with that in mind I'll keep an eye on over the next couple of days.

[nu11eaf]

I go to a shooting range and If I park my car in a particular area the key fob will not work and others also have the same problem, if I hold the fob near the windscreen it usually unlocks but sometimes it takes several goes walking round the car to get it to unlock.
Some people are saying its the PIR on the large security lights that are interfering with the signal and some are saying its the electrical sub station which is the cause, which is next to the area.
Have you a PIR security light, if so try turning it off and see if it unlocks ok then.

There is another location with a dead spot I park at and it is near a BT open reach tele communications hut. I know the dead areas in both locations now and avoid them.

I am usually in my Landrover at these areas but it used to happen when I had a MK 1 XC90, I have never parked in the effected area in my new XC90 because I know the dead areas now and I only use the waterproof fob with no buttons or physical emergency key.

[SwissXC90]

I have my old-style garage door opener mounted in my car right next to the remote control key receiver. Literally about 5 cm away from it

When the garage door opener is transmitting, the car remote receiver is completely blocked from receiving the key signals.
I know as the garage door opener GDO is wired to the driver's side spotlight, so when I turn spolight on, the garage door opener is transmitting, and the garage door opens, but sometimes I forget to turn the spotlight/GDO off. And then I cannot lock my car afterwards...

This is just an example to show you that a local radio transmitter in the vicinity can interfer with the remote signals to the extent that it blocks the reception of the wanted signal.

[Deman77]

Try leaving your mobile phone behind as a test. If helps experiment with relative location of mobile phone and the key fob.

[nu11eaf]

Originally Posted by Deman77

Try leaving your mobile phone behind as a test. If helps experiment with relative location of mobile phone and the key fob.

If I have my mobile phone in the same pocket as my fob it sometimes does not operate the keyless entry. But works every time when phone away from fob. I no longer use the same pocket for both items.

[Goodshot]

Originally Posted by Marley Don

Over the winter months I began to notice a problem in the morning with keyless entry when unlocking the car in the morning - basically it wasn't working.

To unlock the car I had to use the key, which became a bit annoying. The problem then got worse, where I had to press the lock and/ or unlock button on the key fob in order to get the car unlocked.

Took the car in for a service mid-March and mentioned this to the dealer, they had a look and said they couldn't see a problem - it didn't play up for them.

Annoyingly I thought this might be the case as the fault usually occurs first thing in the morning. I asked the dealer about the battery life in the key, he said they are good for years, but as a precaution I changed the key to the spare which had never been used.

over the last 4 weeks the problem has got worse, and now happens pretty much every morning.

Just booked the car into the dealer, but wondered if anyone else has had a simliar problem?

The car will be 3 years old in June, and its issues like this that I know will cost me dear when it is out of warranty so I'm keen to get it sorted before then.

On a different car both my spare (hardly used) and usual key batteries gave up the ghost after about two and a half years. They don't last for "years"!