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Get my pies
outta the oven!

Picture of PASig
posted
Anyone have any ideas as to what is going on here?

My wife has a Mazda5 van. I recently changed the battery in her keyfob (changed only like 1 year prior) because she was complaining "it wasn't working again".

What's strange is the keyfob seems to work intermittently, some days it's fine but other days it doesn't seem to want to work.

I noticed that during that stretch of really brutally cold weather we had from end of December to mid-January with single digits and below zero at night, it wasn't hardly working at all. Now it's back to more seasonable mid-30's to mid-40's and it seems to be working better but is still a little flakey.

It seems to be affected by cold? Is this her battery? Is the fob itself going bad? I hope not because they are like $180 from the stealership.


 
Posts: 33608 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Void Where Prohibited
Picture of WaterburyBob
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The only thing I can think of is the battery is going dead - but they shouldn't go bad in a year.

Does she use the fob to lock/unlock the doors? We don't, so maybe that's why ours last longer. We got into the habit of using the on-door lock/unlock buttons rather than the fob since that sends no signal that can be picked up by someone with a scanner.

Also, even if the fob battery is dead, the car is supposed to start by using the fob to press the start button. So, as long as you can get into the car, you shouldn't be stranded.

I can't even say water getting into the fob would do that, because I had a wave run up the beach and soak mine in salt water and it's still working fine over a year later.



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Posts: 16488 | Location: Under the Boot of Tyranny in Connectistan | Registered: February 02, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of JasonATI
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That's what they wanted to charge for a new key fob for my Nissan so I picked up a couple from Amazon for under $10 a piece and found a youtube video how to program it.

Here a video for a Mazda and mine was similar to the steps to program it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7V3FH_uB6U
 
Posts: 428 | Location: South Dakota | Registered: October 13, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Three Generations
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Picture of PHPaul
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Another suspicion, based on the cold weather factor, is that one of the battery contacts is only making partial contact. Things contract when they get cold and an "iffy" contact becomes no contact.




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Posts: 15181 | Location: Downeast Maine | Registered: March 10, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Get my pies
outta the oven!

Picture of PASig
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by WaterburyBob:


Also, even if the fob battery is dead, the car is supposed to start by using the fob to press the start button. So, as long as you can get into the car, you shouldn't be stranded.



It's a fob with key attached, she uses it to unlock/lock the car and the key to start it, it's a 2012.


 
Posts: 33608 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Lost
Picture of kkina
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I've heard that corroded internal antennas causes those intermittent connectivity problems on Mazdas. That's why the problem changes with the weather.



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Posts: 16266 | Location: SF Bay Area | Registered: December 11, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Cogito Ergo Sum
posted Hide Post
We had a similar problem in our Mazda 5 and it turned out there was a faulty switch in the
automatic gear shifter.
 
Posts: 5691 | Registered: August 01, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Delusions of Adequacy
Picture of zoom6zoom
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quote:
they shouldn't go bad in a year

The original batteries for my '04 are still going strong.




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Posts: 17944 | Location: Virginia | Registered: June 02, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of P250UA5
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Mine wasn't weather-related, but my 2000 Acura TL did similar, with intermittent functionality with the remote.
Pretty sure it was due to insufficient button contact internal to the remote. But, it was also in pretty rough shape.




The Enemy's gate is down.
 
Posts: 15154 | Location: Spring, TX | Registered: July 11, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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is the battery contact broken/loose going into the circuit board?

this is a notorious problem with Dodge key fobs


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Posts: 6218 | Location: New Orleans...outside the levees, fishing in the Rigolets | Registered: October 11, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of vthoky
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by k5blazer:
We had a similar problem in our Mazda 5 and it turned out there was a faulty switch in the
automatic gear shifter.


This does happen. Two or three times in 15 years, I've been unable to start my Nissan... key turns, lights come on, starter doesn't spin. Hold the brake, run the shifter from Park to Neutral and back again, twist the key, and all is well.




God bless America.
 
Posts: 13427 | Location: The mountainous part of Hokie Nation! | Registered: July 15, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of cparktd
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What about the other fob, you should have gotten two.



If it ain't woke... don't fix it.
 
Posts: 4118 | Location: Middle Tennessee | Registered: February 07, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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posted Hide Post
Cold weather kills alkaline batteries. Check to see if you can get a lithium battery for the remote.
 
Posts: 21335 | Registered: June 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Corgis Rock
Picture of Icabod
posted Hide Post
I'd suggest trying the other fob. If it works switch the battery with the first. Maybe a bad battery? Maybe a bad connection?
My 2014 CMAX fob started going. It was intermittent and took several tries to open. I took the second fob and no problem. The Ford guys pointed out that, as the fobs were the same age, I'd do well to change the other battery.



“ The work of destruction is quick, easy and exhilarating; the work of creation is slow, laborious and dull.
 
Posts: 6060 | Location: Outside Seattle | Registered: November 29, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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