HELP!!! Remote Locking

[volvotuning]

My turn to ask for help!!!

This is the wirdest thing ever. My remote key fob works everywhere except when the car is parked on the driveway, where it doesn't work!!! What's all that about then?

With the remote fob I can lock the car at work, at my brother's house, at my sister's house, in fact anywhere except on my frigging driveway! So when it's parked at home I have to lock it using the key!!!

Any ideas? Some sort of jammer in the vicinity?

Adam.

[chriskay]

Hi, Adam; I've heard of this. Reports of people's remotes not working in e.g. supermarket car parks. Supposedly interference from mobile phone masts. Have you got a mast near you?
Cheers, Chris.

[volvotuning]

Hi Chris,

Not that I'm aware of, unless they have recently put one up. It only started happening in the last few days! Most bizzare. :wtf:

Adam.

[mraldonnelly]

Adam,

Do you have some sort of fancy schmancy microwave in the kichen and is the kitchen near the driveway? I've heard stories of this interfering with remotes too (bizarrely).

Any CB radio fanatics nearby? Check people's gardens and rooftops for huge bendy arials and stuff. I guess that could also interfere.

Do you have any other cars with remote locking? Have you tried to use the remote locking in the same position?

It is wierd but as you say, there must be something or someone jamming the signal.

Regards

Andy

[mraldonnelly]

Adam,

Another thought - are you near any military bases? Their radio frequencies could be interfering too.

Remotes generally work on radio waves to a CB radio fanatic or military base would be the most likely culprits - assuming the frequencies are similar.

Regards

Andy

[Babybadger]

Adam , is there any wireless systems near you? Wifi possibly , wireless alarm system, I have heard that baby radios even operate on 2.4 ghz.

Generally, most car alarms are on or around 433mhz but even radio signals on a spread spectrum can interfere with signals.

Transceiver sounds the most likely though....

[madness]

Hi Adam , my turn to help you!!!!

Very well known unfortunately . It could be absolutely anything which uses a signal; but it definately sounds like interferrence.
I had a customer before where it was his neighbour's doorbell.....
He didnt believe us it was interferrence but when he borrowed our s60 loaner
it was the same

I would ask a few neighbours and see if they have anything new

[volvotuning]

Hi Adam , my turn to help you!!!!

Very well known unfortunately . It could be absolutely anything which uses a signal; but it definately sounds like interferrence.
I had a customer before where it was his neighbour's doorbell.....
He didnt believe us it was interferrence but when he borrowed our s60 loaner
it was the same

I would ask a few neighbours and see if they have anything new

Interference is what I thought too! It must be, simply because it's location specific. Jamie, good advice, thanks mate!!! I will ask the neighbours if they have installed anything new. Babybadger, I will also check my own wireless router and maybe change the channel because that is very close to the driveway.

Thanks for all the help guys! I will keep you posted.

Adam.

[volvotuning]

Adam,

Another thought - are you near any military bases? Their radio frequencies could be interfering too.

Remotes generally work on radio waves to a CB radio fanatic or military base would be the most likely culprits - assuming the frequencies are similar.

Regards

Andy

Hi Andy, definately no military bases near by, but will check for local radio enthusiasts!

Cheers,
Adam.

[Tomcat]

If you cant figger it out try pointing the remote at the side of your head and then pressing the fob, sounds REALLY STUPID but it may work!.

[mraldonnelly]

If you cant figger it out try pointing the remote at the side of your head and then pressing the fob, sounds REALLY STUPID but it may work!.

LOL! That's class - I'm guessing you're serious too Tomcat? Have you had a problem like this before and was that the fix?

I tried it with the telly remote on the wife once but the mute button must have been broken!

[volvotuning]

If you cant figger it out try pointing the remote at the side of your head and then pressing the fob, sounds REALLY STUPID but it may work!.

That tends to work if it's a problem with signal strength, but I'm not sure if it would cure an interference issue! Still, no harm in trying!!!

Adam.

[Astro]

Hi all,

it's bizarre, i have almost the same problem.
In fact it depends on the T°. under 5c° the remote distance shortens.
I have to unlock manually and deactivate the alarm system from interior.

I went to Volvo Dealer, he didn't know anything about that.
He programmed the remote (20€ :frown: ) and it didn't change anything.
But i noticed the t° rised a little and the problem left.
And this morning (1c°) this came back.

WTF ?

[siamblue]

I had a meeting last year with a lady at Leic Police Hq, When we were both about to leave she couldn't start her car, the Police aerials had jammed her signal and she had to be AA'ed to the Next services on the M1 north where the car then was able to start. so it does and can happen.

Gary

[Babybadger]

Interference is what I thought too! It must be, simply because it's location specific. Jamie, good advice, thanks mate!!! I will ask the neighbours if they have installed anything new. Babybadger, I will also check my own wireless router and maybe change the channel because that is very close to the driveway.

Thanks for all the help guys! I will keep you posted.

Adam.

Adam,

How long have you had the router? If it has been there before you got the problem , then it wont be it.....but your neighbour may have just got broadband and a wifi router, failing that change to a TOAD alarm like I have. It doubles the range of the blipper.

[TangoDeltaSierra3]

Stop being so lazy and use the key he he!

[volvotuning]

Stop being so lazy and use the key he he!

That's what my girlfriend said too!!! (about the car, before you say something!)

Adam.

[shiney]

I have read a lot o threads here and nobody has suggested changing the battery yet. I know this sounds silly but here's the theory, you drive the car and charge the battery via the alternator, you park at your sisters and it works, you've had a cup of coffee and it still works when you come out.

When you then get home afterwards, does it then lock via the remote?
I've just thinking that with a fully charged car battery, the signal pick-up cold be slightly improved and overnight your battery drains slightly and doesn't pick up the signal as well. Also, if you have things masking out the signal, you'll want a good signal strength from your remote. If I was you, I'd take a trip to a market or similar and buy a new fob battery for £2.00 and see if it improves things, I'm guessing it has to be something simple like that.

[volvotuning]

I have read a lot o threads here and nobody has suggested changing the battery yet. I know this sounds silly but here's the theory, you drive the car and charge the battery via the alternator, you park at your sisters and it works, you've had a cup of coffee and it still works when you come out.

When you then get home afterwards, does it then lock via the remote?
I've just thinking that with a fully charged car battery, the signal pick-up cold be slightly improved and overnight your battery drains slightly and doesn't pick up the signal as well. Also, if you have things masking out the signal, you'll want a good signal strength from your remote. If I was you, I'd take a trip to a market or similar and buy a new fob battery for £2.00 and see if it improves things, I'm guessing it has to be something simple like that.

Well ahead of you there! I tried both a different battery, and the spare fob too! It was definately some sort of interference thing because the only place it would not work was on my driveway, with both fobs.

Strangely, it started working again a few days ago, and I have absolutely no idea why!

Adam.

[t5tart]

Well ahead of you there! I tried both a different battery, and the spare fob too! It was definately some sort of interference thing because the only place it would not work was on my driveway, with both fobs.

Strangely, it started working again a few days ago, and I have absolutely no idea why!

Adam.

its odd I have recnetly had a problem with my cobra alarm ... its a full closure system

when i park at my g/f new house and come out in the morning and click the fob it arms ...now i know i armed it when i left it cause its locked ... really wierd its the only place i have known it happen and does not seem to happen anywhere else

[John]

Mine always works, sometimes it will work from yards away then other times I have to put the fob to the window, should I call in Mulder and Skully

[Traduk]

Adam,

We have just had and resolved this type of problem on our estate (48 houses).

One enterprising chap went round every one of the 48 houses and determined that 9 houses and 15 cars were affected with plip problems. From plotting the houses, the problem appeared to triangulate on one specific house which by chance had a wireless door-bell which wasn't working. It wasn't the door-bell or a problem in that house but the owner (a car mechanic) borrowed a 433Mhz scanner from work and set about tracking down the source.

It was his next door neighbour and the offending piece of equipment was a child's plastic sit-on motorcycle that connects to a computer as an active game's consol. Apparently when the motor-bike was banked it sent a 433Mhz signal to a computer connected receiver and changed the game picture accordingly.

The bike had been left, switched on, laying on it's side (banked) and thereby emmitting a permanent 433Mhz signal and messing up a lot of car plips within a 100 metre radius.

There was a lot of research activity carried out over the 48 hours of problems and as most plips operate in the 433MHz range interest focused on door-bells, my remote weather sensors etc. Wireless routers which tend to operate in the GHz range are not candidates (mine is 2.4GHz)

I didn't see the scanner but apparently it is used in the garage to test plips and shows an LED with brightness proportionate to signal strength. If you can borrow one then your problem may be traceable. BTW the plastic bike was powered by 4XAA batteries and as the batteries ran down the problem would have vanished but would have returned at some point.

Liam

[craig]

why do you lock its it a diesel .whos gonna nick that ? lol my fob dont work at morrisons car park but i think its out of spite cos i take up 2 dissabled spaces (theyre always empty )

[volvotuning]

Hi Liam,

A useful experiment!! I'll bear it in mind when it happens again. I swear, it's a real pain when it happens!!!

Adam.

[volvotuning]

why do you lock its it a diesel .whos gonna nick that ?

The getaway driver who needs a fast car and doesn't want to run out of fuel.

Adam.

[S60D5]

The getaway driver who needs a fast car and doesn't want to run out of fuel.

Adam.

Nice response Adam! :B_blite:

[LeeT5]

My turn to ask for help!!!

This is the wirdest thing ever. My remote key fob works everywhere except when the car is parked on the driveway, where it doesn't work!!! What's all that about then?

With the remote fob I can lock the car at work, at my brother's house, at my sister's house, in fact anywhere except on my frigging driveway! So when it's parked at home I have to lock it using the key!!!

Any ideas? Some sort of jammer in the vicinity?

Adam.

Bit late answering i know but as an AA patrol i see this problem regularly. Subaru imprezas are the worst offenders. Anyway, replace battery to ensure a strong signal, other than that push the car down the road. Theres not alot u can do. I have a frequency detector that will determine interference on your car, so if you are a member of the AA give 'em a ring, tell em yer car wont start, then mention the above problem. The patrol should test for interference.

Good luck.

[volvotuning]

Thing is, starting it was never a problem. I was simply unable to lock the car when I came home, so I had to lock it with the key overnight, and unlock with the key the next morning. It would always start.

Adam.

[LeeT5]

Thing is, starting it was never a problem. I was simply unable to lock the car when I came home, so I had to lock it with the key overnight, and unlock with the key the next morning. It would always start.

Adam.

Doesnt matter, we know its not a transponder problem cos the car starts, but the AA will still come out to u even if you cant unlock the car. Could be an easy fix, which the patrol wont mind. Unless you have the detector you'll never know. We dont just go out to cars that wont start you know...

[Whelnut]

Hi Guys
First post - just joined. My V70 (new shape) has exactly the same problem. It seems to be either temperature or battery related. I have changed the batteries in my remotes. It works fine if I leave it at work all day, but after a couple of hours at home in the evening it doesn't work. If I start the car and let it warm up, it works fine - still on the drive, so I don't think it is interference. It is almost as though the control unit (wherever it is) is getting cold, or the car battery needs to be fully charged.
I hate intermittent problems.........
Thanks

[LeeT5]

:welcome:

Hi the alarm ecu is under the dash right hand side i believe. If your car starts and cranks ok i garantee its nothing to do with the vehicle battery.
As for intermittant faults well lets face it it could be any number of things.

[Bigpunter]

It must be something that's transmitting near the 300-500MHz band - house alarm/router/doorbell.

As I work in for a company which designs phone masts (now builds them) I can tell you that they can lock you out of a car (Land Rover's seem to be the worst, a guy from work actually got locked outside one with the engine running! :) ). But that was in the compound of a fairly large tower with a few microwave dishes/dipoles etc.

Small streetworkmonopoles (the lamppost lookalike without the light) can't do any much harm as these work at 2.4GHz (2G\3G).

Just thought I'd share this info with you guy's.

Martin

[LeeT5]

Iknow for a fact that subaru's suffer badly with interference from other source, been out to a couple of those. Had to drag one 100 yrds down the road b4 the immobilisor would disarm and the car would start. He wont park there any more :B_blite:

[Shortbusdriver1969]

Adam , is there any wireless systems near you? Wifi possibly , wireless alarm system, I have heard that baby radios even operate on 2.4 ghz.

Generally, most car alarms are on or around 433mhz but even radio signals on a spread spectrum can interfere with signals.

Transceiver sounds the most likely though....

433Mhz is the Radio Hams 70cms freq's so any radio ham on 70cms would
cause problems with RC locking

[jefword]

Hi,
Although this is of not really of any help, I used to have a sparkrite alarm with remote locking interface on a Granada. This worked perfectly except for one place where I usually parked when visiting a local cash machine.

As also previously mentioned, there is a connection with wireless doorbells & the Volvo remotes as used on the S60 etc. but the interference is the other way round in my case.

If I use one of my remotes then there's no problem, but if I use the other one it rings my next door neighbours doorbell. As I normally set off to work at 5:30am I had to make sure I'd picked up the non interfering one.

Also I know for a fact that if you are too far away for the remote to work, holding it on your forehead does increase the signal as I've tried it, but can anyone explain why it works?