Finding out that your car key remote is no longer functional is both anxiety-inducing and inconvenient. Here’s a guide on how to fix your car key remote if it won’t work. If you can’t use your vehicle key remote, find out what’s wrong and how to program it using this information.
Why Isn’t My Car Key Remote Working?
If your car key breaks, you can replace it with a new one. Professionals like FastKeys can help here, cutting you a new one as quickly as possible. However, there are a few things that may be causing the problem as well as solutions to address them.
Is It the Car’s Fault?
The car’s locks or signal receiver may be damaged, rather than the key remote itself. The vehicle’s locks or signal receiver may be malfunctioning, rather than the key remote itself. Use your spare key remote to test whether it works (which you should make sure you always have on hand for situations like this).
If you have both a spare and a main remote, check the batteries in your vehicle keys rather than the car.
Have the remote’s batteries died?
A car key remote’s battery life is quite lengthy, but it will ultimately have to be replaced and replenished. If the buttons on the key must be pressed multiple times before they function properly or if the key sometimes works yet not regularly, the batteries are most likely dead.
Although many automobile keys are unique, the majority of them utilise Lithium coin batteries that are readily available and replaceable to get you back in your vehicle quickly.
Is there anything broken in the remote?
If you have the expertise and confidence to do so, carefully inspect the car key remote for any broken or loose components that are causing the problems.
The majority of remotes are designed to be pulled apart and reassembled without causing any damage, as seen in the picture above. Loose pieces can usually be reconnected to restart the mechanism, although damaged portions may need to be replaced.
Use this moment to dust off the car key, if any dust or dirt has gotten inside it, to ensure that it is in operating order.
How Do Remote-Control Car Keys Work?
Control keys, also known as keyless remotes, are short-range radio transmitters that send a coded signal to your vehicle’s radio receiver by radio waves once pressed – this is done using the controller chip of the key fob.
The signal is received by the receiver unit, which decodes it and responds by either locking or unlocking. When the key and vehicle are outside of the range (which is typically 5-20 metres), the signal does not function.
The receiver and transmitter are linked to ensure that both recognize each other’s code that has been transmitted. You can also use this technique to prevent friends or strangers from opening your automobile with their key remote, as they are not linked together and will therefore ignore each other.
