Key Fob - Temporarily Not Working

[Viper501]

It was a chilly ride this morning for sure. I used 2 toe warmers on each foot and one on the back of each hand. But, conditions were magical ... frozen hard ground with about 1/4'-1/2" of super light dry snow on the trails. So great traction even without studs - the only thing to watch out for were the slippery roots, but they were easily visible.

Weather that requires toe warmers and hand warmers necessitates an upgrade to sitting in front of the fireplace. Didn’t realize CT could get that cold.

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[jac04]

Take battery out put in freezer test cold battery and post results

I thought about that. I've got the fob sitting outside right now. 16F at the moment. I should have put it outside earlier.

I'll pick up a new battery today and then put the old one in the freezer and then test it.

 

[jac04]

I left mine in my vehicle 8 degrees last night. Wouldn't work this morning, just figuring the cold effected the battery.

Thanks for the feedback.

I think we can call this one a fairly common problem then.

 

[agoldxj]

I’d say so, happened last week when the temps were single digits. Wife left her fob in the JLU and it wouldn’t recognize it. Didn’t know about pushing the start button with the fob, I just went in and grabbed the spare.

 

[jac04]

UPDATE:

Test complete.

Key fob was working fine when warm this morning. Battery voltage measured 3.02V.

I put the fob outside for about 35 minutes at 16F. Fob will not work now. No red LED light when pressing the buttons. Popped the fob apart and battery voltage is still 3.02V. Interesting.

After a few minutes inside at 70F, the fob works fine again.

So, it is just the cold that is somehow impacting the fob itself. That's kind of a cr@ppy design flaw IMO.

 

[MrBones]

Thinking outside the box here. Could be the cold causes metal contacts for the battery to loosen enough to prevent operation. Battery condition wouldn’t matter in that case

 

[Riding with Gladys]

Had the same cold issue with a long run in the mountains. Felt convinced that the cold impaired the function, nothing really to press on the fob in my pack.

 

[MaDDscientist]

I’ve seen similar issues with my FOB. And I can’t say cold is a factor. I keep the FOB in my pocket.
There are times I’ll get out of the truck and have to hold the FOB right by the door to lock…

 

[nanook12]

It is definitely the cold that shuts them down, warm them up and they work…

 

[IamPro2A]

Same problem, but only this year. But in my case, while the jeep was cold, the fob really wasnt. First time was a few weeks ago. Went out to move it while I was working a job (inside) and it wouldnt start unless I pressed the fob to the switch (but pretty sure the remote unlock worked. I thought I locked it, but didnt need the key to open. It's possible the remote never locked it.). Same problem when I left, so I stopped at Home Depot on the way home and paid way too much for a new battery. Wasn't even thinking when I walked out of the store, hit the remote unlock, got in, and started it normally. Scratched head and tossed new battery in console.
Fast forward to a few days ago. Same issue. Fob had been in warm house, went outside just to check fluids etc on vehicles since we had a cold snap and snow coming. Was only outside for maybe a minute or 2 and fob wouldnt work. Needed the key, alarm goes off, etc. Never happened prior winters, so I just went ahead and changed the fob battery since I already had it. No problem yesterday, and it was like -4°F so we'll see.

 

[Roger2486]

Had a similar situation when camping in the Mohave Desert in cold weather last year. Both my JT and son's JLU were dead in the water the next morning. Key fob would not function until warmed up...then worked fine after. We replaced the key fob batteries and all was back in order. Now keep extra battery in the console but it appears the fobs dislike the cold. if we're overnighting it in cold temps, key fobs now get placed in a sock with a hand warmer at night...no problems since. Two other JT's had similar incidents in our group in the cold weather.

 

[RubiDukkie]

Same problem, but only this year. But in my case, while the jeep was cold, the fob really wasnt. First time was a few weeks ago. Went out to move it while I was working a job (inside) and it wouldnt start unless I pressed the fob to the switch (but pretty sure the remote unlock worked. I thought I locked it, but didnt need the key to open. It's possible the remote never locked it.). Same problem when I left, so I stopped at Home Depot on the way home and paid way too much for a new battery. Wasn't even thinking when I walked out of the store, hit the remote unlock, got in, and started it normally. Scratched head and tossed new battery in console.
Fast forward to a few days ago. Same issue. Fob had been in warm house, went outside just to check fluids etc on vehicles since we had a cold snap and snow coming. Was only outside for maybe a minute or 2 and fob wouldnt work. Needed the key, alarm goes off, etc. Never happened prior winters, so I just went ahead and changed the fob battery since I already had it. No problem yesterday, and it was like -4°F so we'll see.

Same here after the cold front moved into Northern Virginia about a week ago or so. I finally replaced the battery in both key fobs yesterday and all is good now. No more intermittent errors from the Jeep not detecting the key fob. I know, that seems obvious to many of y'all. All I can say in my defense is, they are listed as 3V batteries and were putting out 3.02V and 3.03V respectively. The new batteries were outputting 3.2V according the volt-ohm meter.

 

[Sixt7gt350]

Went looking for this topic, because I thought the battery was the problem the first time it happened to me. Putting in a new battery didn't prevent the problem the next time.

I ride and run through the winter. If I put the fob in a pack, it doesn't work after about an hour exposed to the cold.
In a pocket of my riding shorts, no problem.

Any fixes been found, other than keeping the fob from getting cold?
Having the alarm going off after having to use the key to unlock gets real annoying.

 

[Jaydebe]

Never had this happen with my '20 JTR, but my new to me '22 JTR it happened the week after I bought it. Works so-so in teens, single and below and it struggles hard!

 

[jac04]

Went looking for this topic, because I thought the battery was the problem the first time it happened to me. Putting in a new battery didn't prevent the problem the next time.

I ride and run through the winter. If I put the fob in a pack, it doesn't work after about an hour exposed to the cold.
In a pocket of my riding shorts, no problem.

Any fixes been found, other than keeping the fob from getting cold?
Having the alarm going off after having to use the key to unlock gets real annoying.

I never found a fix. I have just learned to work around the issue. When I finish a cold ride, I take the fob out of my pack and try it. If it doesn't work, I shove that little ice cube into the waistband of my shorts, curse a few times, talk with my buddies about how awesome the ride was, and in less than a minute it works again. PITA

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