Push Button Start - Issue with the Button not reading Fob

[Outback_Joe]

Try and put the fob with the key end next to the start button. That's the end where the chip is located. I don't know if one inch makes a difference or not?

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[ShadowsPapa]

The starter button only read/detecting the solid state transponder in the fob, with or without fob battery.

It can still be one of the battery is going out. Unlocking the doors will draw a weak battery down, hence waiting the 10 minutes to start the truck. You must perform a load test on both batteries separately.

Yeah, that, and this -

In-dash cluster told me voltage was 12.3, which should be fine.

That's low. IMO, anything under 12.4 is low enough to start seeing some things not quit work correctly.
If you keep it on a tender - and you are still reading 12.3 (I always use an independent meter at the battery) and you only see 12.3 - it's not working!
Those batteries should show at least 12.6 if on a tender, fully charged is 12.8 (roughly)
Under 12.4 means battery not taking or holding a charge.

I'll add to what @Vtur said -
You need to use a real battery charger and charge the batteries in the truck. not a tender, but something that can run through all of the phases of AGM battery charging.
As low as that is at 12.3, it's going to take some time, a few hours, to properly fully charge the batteries.
I'd bet that once you disconnect and start driving - either short drives aren't keeping them up, or, they are not holding that charge - their "capacity" is down or gone.

Things start not acting right once you get down to a certain point, and it's not all about voltage - it's about load. A battery sitting at 12.3 may do fine if the capacity and health is good (it's still only half charged) but the next battery sitting at 12.3 may fail to support and load on it and drop voltage like a rock.
Voltage isn't the only test - yours is way down. But a healthy battery even at 12.3 might still put out enough amperage over time to not lose "voltage".

Charge with a real battery charger - then get load tested.

 

[DiscoSlug]

12.3 reading was out in the wild, not on the tender. It's never had an issue after being on charge. And even at 12.3 it will still remote start with the fob.

Seems like one of my batteries may be nearing end of life. I'll pull and get them tested by the local auto part shops and report back. Hopefully it is truly only this.

My only pause in thinking is this,
Remote starting the vehicle works. So battery is fully charged but still not reading the key fob to engage the transmission. Not sure how in the world the battery would be this issue in this case.

 

[DiscoSlug]

Try and put the fob with the key end next to the start button. That's the end where the chip is located. I don't know if one inch makes a difference or not?

Do you have a schematic of where the chip is located? I thought it was located opposite the side with the keyring loop. I don't know what you mean by key end, folded, unfolded, the side with the button that flips it out or the other side?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

12.3 reading was out in the wild, not on the tender. It's never had an issue after being on charge. And even at 12.3 it will still remote start with the fob.

Seems like one of my batteries may be nearing end of life. I'll pull and get them tested by the local auto part shops and report back. Hopefully it is truly only this.

My only pause in thinking is this,
Remote starting the vehicle works. So battery is fully charged but still not reading the key fob to engage the transmission. Not sure how in the world the battery would be this issue in this case.

That doesn't mean the battery is fully charged, just that it's enough to start it.
Ironically, these have some weird criteria for when various starts will or won't work.
In any case, you keep a tender on it at times, and when out in the wild you checked the battery voltage and it was only 12.3 - that's an indicator of trouble. That thing should read over 12.5 if you started the trip with a battery even 3/4 charged.

My take on electrical systems - if you have a know issue, fix that one first - otherwise multiple issues can step on each other while troubleshooting things.
Since you have a known battery voltage issue, I'd resolve a known first - then with the batteries in great shape - you go from there.
Fix what is a known issue first.

 

[Outback_Joe]

Do you have a schematic of where the chip is located? I thought it was located opposite the side with the keyring loop. I don't know what you mean by key end, folded, unfolded, the side with the button that flips it out or the other side?

This is the end that you may want to try (red arrow). I printed some shells for my fob I hated how big they are.

 

[DiscoSlug]

Just to wrap up this thread. I finally got around to replacing the AUX battery (main was fine). All weird electrical issues resolved and haven't come back after 3-4 months since it was installed.

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