Exterior Remote key unlock didn't work!

crid · 22nd December 2006, 20:42

Hi

I've had my Civic for about 3 and a half weeks and I've been really pleased with it so far (previous car was a Civic Type-R but was too expensive to run, insure, tax, etc.

) With the Type-R and with the new car I've come to the opinion that Honda do lots of things pretty well but there are always small niggles that annoy me with their cars - these are only very minor but I imagine would have been very easy for Honda to fix if they've invested a bit more in user testing (like for example the ice warning - I've see that come on once when I was driving for about 3 seconds and then it disappered never to be seen again, it doesn't come on if you start the engine and it's already below whatever it's threshold it but surely that's the most dangerous time and when you most need to be alerted to the face there could be ice on the road. Also when it does come on why does it go straight off again? Why not display for a few seconds and then rever to the (i) light so I've got a visual indication of a warning message and I can press (i) to view it (just like if the passenger doesn't have their seat-belt done up), anyway, that wasn't the point of this post...).

Today I was at Tesco's and when I got back to my car the remote central locking didn't work at all, I didn't think to see if the light on the key came on because it was cold and I had lots of shopping and just wanted to get in the car, neither unlock or lock did anything. It definately locked when I left it there. I had to unlock the doors manually (something I've not had to do for years!) and then when I got home it all seemed to be working ok.

Has anyone else experienced this? Should I report it to the dealer or just wait and see if it happens again?

Cheers
Colin

basegreen · 22nd December 2006, 20:59

I know someone whose key (non civic, but same remote locking system) refuses to work in one particular car park. Doesn't matter how close, how far, it just doesn't work there.

warriorpete · 22nd December 2006, 21:01

Had this happen to my Type S several times - once twice in a day - took it straight to dealers and they said never had that problem before and to carry spare key in case it was a dodgy keyfob. Seems to happen for no apparent reason but nice to know i'm not alone!!!!!

Nick7 · 23rd December 2006, 10:55

Happened once to me.

4540flossy · 23rd December 2006, 13:06

Sorry to be a bit of a nerd but I once had an amazingly dull conversation with a tedious relative about this exact same thing. You'll find that the key fob remote only works on a certain narrow frequency so that each one only does what it is supposed to (i.e. unlock your car) as opposed to anything else... It usually happens around supermarkets, garages, motorway services that another piece of kit is "blocking" the narrow band signal from your remote. Usually mobile telephone masts (telephone being mobile rather than mast of you see what I mean) but can also be caused by any strong magnetic fields too; what affects your keyfob probably won't affect many others. Weel, that's my halfpenny's worth anyway

PS Did you try the now legendary technique of putting the key fob to your head (key end first) and then pressing it? Seems to amplify the signal -get back down there and try it out then report back!!! A special scientific experiment might get you out of having to watch Eastenders on TV on Christmas Day?

Honcho · 23rd December 2006, 16:13

Recently my wife saw a bloke with a hand-held gadget walking up and down our road pointing it at houses. She asked him what he was doing. He said that someone had reported problems with opening their car and he was trying to find the house emitting the blocking signal. So it certainly happens, and isn't necessarily a remote key fault.

Ancient Nerd · 23rd December 2006, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4540flossy

Sorry to be a bit of a nerd

Nothing wrong with that

allan40alt · 23rd December 2006, 18:08

When you think of it (although it's probably better not to) we are surrounded and bombarded with all sorts of 'waves and signals'. Mobile phone masts, radio, tv, short wave radio, microwaves, remote controls, etc etc etc...

Is it any wonder that now and again we get a hiccup with signals bouncing off metal clad buildings etc.

If your control normally works it may just be a phenonemom of your signal in that particular area.

stu_iow · 23rd December 2006, 19:44

Happened to me for the first time today too

maverick · 23rd December 2006, 20:47

Happened to me with my alarm system every time i parked in the local B AND Q . Had to park as close to the building so i could unlock the doors(locking it was not a problem ,it was the unlocking that was the problem as stated by 4540flossy seperate radio freq for lock/unlock)soon put this down to radio signal blocking.
We live and learn.

crid · 23rd December 2006, 23:45

Thanks for the responses guys, the funny thing was it's never happened in this car park before (although I've only been there a few times in the new car) and after I had manually unlocked the door the remote key then worked for locking and unlocking the car! weird!

Daniel · 24th December 2006, 09:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by crid

Today I was at Tesco's and when I got back to my car the remote central locking didn't work at all, I didn't think to see if the light on the key came on because it was cold and I had lots of shopping and just wanted to get in the car, neither unlock or lock did anything. It definately locked when I left it there. I had to unlock the doors manually (something I've not had to do for years!) and then when I got home it all seemed to be working ok.

Has anyone else experienced this? Should I report it to the dealer or just wait and see if it happens again?

Hi Colin,

I've had the EXACT same experience about a week ago. I have had the car for about 3,5 weeks and it did not unlock when I pushed the button (standing NEXT to the car). I opened the door manually and drove to work and it worked fine again once I got there. Has been working fine ever since, weird though.

Nick7 · 24th December 2006, 12:00

When this happened to me (car was parked in garage), I had to unlock it with key.
After that I tried to lock/unlock it several times using remote, and it worked flawlessly. Must be some quirk in ECU or whatever controlls remote unlock.

22nd December 2006, 20:42	#1 (permalink)
crid Valve Cap Join Date: 7th December 2006 Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Remote key unlock didn't work! Hi I've had my Civic for about 3 and a half weeks and I've been really pleased with it so far (previous car was a Civic Type-R but was too expensive to run, insure, tax, etc. ) With the Type-R and with the new car I've come to the opinion that Honda do lots of things pretty well but there are always small niggles that annoy me with their cars - these are only very minor but I imagine would have been very easy for Honda to fix if they've invested a bit more in user testing (like for example the ice warning - I've see that come on once when I was driving for about 3 seconds and then it disappered never to be seen again, it doesn't come on if you start the engine and it's already below whatever it's threshold it but surely that's the most dangerous time and when you most need to be alerted to the face there could be ice on the road. Also when it does come on why does it go straight off again? Why not display for a few seconds and then rever to the (i) light so I've got a visual indication of a warning message and I can press (i) to view it (just like if the passenger doesn't have their seat-belt done up), anyway, that wasn't the point of this post...). Today I was at Tesco's and when I got back to my car the remote central locking didn't work at all, I didn't think to see if the light on the key came on because it was cold and I had lots of shopping and just wanted to get in the car, neither unlock or lock did anything. It definately locked when I left it there. I had to unlock the doors manually (something I've not had to do for years!) and then when I got home it all seemed to be working ok. Has anyone else experienced this? Should I report it to the dealer or just wait and see if it happens again? Cheers Colin

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This thread is about: Remote key unlock didn't work!, it's in Bugs, faults and irritations at the Honda Civic forum Civinfo; Hi I've had my Civic for about 3 and a half weeks and I've been really pleased with it so far (previous car was a ...

22nd December 2006, 20:59	#2 (permalink)
basegreen Super Moderator Civinfo guru Join Date: 15th April 2006 Location: noitacoL Posts: 2,888 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts iTrader: (0)	I know someone whose key (non civic, but same remote locking system) refuses to work in one particular car park. Doesn't matter how close, how far, it just doesn't work there.

22nd December 2006, 21:01	#3 (permalink)
warriorpete Ooooooh!!! Locking Wheelnut Join Date: 18th November 2006 Location: Bolton Posts: 128 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts iTrader: (0)	Had this happen to my Type S several times - once twice in a day - took it straight to dealers and they said never had that problem before and to carry spare key in case it was a dodgy keyfob. Seems to happen for no apparent reason but nice to know i'm not alone!!!!!

23rd December 2006, 10:55	#4 (permalink)
Nick7 Supporter Triangular Exhaust Join Date: 10th August 2006 Location: Croatia Posts: 451 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader: (0)	Happened once to me.

23rd December 2006, 13:06	#5 (permalink)
4540flossy Supporter Valve Cap Join Date: 16th November 2006 Location: Ash Vale Posts: 47 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Sorry to be a bit of a nerd but I once had an amazingly dull conversation with a tedious relative about this exact same thing. You'll find that the key fob remote only works on a certain narrow frequency so that each one only does what it is supposed to (i.e. unlock your car) as opposed to anything else... It usually happens around supermarkets, garages, motorway services that another piece of kit is "blocking" the narrow band signal from your remote. Usually mobile telephone masts (telephone being mobile rather than mast of you see what I mean) but can also be caused by any strong magnetic fields too; what affects your keyfob probably won't affect many others. Weel, that's my halfpenny's worth anyway PS Did you try the now legendary technique of putting the key fob to your head (key end first) and then pressing it? Seems to amplify the signal -get back down there and try it out then report back!!! A special scientific experiment might get you out of having to watch Eastenders on TV on Christmas Day?

23rd December 2006, 16:13	#6 (permalink)
Honcho Supporter Triangular Exhaust Join Date: 5th October 2006 Posts: 274 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts iTrader: (0)	Recently my wife saw a bloke with a hand-held gadget walking up and down our road pointing it at houses. She asked him what he was doing. He said that someone had reported problems with opening their car and he was trying to find the house emitting the blocking signal. So it certainly happens, and isn't necessarily a remote key fault.

23rd December 2006, 18:08	#8 (permalink)
allan40alt Supporter Civinfo guru Join Date: 6th August 2006 Location: Rugby, Warwickshire. Posts: 2,255 Thanks: 12 Thanked 33 Times in 31 Posts iTrader: (0)	When you think of it (although it's probably better not to) we are surrounded and bombarded with all sorts of 'waves and signals'. Mobile phone masts, radio, tv, short wave radio, microwaves, remote controls, etc etc etc... Is it any wonder that now and again we get a hiccup with signals bouncing off metal clad buildings etc. If your control normally works it may just be a phenonemom of your signal in that particular area.

23rd December 2006, 19:44	#9 (permalink)
stu_iow Big Civic fan Locking Wheelnut Join Date: 19th August 2006 Location: Isle of Wight Posts: 181 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Happened to me for the first time today too

23rd December 2006, 20:47	#10 (permalink)
maverick Valve Cap Join Date: 13th November 2006 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Happened to me with my alarm system every time i parked in the local B AND Q . Had to park as close to the building so i could unlock the doors(locking it was not a problem ,it was the unlocking that was the problem as stated by 4540flossy seperate radio freq for lock/unlock)soon put this down to radio signal blocking. We live and learn.

23rd December 2006, 23:45	#11 (permalink)
crid Valve Cap Join Date: 7th December 2006 Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Thanks for the responses guys, the funny thing was it's never happened in this car park before (although I've only been there a few times in the new car) and after I had manually unlocked the door the remote key then worked for locking and unlocking the car! weird!

24th December 2006, 12:00	#13 (permalink)
Nick7 Supporter Triangular Exhaust Join Date: 10th August 2006 Location: Croatia Posts: 451 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader: (0)	When this happened to me (car was parked in garage), I had to unlock it with key. After that I tried to lock/unlock it several times using remote, and it worked flawlessly. Must be some quirk in ECU or whatever controlls remote unlock.