7 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCH996 Key fobs rapid battery drain
Leading reported evidence
Test batteries
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Leading evidence: 'Test batteries' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Test batteries' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
Source reports, not a diagnosis or a success probability. Counts refer to discussions and can overlap.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
7 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
2 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Outcome without a verified action link
The first time I only touched up the joints that I thought looked a bit dodgy, and this fixed the problem for a month or two, but it's now been 6 months since the second, more comprehensive attempt and it's been reliable up to this point, still on the same battery now.
Hi Everyone - Long time lurker. Read the FAQ on key fob but I am having a different problem. With a fresh battery both fobs work fine (alarm, trunk etc) but after a couple of weeks the LED is much dimmer and the car doesn't respond to the fob(s). Is it time to purchase new?
It depends....Batteries are cheap.
However, you may want to take it apart and blow the PCB with a little pressurized air in case you have some particle that is shorting something. Generally, I find that anytime I try to fix the fob like resoldering cracked solder joints, I screw it up.
I had a problem with my Mercedes going thru a battery in the FOB every 2 weeks, finally figured out the Benz ECM was still active after shutting it down and sensing the FOB for up to an hour, and I left it too close to the car in the house, since i moved the FOB to the other side of the house I am still on the same battery over a year. I don't know if the 996 has the same capability.
I had this exact problem, tried twice to repair it and eventually was able to do so.
Removed the battery, then the PCB from the housing. Desoldered the battery holder to expose the ICs on the front of the board, then carefully touched up every solder joint on both sides of the board with a very fine tipped, temperature controlled soldering iron, under a microscope. I'm fortunate enough to have well equipped electronics labs (many, in fact) at my workplace.
The first time I only touched up the joints that I thought looked a bit dodgy, and this fixed the problem for a month or two, but it's now been 6 months since the second, more comprehensive attempt and it's been reliable up to this point, still on the same battery now.
