Key Remote - Jammed

The one day (of maybe 3 total in over a year) that my wife needs to use my car while her Audi is in the shop something of course goes down. She called me from her parking garage and all I can hear is the horn howling. The key remote wouldn't open the door so she had to go in the old school way which triggered the alarm. Then panicked and didn't know you need to get the key in the ignition to shut it down. Of course I chalked it up to operator error - she seems to get stranded in our Defender from time to time for no apparent reason - but as it turned out I checked out that key remote and the small red diode light is constantly on. And the remote doesn't work. Thoughts? I assume the light won't be on forever as the battery is going to draw down, but what might be causing this jam? thanks, dan

My key just did the same thing. I suspect it is a sign the key's battery is dying. The spare works fine.

My key did exactly the same thing, but it had to be re-programmed. It was over $240.00 at the stealer. John

If that is the case, I will be using the spare!

The only portion of the key which identifies itself uniquely is the the transponder inside which looks like a glass pill. If you buy a new or used key and the glass pill is still working properly, you can just swap it out. The key works fine without the need for reprogramming after that. Assuming of course that it's not the battery and that your key malfunctioned because the circuit board was damaged in some way.

I would change the battery first, they are cheap and removing it might allow for the key fob to "reboot". Modern electronics being what they are, a restart is always worth a try. If it's not the battery, keep the new one for a spare.

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This has happened to my remote a few times in the past 2 years. I have a one button remote, so I just pop the cover off the key fob, take out the battery for a few seconds. While it's out, I pull the entire little circuit board from the key fob (which just snaps in and out) I push and jiggle the little button on the circuit board, and put it all back together. -td

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This is somewhat an issue of semantics ..... and you probably know already ... but the "key" is not affected by the mating procedure the dealer does. Instead, it is the car's CPU that is taught (or re-taught) to recognize a specific key. This is for starting and remote lock / alarm operation. On 2002 and newer, the recognition of specific keys is also tied to memory items such as seat and mirror positions for that particular driver. The dealer is not always a "stealer" in this process. Hennessy in Atlanta charged me under $50 total for mating 2 keys to my car.

Popped it open, took at the battery, the circuit board, gave it a magical shake, and all is well. Thanks for the ideas. dan

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Now, in a year when someone asks the same question, you're required to be the first to post a response. Paybacks and all that, lol Glad it worked out! -td

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Well, "stealer" in my case, because to re-flash the EPROM in the key took them less than 10 minutes. 240 is too much. Several guys in here, like you, had it done for way less. The price also varies a lot from stealer to stealer. Unfair. John

^^That's why the invoice should consist of materials and the shop's overhead rate by labour hr. There is no way to justify a $240 invoice on 10 minutes of labour (min might be 0.5 hrs).

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Its free enterprise, so "fair" or "unfair", in my opinion, does not enter into the issue. A dealer charges what he wishes, and then accepts the consequences to his commercial success. In my case, Hennessy's very reasonable charge gained them any future business associated with my car: parts, repairs, whatever. On the other hand, my experience with the other dealer in Atlanta has lost them my business.

" It's free enterprise..." Well if it is that kind of freedom, why not make your own enterprise and pay each employee $1.00 per hour... oh you cannot! Unfair, and basically illegal. Programming a key is limited to dealers and very few others (which are not in my area) so free enterprise should not allow them to charge us just anything they want. $240.00 is absolutely unfair, so back to my original post, I stand correct when I typed "stealer". John

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I don't believe many log in here for political / philosophical debate, so I will make this my last post on this subject. I certainly acknowledge that there are minimum wage laws. However, with very few exceptions (in the U.S., at least), there are no price controls .... and none that I know of on the price of labor / service for luxury autos. So, legality is not an issue here. Free enterprise in the U.S. (can't speak for Canada) does exactly what you object to .... allows a businessman to charge whatever he pleases. The market place will determine whether or not he charges too much. You get the last word ....

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Fine, however you began the discussion by commenting on my "stealer" expression. Ok, and here is the last word then: if the stealer is free to over-charge whatever he wants, I am free to call it as I see it- stealer- because some of them are obviously overcharging, and our options are limited to get a key reprogrammed- unfair.