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Key fob will not unlock/lock the car

Jonathan G

Jonathan G

New member
Hi All, I have a 2002 Boxster S and this morning the key fob stopped working. I cannot unlock the doors or open either luggage compartment using the key fob. The battery in the key fob was replaced only a few weeks back (and has been working fine) and the red LED flashes when I press the buttons. I can of course unlock/lock the car using the main key in the door.

Could the key fob have become un-paired with the car? If so is there an easy way to pair the fob to the car again?

Many thanks.
 
You say that this morning you can't unlock the doors, no mention of being able to lock them after opening with the key..

Quick first pass answer may be related to how long had passed between locking the car and trying to reopen it .. After about 5 days, the car alarm goes into a low power mode and one thing that gets turned off is the key fob central unlock, when it does you have to open (or IIRC you can also relock) the car using the key in the door. Once you have done this, the remote central locking function powers back up
 
jonathan
i had the same thing happen on my 997 last week. Not seeing anything useful to resolve the problem it in the manual I dropped into Guildford OPC and they confirmed that key had lost its pairing and battery was ok.
they sorted in a couple of minutes for no charge_unfortunately not sure what they did to resolve but you may have the same problem/issue
tony
 
Thanks for the responses... gdavison you are right of course that after 5 days car can no longer be unlocked with the key fob/remote. I typically unlock with the key as I did this morning but when I lock the car again can use the key fob/remote. This time I could not lock the car with the remote after my journey so the car was effectively ignoring the remote, all 3 buttons. I had to lock with the key.

As waxman mentions I believe the key has lost it's pairing with the car so was looking for the simplest way to re-pair(?) the key fob to the car. I work 2 mins away from the Guildford OPC so could try them but would rather resolve myself if straight forward to do so.

I would be grateful if anyone has the procedure to pair the key fob to the car again.
 
You cant, and this issue is common, usually new fobs are the answer.
There are many reported ways to repair - but they do not work - they are passed around the forums as though they are factual, You will read of putting the fob battery in the wrong way round for ten seconds, Its doesnt work, Pressing the lock button after inserting the key in the ignition and turning to ignition on position- this doesnt work either, Locking and unlocking the car manually, starting the engine, pressing the lock button on the remote - and another failure cos this dont work either.
No idea why they break this way completely out of the blue - but the red light flashes as normal and all appears to be well - but nothing works - a sudden failure.

Good luck though - the fobs are expensive and all fobs need to be paired using the PIWIS
 
Just had the same happen to me, ended up buying a new one and getting it reprogrammed at the OPC, £175. +1 on the folk lore behind supposed fixes, they didn't work for me. I have since seen an ad on E-bay for a repair for £60 or your money back, probably still need to get it reprogrammed though, + £50.
 

ORIGINAL: Glyn
..... but they do not work - they are passed around the forums as though they are factual, You will read of putting the fob battery in the wrong way round for ten seconds, Its doesnt work........
Click to expand...
Not 10 seconds, but the process of inserting the battery with reveresd polarity is factual. It is described in a Porsche Technical Bulletin. I agree that it seldom works though.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. Strangely all my remote key fobs are now working again. This definitely wasn't because I had not used the car for more than 5 days, but all is ok now so shan't worry about it, just enjoy the car... once it stops raining!
 
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