# Car unlocks itself?



## Xman (Oct 31, 2004)

I walked out to the car after the movies tonight and found it was unlocked. I'm certain I locked it and so did my wife. I've found it unlocked after work a couple of time in the past too when I thought I had locked it. Has anyone else been mystified by finding their car unlocked when they thought they had locked it. I'm wondering if some stray rf emissions may be tripping it.

I'll be the first one to crack the "senior moment". Yes, I'm over 50. My first muscle car was a '67 Charger.


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## fergyflyer (Apr 18, 2005)

Xman said:


> I walked out to the car after the movies tonight and found it was unlocked. I'm certain I locked it and so did my wife. I've found it unlocked after work a couple of time in the past too when I thought I had locked it. Has anyone else been mystified by finding their car unlocked when they thought they had locked it. I'm wondering if some stray rf emissions may be tripping it.
> 
> I'll be the first one to crack the "senior moment". Yes, I'm over 50. My first muscle car was a '67 Charger.


A couple of times I have hit the remote and thought thats strange I didn't hear it unlock. When I got to the car it was unlocked though. I'll have to check it out better, but I think I might be having the same thing. 

I hate the range this key/remote has. My Camaro remotes worked from 60'. My Corvette would work from a 100' plus sometimes. This thing is 20-25' max, and there have been times that I had to be 5' away before it worked. The dealer told me it was because the Camaro and Corvette had lots of plastic body panels, and the steel on this car blocks the signal.


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## Xman (Oct 31, 2004)

I wouldn't be surprised that the location of the receiver and the steel components on our GTOs impacts keyless entry performance. I've also noticed that how vehicles are positioned around my GTO impacts the ability to lock the car. If there is a van between me and my GTO, I have to get real close or walk to the side to get a clear shot. Because its a bit finicky, I went into the start-up menu and changed it to allow the horn to beep (once on lock, twice on unlock).


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## vmax (Mar 19, 2005)

fergyflyer said:


> A couple of times I have hit the remote and thought thats strange I didn't hear it unlock. When I got to the car it was unlocked though. I'll have to check it out better, but I think I might be having the same thing.
> 
> I hate the range this key/remote has. My Camaro remotes worked from 60'. My Corvette would work from a 100' plus sometimes. This thing is 20-25' max, and there have been times that I had to be 5' away before it worked. The dealer told me it was because the Camaro and Corvette had lots of plastic body panels, and the steel on this car blocks the signal.


B#$%&^IT!!!! The problem is with the transmitter in the key. It simply doesn't have enough output to transmit very far. My Viper remotes (all 8 of them) give me up to 150' of range, and they're all on steel-bodied cars. Try replacing the battery in the key, that may help also.


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## fergyflyer (Apr 18, 2005)

vmax said:


> B#$%&^IT!!!! The problem is with the transmitter in the key. It simply doesn't have enough output to transmit very far. My Viper remotes (all 8 of them) give me up to 150' of range, and they're all on steel-bodied cars. Try replacing the battery in the key, that may help also.


The battery is not replaceable. I had a Ford Contour SVT and the same thing, if I was more than 1 parking spot away nothing. My Nissan Sentra SER Spec V pdq wgh kghte #@$& u was the exact same way. A friend has a Maxima though and he gets abut 40' worth of range.


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## b_a_betterperson (Feb 16, 2005)

I'm not a big fan of this key fob at all. It's too big and when I'm working in the garage -- if I'm leaning over and working on something -- the doors lock and unlock and the trunk pops open. What a pain. At least it doesn't have one of those panic buttons that causes the horn to go nuts. That's always fun when the car's hood is a foot away from you in an enclosed space!


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## Xman (Oct 31, 2004)

Tonight, I walked out to my unlock car, opened the door, and the alarm went off. Gremlins?


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## tiresmoker (Feb 11, 2005)

why would you want to unlock your car from 100 feet away anyway..whiners!


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## mumrah (Apr 3, 2005)

tiresmoker said:


> why would you want to unlock your car from 100 feet away anyway..whiners!


 :agree 

The only thing I would want to do is start it from far away...


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## RiceEater (Jun 21, 2005)

:rofl: 

I don't know that I would want the remote start-up feature. There was a guy on the news here a while ago that had his Viper stolen while he was 100 feet away and had started and unlocked his car while walking to it. Right after unlocking it a guy that was oddly hanging near the car ran up, jumped in and sped off.... must suck watching your car be stolen right in front of you....


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## fergyflyer (Apr 18, 2005)

tiresmoker said:


> why would you want to unlock your car from 100 feet away anyway..whiners!


It's kinda like horsepower, 400 is nice, but more is better. 100' is nice and when I start messing with the avionics in local planes thats better.


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## Tom (Nov 1, 2004)

RiceEater said:


> :rofl:
> 
> I don't know that I would want the remote start-up feature. There was a guy on the news here a while ago that had his Viper stolen while he was 100 feet away and had started and unlocked his car while walking to it. Right after unlocking it a guy that was oddly hanging near the car ran up, jumped in and sped off.... must suck watching your car be stolen right in front of you....


i thought one had to insert the key to unlock the steering after using the remote start.


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## RiceEater (Jun 21, 2005)

Tom said:


> i thought one had to insert the key to unlock the steering after using the remote start.



That was the most horrible/funny part. The guy said (this was in the newspaper) that normally its true about you having to insert the key, but he had made it in such a way that the steering wheel unlocked when the car started. Personally I dont know much about Vipers and I dont know how this could possibly work, but in my opinion he was a serious dumbass for doing that. Its a mod that just screams "Look at me! I'm a nice car and I'm going to be stolen soon!."


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## vmax (Mar 19, 2005)

RiceEater said:


> That was the most horrible/funny part. The guy said (this was in the newspaper) that normally its true about you having to insert the key, but he had made it in such a way that the steering wheel unlocked when the car started. Personally I dont know much about Vipers and I dont know how this could possibly work, but in my opinion he was a serious dumbass for doing that. Its a mod that just screams "Look at me! I'm a nice car and I'm going to be stolen soon!."


 :agree 

There are several reasons that this guy wasn't too bright. Any properly installed remote starter has numerous ways to keep the car from being driven if the key isn't in the ignition. And I would have put in a kill function so that a button push from the remote disables the car in the event all the other failsafes don't work as they should. Just like I have on mine!


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## b_a_betterperson (Feb 16, 2005)

Xman said:


> Tonight, I walked out to my unlock car, opened the door, and the alarm went off. Gremlins?


Once in a blue moon, the locking system/alarm gets confused. Happened to me once right after buying car. Immediately made me think "lemon," but it hasn't happened since. Had the temp gauge go wacko once early on, too -- but none of these problems has recurred. Knock on wood.

BTW, saw a woman in a brand new Honda Accord sedan today. Don't know what the heck happened -- but she was driving around with the horn honking in alarm/panic mode. What was funny is that a couple of other guys started doing it, too. Driving along in a pack of cars in the freeway -- and they're all honking through tunnels and under overpasses and stuff.


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## C5ORGTO (Dec 30, 2004)

fergyflyer said:


> The battery is not replaceable. I had a Ford Contour SVT and the same thing, if I was more than 1 parking spot away nothing. My Nissan Sentra SER Spec V pdq wgh kghte #@$& u was the exact same way. A friend has a Maxima though and he gets abut 40' worth of range.



pdq wgh kghte #@$& u What does this mean??


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## JMVorbeck (Jun 1, 2005)

It means the name of the car has enough suffixes to be ridiculous. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII FQ-400 comes to mind. So does Subaru Impreza WRX STi.


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## GTODEALER (Jan 7, 2005)

JMVorbeck said:


> It means the name of the car has enough suffixes to be ridiculous. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII FQ-400 comes to mind. So does Subaru Impreza WRX STi.


 :lol:


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## JTYLER1604 (Jun 3, 2005)

Yes - I find that I go to unlock the car and it already is about a third of the time it seems like. Remote starts are great, and a properly installed one does not alllow a car to be stolen any easier, in fact it's prolly more difficult to by-pass all the wiring of the remote start than a car without one. As far as the lady with the flashers and horn going, it could have been a car equipped with an alcohol sensor that was in alarm mode because the driver failed.


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## asteng88 (Aug 26, 2004)

You know I thought I was going mad too. This has happened to me on a few occassions.
Now I always take the dog in he car...enough of a deterrent even with the doors unlocked and the keys left in !!! I even think twice about approaching the car to get in... :lol:


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## hoyabob2003 (Jul 9, 2005)

A similar, opposite thing was happening to my '04. It would refuse to unlock via the fob, forcing me to unlock with the key, which would then set off the alarm. My neighbors loved it! My dealer fixed it under a TSB. Apparently there's an issue with the transmitters. I had both replaced as well as a "VCM" not sure which. Either way, range is well over 60' now with no issues.


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## BigNick (Jan 7, 2005)

*Stray signals?*

Every once in a while my car horn will give one quick beep on its own. I'm thinking it might be a stray signal close enough to the transmitter frequency causing this, and it might be the same thing with your spontaneous door-unlocking thing?


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## Alienhummer (Oct 27, 2006)

3 times in 6000 miles my horn cirped. I don't have it programmed to beep when locked either.


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## Holden (Sep 10, 2005)

These cars use same door lock style as German and I have seen this for yrs @ work. The servos send position signal to BCM, so BCM always knows where locks are. They send false signal to BCM and doors lock/unlock on there own. It only gets worse with time and water gets in servos and all kinds of weird things happen. 
The remote sux too! Is that true battery can’t be replaced in Key? Auto Lights stay on sometimes for me.


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## aintmisbehavinn (Feb 9, 2006)

Yeah, I don't trust the auto lights, mine does the same thing.....


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## aintmisbehavinn (Feb 9, 2006)

:agree


GTODEALER said:


> :lol:


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