Key is reluctant to work.

[krassegrand]

My wife have had some problems with unlocking Lilla Svarten.
The key is hanging just inside the door in a room between the house and outside.
First time it did not react on unlocking and of course it did not start because of the mobilizer.
Then she opened the boot with the key and after that everything worked normally.
After that she had problems with getting the key to work every morning but it always came to life after a while. I had the car to work one day and there was no problems at all. Then yesterday evening she showed me that the unlock button did not work before the 4e push.
I suggested that she used my key to see if there was any difference. This time the keys was kept in the house and what do You know both keys worked perfectly.
Can it be that the key is to cold?
If that is so it explains why it works after a little while when holding it in the hand.
I guess the battery is ok because it does not flash 9 times.

Jörgen

[herman1rg]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

Cold is likely

[problemchild1976]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

both my wife and my sis have had their parrot hands free remote units stop working this week.

i took the wifes remote battery out and warmed it in my hands and it started working again.

i would replace the battery for now.

JJ

[madDan]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

Maybe when the battery in the fob is very cold it has a reduced rf power output accordingly from the fob.

On the Roady the 9 flashes means it's out of sync it does not indicate the power level.

How old are the batteries?

Like JJ suggests replace all your keyfob batteries before you are left stranded.

[krassegrand]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

On the Roady the 9 flashes means it's out of sync it does not indicate the power level.

Is that really so?
I will have a look in the manual.

Jörgen

[krassegrand]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

As You clearly see below the light flashes 9 times when the battery in the key is almost empty.

Så ser du om batteriet i nyckeln snart är
tömt:
Blinkersen blinkar 9 gånger i snabb följd
när bilen låses.
Orsak:
> Fjärrkontrollbatteriet är nästan
tomt.
> Du kan använda fjärrkontrollen ca
100 gånger till.
Avhjälpande åtgärd:
> Byt fjärrkontrollbatteriet eller
> Låt en auktoriserad verkstad, t ex
smart center, byta
fjärrkontrollbatteriet.

Cut from my Swedish manual!

Jörgen

[madDan]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

The manual is a cut and paste of the 42 manual - it is wrong if it flashes 9 times on the Roady your key needs reprogramming.

[krassegrand]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

"BA_roadster.pdf"
is the name of the file and
"Instruktionsbok
smart roadster och smart roadster coupé"
is the writing on the front!
But I would not be surprised if is wrong and You are right.

Jörgen

[137699]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

9 flashes is "supposed" to mean low battery. In 99% of cases though it actually means de-sync'd key.

Be that Roadster OR ForTwo.

[krassegrand]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

Ok, so A new battery will be a test.
But now it seems it is not that cold any more.

Jörgen

[Kapt. Q]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

Lithium batteries are affected by the cold, this makes them unable to discharge properly, untill warmed they can efffectively be dead (so low the car doesn't pick it up let alone realize battery is dying), particularly if they are already towards the end of their lifespan.

In the UK the CR1225 battery it uses is not commonly sold in shops, in an emergency a CR1220 which is commonly stocked can be used as it has the same specs except it is slightly thinner and therefore will not last as long.

Cheers!

[krassegrand]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

Well I am going to act from the knowledge that the problem is cold maybe combined with low battery.
Unused battery's are kept in my wallet and Zoricas purse.

Jörgen

[intermilan]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

It might not have nothing to do with this, it is good for others to know.

I was washing my Roadster and I opened the garage with my remote, then all of a sudden the key to the car did not work. It would not open the door, or start the car. Then I noticed the button on my garage remote was stuck and the signal was interfering with the key. If I did not notice, I was already ready to use the spare key.
What I learned was that these keys are very sensitive to signals from other devices.

[krassegrand]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

Something like that was my first suspicion because we also temporarily loose some TV-channels now and then.

Jörgen

[BBE]

Re: Key is reluctant to work.

The manual is a cut and paste of the 42 manual - it is wrong if it flashes 9 times on the Roady your key needs reprogramming.

Apparantly not always so.
We recently had a case on the norwegian smart forum where a spare key was
reported to give 9 flashes. Replacing batteries brought it back to normal.
Bjorn