I went to start my car Monday morning, and found that my intelligent key was dead. Luckily, I was at home, and I had the ability to try the spare key. It worked, so I was able to get to work.

Thinking that I had suffered the fate of the CELL PHONE SCRAMBLE, I made an appointment at the dealer to have the keys re-learned.

When I got home, I attempted to use the dead battery port in the dash, just for kicks-and-giggles. Sure enough, it worked. The battery in the fob was dead.

Does it seem strange at all to anyone else that the battery in my key fob only lasted 3 months??

 

perhaps you had a button depressed for a long period in error and it killed the battery?

those batteries and mass produced for cost, not quality. i'm sure 5% fail in the 1st 3 months

 

Slightly different situation, but I've noticed the range on my fob has become pretty limited; it shows up most when lowering the windows from outside, I have to be within about twenty feet for it to start. The range is slightly longer for doors / trunk, guess because that's a burst vs. sustained signal?

 

Yes it seems strange. Lithium batteries (all of them) have a TEN YEAR self life. That doesn't mean they will last ten years, It just means you can use it ten years later and there will still be SOME juice left.

That's why I recommend that if you keep a flashlight in your car, use one that requires the CR123 lithium batteries. It will most likely work when you need it.

 

It is not strange because you dont know how long the battery has been sitting in the warehouse before it was shipped to be installed in the key fob. You might not know how long it is sitting before they ship it. They are basically a watch battery and it might die within the first year. If you get a new one it should last longer but the more it is used, it will die faster.

 

Plus, these batteries (included in the fob from the factory) may not be off the same quality level of Duracell/Energizer.

 

Battery life may also be reduced if the button are used (more energy needed for RF transmission?) than if the the ikey is just used passively.

 

Actually, I'm wondering if the key is active all the time; it knows when you get in and when you leave, so is it constantly transmitting?

 

I don't know how this works, but I'd guess that it's actually the car that's constantly transmitting, with the key passively responding - sort of like RFID.

 

Isn't the little slot in the dash there in case the battery in the FOB dies? Am I missing something in this equation? I'm sure it is a PITA but you can still use the car, right?

 

If the code has been erased, an extra battery won't help anymore than the slot.

 

Right, but this thread is about the battery dying not the cell phone problem. That's why I was asking.

 

The first troubleshooting method is to put the key in the slot not go get the other fob. if it starts then you know that you need a new battery. if not then you go grab the other fob and go to the dealership.

 

I never use the buttons on the remote. Only the buttons on the door.

 

Even though I can always use the fob port, I still keep a spare battery in my glove compartment. Occasionally, a button in my I-key gets depressed while in my pocket. About 3 or 4 times while at home, the button that sets off the car horn got depressed. There's probably other occasions when other buttons get depressed and I just don't notice. I never actually use any buttons in the remote. I lock and unlock the car using the door handle. I would love to have some sort of hard cover for the remote, not to protect it from scratches, but to prevent its hard buttons from getting depressed, which would shorten battery life (and occasionally cause my car horn to go off when I'm at home).