Weird AU oddity part 2........ What's next?

Bushbasher · 21-05-2013, 08:23 PM

We have 2 sets of keys for both our cars so I have one remote and key for each car and so does the missus. Anyway, the other day her remote for the Fairlane started playing up and refused to open the car so this morning I reprogrammed both remotes again and then tested them and all was good. This afternoon I walked out to jump in the Fairlane and went to unlock it and my remote refused to open it. Hmmm..., so I went and got the missus remote and it worked fine and off I went. This is strange in itself as her remote was the one that was playing up and mine has been fine since the last time I did a battery change, hmmmmmm....
Later this afternoon I went to go to town and take the wagon so grabbed my keys and off I went , unlocked her car no worries and off I went. When I got back and parked up next to the Fairlane, and as I was walking away, I locked the wagon with the remote and out of the corner of my eye I saw the lights on the Fairlane flash WTF!!! I stopped and turned around and pressed the remote again and sure enough BOTH cars beeped at me and flashed the lights to indicate they are locked.

, . Oooo...kkkk, so it has been known to happen that more than one car can have the same frequency at the same time but the odds of both your cars winding up like that at the same time are pretty astronomical. Now here's the really strange bit; My remote for the wagon opens both cars but her remote for the wagon won't. Also, my Fairlane remote is still out to lunch and won't open anything and her Fairlane remote will only open the Fairlane, go figure.

This is all very strange so now I'm waiting for the 3rd thing to happen cos we all know things like this always happen in 3s'. First weird thing is the wagons fuel economy seems to be linked somehow to the airbag system and now the wagons remote is getting weird on me so what's next I wonder...............................cue the X Files music.........

Bushbasher

KR1STO · 21-05-2013, 08:45 PM

Hahahaha..!!!
Now that's an oddity..

Maka · 22-05-2013, 08:59 AM

Just wondering Bushy, when you reprogrammed the remotes where the two cars in close proximity? A "maybe" plausible explanation, i'm not sure if its possible though lol!

cheers, Maka

Bushbasher · 22-05-2013, 11:08 AM

Yup, they were parked next to each other but the wagon was locked when I programmed the Fairlane plus just about every other time the remotes for both cars has ever been reprogrammed both cars have been within a couple of car lengths of each other. I can't imagine that would have any effect though as it's the individual car that is activated to send out a fresh frequency and pair with the remote not the other way round. Could you imagine the mayhem inside a dealership every time a remote was reprogrammed if all the same model vehicles within spitting distance of each other suddenly reacted to the reprogramming.

Bushbasher

EFFalcon · 22-05-2013, 11:31 AM

sounds like you programmed the wrong remote.

the keypads only have a single code on them.

when you do the sequence in the car to reprogram remotes, it forgets any existing codes and then remembers any you activate at that time.

Its easy to have a single remote linked to multiple cars.

if you activated the learning sequence on your car right now, and i pressed the button on my remote.
my remote would open your car, aswell as mine.

Mr Hardware · 22-05-2013, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EFFalcon

sounds like you programmed the wrong remote.

the keypads only have a single code on them.

when you do the sequence in the car to reprogram remotes, it forgets any existing codes and then remembers any you activate at that time.

Its easy to have a single remote linked to multiple cars.

if you activated the learning sequence on your car right now, and i pressed the button on my remote.
my remote would open your car, aswell as mine.

are you suuure???

Bushbasher · 22-05-2013, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EFFalcon

sounds like you programmed the wrong remote.

the keypads only have a single code on them.

when you do the sequence in the car to reprogram remotes, it forgets any existing codes and then remembers any you activate at that time.

Its easy to have a single remote linked to multiple cars.

if you activated the learning sequence on your car right now, and i pressed the button on my remote.
my remote would open your car, aswell as mine.

Nope, my Fairlane remote is colour coded with some silver nail polish to distinguish it from the wagon remote on my key ring and the missus' Fairlane remote and key is separated from her key ring at the moment so I know it was both Fairlane remotes I was programming plus the wagon was locked with no key in it at all so the wagons smartshield was inactive. I can see how the Fairlane could randomly pick the same frequency that the wagon happens to be on and thus my wagon remote would open both cars but that doesn't explain why my wagon remote is the only one that does it. Her wagon remote only opens the wagon and her Fairlane remote will only open the Fairlane..... and my Fairlane remote is out to lunch and won't open either car after opening the Fairlane when I initially did the reprogramming.

The only thing I can think of that might be plausible is that the Fairlane picked a frequency that was only a point or two off of the wagons frequency but close enough that my wagon remote activates both cars and the other remotes are a bees d!ck the other side of their respective cars frequency just far enough off channel to only be recognised by their own car and not the other, if that makes sense. Either that or my wagon remote is faulty and broadcasting a more unfocused signal that happens to encompass both cars frequencies, which must still be awfully close to each other.

Also, you're wrong about the remotes having only one code. If that was the case you wouldn't be able to program 2 or more remotes to the one car as how would you know if the 2 remotes you have are the same code . and if they were only one code then one remote would open every car which it doesn't. What happens is that the Smartshield, once activated in programming mode, sends out a code at random and when you press the remote it searches till it finds a signal and locks on to that code that's why you can program multiple remotes at one time. Each time you press a remote it searches till it finds the same signal and locks onto it thus you have multiple remotes with the same code. If you pressed your remote near my car while I happened to be reprogramming then your remote would open my car but I can guarantee it won't open your car any more unless by some miracle my car happened to pick the same code your car happened to be on.

Bushbasher

EFFalcon · 23-05-2013, 09:21 AM

They all operate on the same signal (303.8Mhz), the relearning procedure wipes the BCM's memory and then stores the remotes unique code in the BCM's memory. Which is why you need to reprogram all remotes at the same time.

unless the remote itself is able to change its unique code (which may be the case) then that remote would still be able to unlock the other car it was originally programmed to.

They do use a rolling code, but it really depends on the specifics of how thats implemented as to if it would render the remote useless on another car.

the point is, if its just freshly been programmed on one car, and the other car still has memory of the last used code, the next time or few times its used, it may function on both cars, until the rolling code goes out of range.

but if your certain you programmed the correct remote, then no idea :P

Bushbasher · 23-05-2013, 02:18 PM

Yup, ok, my bad for using the wrong terminology, the frequency is static and the codes change. It's the BCM that picks the code and the remote scans till it finds the code and then the two pair up. Bottom line though is that a freshly programmed remote should only be able to open the car it was programmed to unless by some fluke the BCM happened to pick the same code as a car near it. It still doesn't explain how only one of the two remotes coded to the wagon for the last 2 years can suddenly open the Fairlane and is the only remote that can. The freshly programmed Fairlane remotes won't open the wagon but will open the Fairlane, well one does anyway, as I said, the other had stopped opening anything even though the light is flashing and it did open the Fairlane when I first programmed it.

Maka · 23-05-2013, 02:24 PM

No doubt a truly baffling situation lol! I think i would try learning the remote again with no cars around, to see what the outcome is & go from there. Hope you get it sorted asap mate!

cheers, Maka

Bushbasher · 23-10-2013, 07:49 AM

Just thought I'd update this thread as I've now had the third oddity show itself. It seems it wasn't the remote that was doing odd things, but is the #1 Fairlane. I say is, because after buying the second Fairlane and re-coding the remotes from the first car to the second, now the colour coded Fairlane remote is able to open both Fairlanes!. This is the same remote that stopped opening the #1 Fairlane after being freshly coded to it in the OP. So this tells me that it must be the #1 Fairlanes' BCM that is getting a big vague in it's old age as it was one of the wagon remotes that was opening the 2 cars last time.

Life is always interesting in an AU,

Bushbasher