Too attached to my car? drivers door won't open.
04-11-2008, 09:47 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Too attached to my car? drivers door won't open.
Beautiful weekend and my car is at the dealership with a drivers door that won't open electrically, just with the cables. Dealer cannot figure it out so they called tech support and they are stumped? Now a call is into Bowling Green for help on Monday. Has anyone experienced this problem?
I must be crazy, feels like I'm lost with out my baby
I must be crazy, feels like I'm lost with out my baby
04-11-2008, 10:30 PM
#2
WARNING: LONG BORING STORY
I got my 05 used right before Christmas. It started doing this about a month later. Doors don't open and then they do. Window will index down but door won't open. Letting go of the door handle and the window indexes back up. Weirdest thing. Then one day while driving the window decided to index down and up, down and up. It's sporadic, like it's possessed or something. A dealer told me that it happens on some Vettes and they checked it out. I don't know the technical lingo but here is my layman's understanding. When you touch the door, the computer says, Hey, you're trying to open the door and it tells the door module to check for a registered fob. At the same time it tells the mechanical group to index the window down. The module then sends out the signal for the fob to respond. If the module does not get a response then it does not open the door. When you let go of the door handle the computer tells the mechanical equipment that the door is now shut and to put the window back up.
The problem is either in the fob or with the module. I replaced my battery in the fob and it didn't help. My dealership checked out the car and told me the module was at fault. It was either not sending the signal or not receiving the signal. They had to order it. That was a week ago. I went by there yesterday to have them replace it. Guess what? For the past week the doors open great without any work being done. The service manager / writer asked me to hold off and see what happens because they'll want to run the same test on it again just to make sure that they replace the right module, and if it's working OK then the test would be a moot point. My car is out of warranty and they couldn't get to it for about 5 or 6 hours. I had to be somewhere so I agreed that I'd hold off. So far it's working great. That is why I say it is the weirdest thing and sporadic.
Now, heres the rip. When it eventually does work, I can stand there and open and close the door repeatedly without incident. If I walk away and come back 5 minutes later it may not work. What I've learned to do is to just press lightly and let go. Watch the LED on the door. If the LED lights up the module is responding. If not, I don't think the module is responding.
But, just press and release until the LED starts responding. My experience is that as soon as the LED responds the door opens.
Now the indexing is a little different. The module seems to be confused as to the state of the door, Is it open or not. Here is what I do when that happens. If sitting still, like at a gas station or in the garage, turn the motor off and see if the door will open, if not, I consider the module confused as to where the fob is located. Try to reposition the fob and open the door. If the window indexes and door opens, get out and shut the door and lock the car. Then unlock and open the door, or just press the door open and the car will unlock and open the door (hopefully). Get in and drive. I've never had it refuse to work after turning everything off. If you're driving and the window indexes up and down, mine has always stopped doing it after a couple of miles. It's annoying as hell! Get to a dealership but until then, try some of these suggestions. Sometimes they work for me. It's just a computer and a reboot is sometimes necessary. If the module is bad then it ain't going to fix itself, unless it's like mine and the threat to take it to a dealership makes it work again.
Still, get professional help.
I got my 05 used right before Christmas. It started doing this about a month later. Doors don't open and then they do. Window will index down but door won't open. Letting go of the door handle and the window indexes back up. Weirdest thing. Then one day while driving the window decided to index down and up, down and up. It's sporadic, like it's possessed or something. A dealer told me that it happens on some Vettes and they checked it out. I don't know the technical lingo but here is my layman's understanding. When you touch the door, the computer says, Hey, you're trying to open the door and it tells the door module to check for a registered fob. At the same time it tells the mechanical group to index the window down. The module then sends out the signal for the fob to respond. If the module does not get a response then it does not open the door. When you let go of the door handle the computer tells the mechanical equipment that the door is now shut and to put the window back up.
The problem is either in the fob or with the module. I replaced my battery in the fob and it didn't help. My dealership checked out the car and told me the module was at fault. It was either not sending the signal or not receiving the signal. They had to order it. That was a week ago. I went by there yesterday to have them replace it. Guess what? For the past week the doors open great without any work being done. The service manager / writer asked me to hold off and see what happens because they'll want to run the same test on it again just to make sure that they replace the right module, and if it's working OK then the test would be a moot point. My car is out of warranty and they couldn't get to it for about 5 or 6 hours. I had to be somewhere so I agreed that I'd hold off. So far it's working great. That is why I say it is the weirdest thing and sporadic.
Now, heres the rip. When it eventually does work, I can stand there and open and close the door repeatedly without incident. If I walk away and come back 5 minutes later it may not work. What I've learned to do is to just press lightly and let go. Watch the LED on the door. If the LED lights up the module is responding. If not, I don't think the module is responding.
But, just press and release until the LED starts responding. My experience is that as soon as the LED responds the door opens.
Now the indexing is a little different. The module seems to be confused as to the state of the door, Is it open or not. Here is what I do when that happens. If sitting still, like at a gas station or in the garage, turn the motor off and see if the door will open, if not, I consider the module confused as to where the fob is located. Try to reposition the fob and open the door. If the window indexes and door opens, get out and shut the door and lock the car. Then unlock and open the door, or just press the door open and the car will unlock and open the door (hopefully). Get in and drive. I've never had it refuse to work after turning everything off. If you're driving and the window indexes up and down, mine has always stopped doing it after a couple of miles. It's annoying as hell! Get to a dealership but until then, try some of these suggestions. Sometimes they work for me. It's just a computer and a reboot is sometimes necessary. If the module is bad then it ain't going to fix itself, unless it's like mine and the threat to take it to a dealership makes it work again.
Still, get professional help.
Last edited by CHARMR; 04-11-2008 at 10:35 PM.
04-11-2008, 11:19 PM
#3
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Thanks for responding, was beginning to wonder if anyone else has had the same issue.
It's crazy but I understand. The dealer replaced 2 modules and then some controller under the dash. The door issue was sporadic and I waited until it just stopped working altogether, in hopes they could find the problem being that the door would not open, fricken crazy.
Did you get yours to work properly?
Bill
It's crazy but I understand. The dealer replaced 2 modules and then some controller under the dash. The door issue was sporadic and I waited until it just stopped working altogether, in hopes they could find the problem being that the door would not open, fricken crazy.
Did you get yours to work properly?
Bill
04-12-2008, 10:30 AM
#4
Race Director
Over three years of use I've found that the fob transmitter/reciever is sensitive to RF interference. Cell phones, cell towers, CB radios, Garage door openers, etc confuse the interface. One lane at one Bank drive thru always gives me the "No FOB detected, run or off?" message. not the other lanes, not at other Banks. If I have the cell in the car "sometimes" I get the "FOB not detected" message.
04-12-2008, 07:59 PM
#5
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
These Fobs are CRAZY!!!
I'm sure the dealer will figure it out. On Monday they are calling Bowling Green and connecting to the car to see what’s going on. Technology can be wild.
Bill
I'm sure the dealer will figure it out. On Monday they are calling Bowling Green and connecting to the car to see what’s going on. Technology can be wild.
Bill
