I did some searching, but I must be using the wrong terms, or am suffering from a case of cranial rectal insertion.

Starting last weekend, my driver's side door has decided it won't unlock for me anymore. Also, when I click the trunk release button on the fob, the hatch won't open. At first, I thought maybe my battery was dead, so I opened the hatch with the key...and the alarm went off. I pulled the manual door release cable, then opened the door the rest of the way and the alarm stopped. The car started and all was fine, I ran a couple errands, and thought little of it.

Then I went to open the car last night, and the hatch and driver's side door wouldn't open again. The passenger side opens fine.

I tried the unlock button on the fob, as well as my other fob, thinking maybe the battery in my fob was low. Once I get the door open (by opening the passenger door), everything works fine.

Anyone had a similar issue? I am taking a couple days off this week, so I will be able to take it to the dealer to get this looked at, but if I don't have to, I'd rather use that time for relaxing.


TIA

-Mike

 

About a month before I had to replace the battery in my 06 coupe, the fob would not unlock the rear hatch. For about the first 2 weeks, it would still unlock the driver's door on the first pull, then I had to press the fob UNLOCK button 2 or 3 times.

So, may or may not be the car battery about to go.

 

It's the original battery and my car is an '06, so I won't be shocked if it is the battery. No pun intended.


-Mike

 

Sounds like your battery. Have a battery load test done. They will do it at most any car parts place. But it is about time for a new one. Good luck.

 

Update: I took the car to a parts store and had the battery tested. I almost murdered the kid at the shop, since he thought it would be a good idea to set the alligator clips down on my fender!

Battery tested ok, and starting the car was never a problem once I got in, so I took it to the dealership where I bought it, since I have an extended warranty. Of course, when I went to pull the car out of my garage to take it to them, the doors opened fine. They couldn't re-create the problem after three days, so I brought it home. The next day, the doors started acting up again! On top of that, I got a little spirited on the way back from lunch, and the Service Active Handling Light message came up. I did some searching, and some of the posts again pointed to a bad battery (voltage weirdness).

I figured it wouldn't hurt to get a new battery anyway, so I did. I tried it again this morning and...nope. That didn't fix it. I knew I was going to be out running errands today, so I popped the batteries out of my fobs and slipped one into my pocket. While I was out, I bought a new pair of batteries for the fobs. I got home, popped the new batteries in and VOILA! Door locks work, trunk release works, and all at better distance than before. It seems weird to me that BOTH fobs would do this at the same time, but whatever. While I don't mind having a new battery that should last a while, it's still a shame that I spent that money when a $6 pack of batteries would have sufficed. It's also a shame the dealer couldn't re-create the problem and saved me the time and effort.

Oh well. Live and learn! At least she's back on the road.


-Mike

 

It makes sense that a weak fob battery would affect the operation of your locks/etc.

And if they were the OEM batteries from '06, you're lucky they lasted this long.

But the 'Service Active Handling' issue is unrelated to the fob. Do you know if your car has had the TSB addressing this problem performed?

If not, get it done ASAP, and when you get the warning, turn off the car to reset and immediately after startup, turn AH off.

This will prevent the car from intervening with potentially disastrous results.

Searching for this topic will produce tons of info, including cases where the TSB-connector fix didn't correct the problem.

And there is a Sticky Form to fill out to report this to the feds.

 

I have a fairly new Optima car battery and have recently replaced both fob batteries and guess what...? Yup, same thing happens to me.

I usually open the trunk before I open the driver's door. About 1/3 of the time the fob will not open the trunk. I then open & shut one of the doors and then the trunk will open with a click of the fob.

The other scenario is the driver door will not open. I then start my ritual of moving my mobile phone to a different pocket, using a different hand on the door, locking/unlocking the door button on the fob, ad infinitum.

It always opens eventually but sometimes it takes a few. I'm lucky this calamity has never happened in front of anyone

 

Mine got to a point where the only way I could consistently get in the car was to open the trunk with the key (which sets the alarm off), pull the door handle release, and open the door to stop the alarm. Pretty embarrassing when you're taking a friend to lunch.


-Mike

 

What threw me was the fact that both fobs went haywire at the same time. Had my #1 gone out and the #2 worked, it would have been an easy diagnosis. Since both went out, I thought (incorrectly, obviously) that it had to be something else.


-Mike

 

I'll one up ya. :P
Brand new red top Optima, Fresh battery in the fob. Still have to push the unlock button on the fob numerous times before it will unlock.
Sometimes it opens the first time, sometimes I have to stand there and keep trying. PLUS, once I get in the car, I get "No Fobs Detected" on the DIC and I have to continually hit the lock/unlock buttons again for the car to start.

Perhaps need a new fob, a bad ground somewhere, or maybe even the BCM is going bad. I've read enough threads here with C6 owners having issues with all three.

 

Possibly electical interference from a cellphone on your belt, or something plugged into the power outlets in your car?
GM has issued warnings about that.

Also happens to me occasionally because I've got too much metal junk in the pocket with my fob- keys for house and other cars, Swiss Army knife, small flashlight, etc. Gotta stir the pocket stuff around to get a good fob action.