Happy New Year everyone! I have a question regarding when I go to unlock my '05 door with the key fob after the car has been idle for a couple of weeks. I'm trying to start it every couple of weeks after it sits in the garage. But when I go to unlock the doors, I hit the unlock button on the fob and neither door will unlock until after several tries of pushing the unlock button and then for some reason, it will unlock seemingly just before I'm about to give up on it. Could it be the battery in the fob that is running down? Once I get the door open, the car starts right up. And after I get the door open and go and lock it again, I can open it up again after with no problem after I lock it. it's just the initial attempt to unlock it.

 

Mine takes two presses of the unlock button to actually unlock the doors. Might be something in the DIC settings, IDK.

I am OK with this as it keeps my car locked if the fob is accidentally pressed in my pocket. Just walk up to the door and open it with the fob in your pocket as usual.

Only time I use the fob is to let my wife in as I go pay for the gas or something.

 

Thanks! Mine typically takes 2 presses when I use it as my DD. Now that I got a winter car (needed in CT), it sits idle for a couple of weeks. I may have to start it 1x per week or hook it to a battery tender which I'd rather not mess with.

 

Do the tender...20 bux at Walmart. Unless you start the car and drive it for an hour (or so) you are taking more out of the battery than you are putting in plus you are generating moisture in the engine/exhaust/etc.
Just sayin...

 

Get a tender and plug it into the cigarette lighter outlet. Simple.

 

 

You shouldn't need to touch the fob unlock button to open the doors when they are locked. The car will sense the fob in your pocket to unlock the door to unlock it, and open it at the same time when you put pressure on the door pads.


So it sounds like a maybe a battery tender is needed (Ctek 3300 is a good one, and the car should be on a tender if you are not going to drive it for a week or more), and you may need pull the door pads to clean them.
Note, If I know that I'm not going to drive the Vet for a few days, will put it on the tender. The more you keep the battery up on a full charge, the longer is going to last.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-fix-easy.html

Also, while you have the contract cleaner out, good time to pull the rear hatch button above the rear license plate to give it a good cleaning as well.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-pictures.html

 

You are doing a lot more damage to the car by starting it every couple of weeks than just pulling the battery and taking it inside for the winter. Even inside a battery tender will make the battery live 7-10 years rather than 3-4. It pays for itself the first time you prematurely replace a battery.

As far as opening the doors, the fact that it opens "properly" after running the car could mean that you are idling the car for half an hour or more and charging a weak/failing car battery. A weak FOB battery typically won't open any easier after the 10th try than the first. It just gets intermittent and the more you try the more intermittent it gets.

On the other hand, maybe I'm misreading what you are saying and your issue is a dirty/corroded door pad that gets better with use. Or it could be a sticky door latch. When you pull the door pad and the door doesn't open, does the red light go on solid? If yes then it is the FOB/car communications that at fault typically from a weak battery. If it flashes then it is the door latch solenoid that is sticky. If it doesn't go on at all it is the door pad that is dirty.

 

Lots of people say to not start the car at all during storage, but a GM engineer said he prefers an occasional start. Every month or two?

My own procedure is to start it every couple of weeks (if the streets are too salty to drive) and let it idle while I exercise every switch and control in the car. That takes a while. Then, go up and down my 50 yd driveway several times; starting in different gears, turning the steering full lock, etc. In other words, exercising the whole car and not just running the engine for a few minutes.

Oil changes get sent to Blackstone Labs, they show no difference in my winter oil run compared to my summer run, so I'm convinced it's not hurting anything. How much good it does, hard to say...