Manual start with dead key fob does not work

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backfield5560

Member
Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
7
I have a 2013 Leaf with two key fobs, one for me and one for my wife. My wife does not drive the Leaf that often, but she did tonight and when she arrived she found she could not lock the door with the lock button nor could she restart the car she was just driving. The battery in her fob is dead, and has been replaced, but meanwhile try as we may we could not get the Leaf to start with the dead fob.

We read the manual and followed the procedure. We tried pushing and releasing the park button, then pushing and holding the brake, then putting the fob with its back flat against the power button (as illustrated in the manual). We tried pushing and holding the park button while also pushing and holding the break and putting the fob against the power button. The car did not chime, and we could never get it into ready to drive mode. It is very disconcerting to think that we may get stuck somewhere and can't start the car. What are we doing wrong? Does this procedure actually work for anyone, or it is just an elaborate joke?
 
I've done this several times with no issue. Just put your foot on the brake, and then touch the key fob against the power button until it lights up, and then press the power button to turn the car on. I use the end of the Fob opposite from where the manual key is stored. I find that if I use the door handle button to lock and unlock the car, and not the button on the Fob, that the Fob battery lasts longer. To avoid any issues or accidents, I never take the Fob out of my pocket, unless absolutely necessary.
 
Yes, I got almost 3 years on my original fob battery. I always open and close the doors by pressing the buttons on the door handles. that way I guarantee myself that the car is locked.
 
Thanks for the video link, that was helpful. It turns out that starting the car with my dead key fob works, but not with hers. Her fob works fine with a battery, why would the car not recognize it when it is dead? I tried pointing it every which way and taking the electronic guts out and using those without the case...nothing. With mine the car chimes immediately, is hers not fully programmed to the car, or is there some setting or something, or does only the "primary" key fob work dead, or is the fob just bad?
 
pjstadig said:
Thanks for the video link, that was helpful. It turns out that starting the car with my dead key fob works, but not with hers. Her fob works fine with a battery, why would the car not recognize it when it is dead? I tried pointing it every which way and taking the electronic guts out and using those without the case...nothing. With mine the car chimes immediately, is hers not fully programmed to the car, or is there some setting or something, or does only the "primary" key fob work dead, or is the fob just bad?

If you've exposed the "guts" of the fob and still no joy, I'd say something about it is "bad".
I also use the door buttons to lock/unlock my Leaf, which has resulted in a long time between battery replacements (I think I've replaced 1 in 6+ years).
 
It's possible that the "dead" function actually requires some minimal battery level to function, and your wife's having sat for long time got too dead, although I would not have thought so. You could try swapping the "dead" batteries to see if the behavior follows the battery to verify. However, I think that most likely there is a fault that is keeping the one fob from working while dead. You would have to replace it to fix.

BTW, I've heard of fobs going dead prematurely because they are kept within range of the car when not in use. If you habitually leave them close to the car (say adjacent to a wall between the house and garage) you might try picking different spot.
 
We bought the Leaf used less than a year ago. I replaced the battery in my fob because it was low. I thought I had replaced hers too, but I guess I didn't.

My wife almost never drives the Leaf, and therefore almost never uses her fob.

Neither of us uses the unlock buttons on the fob. We lock/unlock on the door.

I'm not really concerned about how or why her fob's battery is dead. The point is that it will not start the car even when it is dead.

My fob will start the Leaf with the battery completely removed. Hers will not, but will work with a charged battery.

I guess it is a bad fob (well "bad" in the sense that it works with a battery, but not without). I suppose I could bring it in to the dealer and see if they can repair/replace the fob. I'm afraid it will be way more expensive than it needs to be.
 
pjstadig said:
My fob will start the Leaf with the battery completely removed. Hers will not, but will work with a charged battery.

Sounds like a defect with the RFID in her fob.
 
Nubo said:
pjstadig said:
My fob will start the Leaf with the battery completely removed. Hers will not, but will work with a charged battery.

Sounds like a defect with the RFID in her fob.

Yep, you beat me to it -- The passive RFID chip uses a separate antenna from the active portions of the fob. It requires no battery, and quite possibly shares no circuitry whatsoever with the rest of the fob. Something in that portion of the fob may be broken -- possibly damaged during a previous battery replacement.

Or, here's another option: I don't know how the fobs are registered with the car -- is it possible that there's a two-step process to register both the RFID portion and the active portion separately? If so, perhaps someone completed only half of this process.
 
You could try taking it to the dealer. Explain the problem, and see if you can get them to re-do the pairing process to see if it fixes the problem. Both FOBs need to be there when the pairing is done. They may want to charge you to do the pairing. If so, I would get another FOB and have them pair all three at once. See what they charge for a FOB, and if they have any issues with you providing your own. There are dealers that will sell a new FOB for around $100, and you can buy them on Ebay and Amazon. Be sure to get a blank key with it. Dealers typically charge around $300 to provide a brand-new FOB, cut the key, and do the pairing procedure. Sometimes you can get them to do the pairing for just the labor charge (around $80 - $100), if you provide the FOBs.
 
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