Remote locks the LS just fine. But barely unlocks?

lseguy

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THe trunk release works fine, the panic works fine, locking the doors works fine. BUt the unlock feature has slowly started to deteriorate. I now have to carefully and firmly press the unlock button 7-8 times before the LSE unlocks. I've put in a new remote battery, and tried with my backup remote (which is basically brand new still) with a brand new battery in it. Same results. Car unlocks perfectly fine with key in the doorlock.

ANy suggestions?
 
if the car attempts to unlock, then the car is getting the signal fine, the batteries in the remote wont have an effect on this (low batteries will effect the range, not how well the locks do their job)

does this happen to all doors or just one or two of them?

your problem is probably your actuators (the part that actually does the locking and unlocking) are dying. you can take them apart and re lube them, but they will probably need to be replaced.


if this affects all your doors, then it could be something else, you may have a wiring problem that is limiting current to the actuators...
 
If it (all doors) unlock fine with the key and with the switches inside, then the problem is the remote. I suspect that the unlock button on the remote itself is failing. I personally had exactly this problem two or three years ago. I fixed it by using another (spare) remote and tossing the problem one. It made sense to me. The unlock button is the button that I use the most, by a wide margin. (I almost always lock the car by pressing the last two buttons on the keypad on the door, not by the remote.)
 
really, thats wild, if it was a problem with the remote and the car wasn't getting the signal, why would it even attempt to unlock?


EDIT: I reread through that and think I may have assumed something... when you say that it " barely unlocks", do you mean that every time it tries but doesn't have the strength to fully unlock the doors, and multiple attempts finally move the lock into position. or do you mean that you have to press the button 7 or 8 times before the car even responds. (I thought you meant the first when I read through it...) if not my response is not likely and I agree with joe
 
I just fixed this issue a few months ago. due to age dust And other factors, the contacts tend to go. Pry the remote apart with a screwdriver, remove the battery, and pull out the circuit board. Depending on which version of the remote you have, you will see a separate plastic piece with a few metal contacts. What you're seeing is the "membrane." These contacts are supposed to be shiny and clean to allow proper contact when you press the button. Take a razor blade and gently ( I emphasize gently) scratch the underside where it sits ontop the circuit board. You will see it turn from dull to shiny as you etch away at all the years of use and dirt.

Now that you cleaned the membrane, you can reassemble the remote and test it out. If for some reason it does the same, check if you put the membrane back correctly. If you did and its still not working, disassemble again and clean the circuit board. To do this, use a toothbrush and pure acetone and brush away at the gold contacts under the membrane. Allow the board to sit in the sun for 30 minutes to assure it has dried properly. Reassemble and try it out!
 
Mine actually had individual micro-switches soldered to the PCB. All the previous ones that I've had either had carbon pills (like a TV remote) or the snap domes like you describe.
 
thanks for confirming that joe. I bought a few from ebay that arrived after i fixed mine and they too had micro switches instead of membranes. I have taken apart a few of those microswitches and found that they have a snap dome inside that is pushed down by the plastic block ontop. Hence the reason why you hear that lovely "click" when you press them. Nonetheless, these can be cleaned by dousing the switch in pure acetone and allowing it to sit for a minute or two and then scrubbing away at them. It works equally well.
 
I just fixed this issue a few months ago. due to age dust And other factors, the contacts tend to go. Pry the remote apart with a screwdriver, remove the battery, and pull out the circuit board. Depending on which version of the remote you have, you will see a separate plastic piece with a few metal contacts. What you're seeing is the "membrane." These contacts are supposed to be shiny and clean to allow proper contact when you press the button. Take a razor blade and gently ( I emphasize gently) scratch the underside where it sits ontop the circuit board. You will see it turn from dull to shiny as you etch away at all the years of use and dirt.

Now that you cleaned the membrane, you can reassemble the remote and test it out. If for some reason it does the same, check if you put the membrane back correctly. If you did and its still not working, disassemble again and clean the circuit board. To do this, use a toothbrush and pure acetone and brush away at the gold contacts under the membrane. Allow the board to sit in the sun for 30 minutes to assure it has dried properly. Reassemble and try it out!

Thanks much and yes, this was the EXACT problem. I had forgotten that my backup remote actually wasnt almost new like I mentioned in the first post. I had used it for the first 5 years I had the car (its a 2002 that I bought new) and now that I recall, ran into the same issue, then put it away in a safe and started using the one Im using now. (the backup). Took both apart, cleaned the gunk and some sort of sticky residue from the circuit board and now works as good as new. I used rubbing alcohol and a paper towel to clean it all. THanks again
 
You're welcome. Glad to hear you've got it fixed.

Just for the record, in case the remote completely stops interacting with the car, there's a small chip soldered onto the back most part of the board. Simply removing this chip with a hot air station, applying new solder to the pads, and resoldering the chip back onto the board; you will have a functioning remote once again.
 
Thanks much and yes, this was the EXACT problem. I had forgotten that my backup remote actually wasnt almost new like I mentioned in the first post. I had used it for the first 5 years I had the car (its a 2002 that I bought new) and now that I recall, ran into the same issue, then put it away in a safe and started using the one Im using now. (the backup). Took both apart, cleaned the gunk and some sort of sticky residue from the circuit board and now works as good as new. I used rubbing alcohol and a paper towel to clean it all. THanks again

so I thought I'd clean mine out... Distance has been shortening.

I noticed a smaller third contact point between the alarm and trunk? use?
 
so I thought I'd clean mine out... Distance has been shortening.

I noticed a smaller third contact point between the alarm and trunk? use?

Distance shortened after cleaning? That third contact point seems to act as a second contact point for the panic button; at least per my experience. Short the contacts with a flat screw driver or tweezer and see. It seems that this remote can be used for 5 options if programmed to the right car but the LS isn't one of them.
 
Distance shortened after cleaning? That third contact point seems to act as a second contact point for the panic button; at least per my experience. Short the contacts with a flat screw driver or tweezer and see.
No before... thought i'd try first though..(they were dirty everywhere else though)

It seems that this remote can be used for 5 options if programmed to the right car but the LS isn't one of them.

I figured this was more the case.... but a guy could dream.
 
So turns out the issue keeps returning. Upon inspection of the fob internals it appears that the thin membrane part (thin plastic sheet that resides on the underside of the rubber buttons but on top of the actual circuit board) has worn down where the membrane touches the part of circuit board that emits the unlock the car signal. So I basically turned that membrane 180degrees so that I'm now using the nearly new part of the membrane that was previously being used for the rarely used panic button. Long term I ordered two new fobs off of eBay for $8 and will use the new rubber buttons and new membranes from those. I would just use the entire new fobs themselves but I don't want to pay dealership to program them to the car
 
you'll probably get the newer version that features the microswitches. If so the swap will be useless since the rubber pieces are different and has no membrane.
 
you'll probably get the newer version that features the microswitches. If so the swap will be useless since the rubber pieces are different and has no membrane.

Wish I would have seen this post before the order. Lol. You are mostly correct. I was able to use the new rubber but yes, no membrane on new version. Best solution to my original problem remains turning membrane 180 degrees. Pic on right is membrane in original position and pic on left is after I rotated the membrane 180

A few pics ImageUploadedByTapatalk1412376920.948001.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1412376937.557738.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1412376920.948001.jpg


ImageUploadedByTapatalk1412376937.557738.jpg
 
I bought two microswitch remotes on eBay. They look identical to the one you posted, including markings. Both unlocks suck and take 10 pushes to work. One goes to my LS, one I gave to my dad's 03 Taurus. Meanwhile, the other two clicking remotes I have works just fine. They came with the car and have filled-in symbols on the rubber buttons. The sluggish remote has outlined symbols.
 

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