[evme]

I recently purchased a used 2014 Volt. It works great except that sometimes the button on the driver door handle won't unlock the doors. When this happens I have to manually unlock the door (this also sets off the car alarm, which is annoying). Once I'm inside and try to start the car I will also get a key fob not detected warning so have to manually start the car. Most of the time, say 9 times out of 10, I am able to use the car door handles to unlock and then start the car as normal.

I don't believe the key fob battery is low because in the times when this happens, when pressing the door handle button to unlock, I hear a slight noise and notice a light come on inside on the dash -- so it appears that the signal is being received but the doors are not unlocking. I am speculating that the 12V battery might be dying. Any assistance is appreciated.

 

[TSquare]

Could be the 12 volt battery getting weak. Another possibility is anything plugged in to any of the power ports. A known issue is a cheap power supply plugged into the car sometimes introduces electrical noise that interferes with the fob receiver.

 

[2VoltFamily]

Does this happen with both Key Fobs?

 

[Loboc]

First thing is to replace the fob batteries. They last about two years. I just did both of mine and they are less than 3 years old.

The first symptom was not recognizing the fob to enter the car. I had to press the unlock button. Surprisingly, they both failed at the same time even though I regularly use just one and the other sits in the key case.

Like any battery, cold will affect performance.

 

[Barry]

I would not bother looking into anything until you replace the fob batteries. It sounds like that to me. It is a relatively common 2032 battery, and changing it is easy. Just flip out the metal key, then pull the back off of the fob.

 

[ChevyEMF]

Yep, my fob issues were weirdly intermittent and all of the issues went away with a new fob battery. Just don't do what I did and take the battery out of the package and put it directly into the fob. It didn't work. I had left the plastic film on the underside of the battery! I didn't have to turn it over to take it out of the package or to put it in the fob in the right orientation, so I didn't notice it there.

 

[evme]

Does this happen with both Key Fobs?

Yes it does

 

[evme]

Yep, my fob issues were weirdly intermittent and all of the issues went away with a new fob battery. Just don't do what I did and take the battery out of the package and put it directly into the fob. It didn't work. I had left the plastic film on the underside of the battery! I didn't have to turn it over to take it out of the package or to put it in the fob in the right orientation, so I didn't notice it there.

Just ordered replacement batteries. I guess I should have done that first but I assumed it was something with the car. Thanks for the heads up on the plastic film on the underside of the battery -- that seems like something I would miss also!

 

[russella]

evme: how did you make out? If batteries didn't fix it (didn't help me with this situation) you might look into replacing the RCDLR module...this thread has info: http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?228202

For me that fixed -- poor remote range when pressing buttons on fob, intermittent very slow response time when pressing door buttons or rear hatch button (passive unlock mode), and occasional TPMS warnings.

 

[El Dobro]

I had the same thing happen, it was a loose battery terminal. I tightened the clamp and it hasn't happened again.

 

[russella]

I had the same thing happen, it was a loose battery terminal. I tightened the clamp and it hasn't happened again.

You mean the battery terminal on the 12V vehicle battery here, right?

I've been meaning to check mine after seeing some reports here of loose battery cable clamps causing overheating of the wiring and damage to the cable/fuse block at the battery.

 

[El Dobro]

You mean the battery terminal on the 12V vehicle battery here, right?

I've been meaning to check mine after seeing some reports here of loose battery cable clamps causing overheating of the wiring and damage to the cable/fuse block at the battery.

Yep, snugged the nuts up and haven't had any problems since.

 

[evme]

evme: how did you make out? If batteries didn't fix it (didn't help me with this situation) you might look into replacing the RCDLR module...this thread has info: http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?228202

For me that fixed -- poor remote range when pressing buttons on fob, intermittent very slow response time when pressing door buttons or rear hatch button (passive unlock mode), and occasional TPMS warnings.

Replacing the key fob batteries appears to have fixed the problem. Thanks all for your responses -- I'm relieved it was such an easy fix.

 

[Steverino]

Replacing the key fob batteries appears to have fixed the problem. Thanks all for your responses -- I'm relieved it was such an easy fix.

One of my fobs started having trouble being unrecognized by my 2011 last night. I finally had to insert the metal key into the key slot under the matt in the dash's cubby storage area to start the car. I'm getting a new CR2032 battery today.

 

[canehdian]

It probably wouldn't hurt to keep an extra in the glove box as well for the future