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key fob issue

25K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  TxTom  
#1 ·
Good Saturday morning

I own a 2017 MKC Black label.
We bought it used this last December with around 8k on it.
Nice car.
My wife is the primary driver.
We live in Wisconsin where it can (as is currently) pretty darned cold.

The symptom 1:
My wife tells me that she can't always rely on her key fob for starting the MKC.
She tells me sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
Sometime she is inside our house (about a 75 feet from the unattached garage) with the garage door opened and it works fine. But sometimes it doesn't.
Ans sometime she is maybe 20 feet away from the MKC, inside a building where she works, behinds a clear glass window, and it doesn't work. But sometimes it does.

Symptom 2:
I keep the second MKC fob (it came with 2 of them.) inside my car which is parked next to the MKC in our garage.
This morning I went to start the MKC with my fob and I received a notification in the dash display reading "no key was detected".
And the fib wouldn't do anything else either.
So, I went back in the house and got my wife's fob and things worked fine.
I started when I got in the MKC.

So then, I left my fob in the house while I took the MKC to fill up with gas. (It's about the only time I get to drive it.)
When I returned (about 30 minutes later), I tried my fob again and it worked perfectly.

It was exactly 1 week since I last used my MKC fob.
Last Saturday in fact when I filled it with gas.
It's been pretty cold as of late with below zero wind chills.
But, my car and my MKC fob are in an unheated garage most of the time.

Questions:
Anyone else experienced something similar ?

Think the issue might be fob battery related ?

Any ideas as to what the life expectancy of a 2017 MKC fob battery might be ?

Is the battery something I might change myself or it a dealership thing ?

recommendations as to what I might want to do next would be greatly welcomed.


As an aside.
Neither my car (2012 Equinox), nor the car we traded in for the MKC(2010 Lacrosse) ever had such an issue in all years we have had them.


Thanks for any and all replies

Ray in Wisconsin
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Thanks for the encouragement.
I'll pick up some replacements later this morning.
Certainly can't hurt to put a new one in.

And thanks for the hint about that hole.

I believe I looked for that hole when I first got the vehicle and couldn't find it.
But I do need a proper pair of glasses. (One of my 2019 resolutions.)

I'll look again with a better flashlight and maybe just feel around a bit to see if I can locate it.

Thanks for your reply

Ray in Wisconsin
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
And for anyone with an interest ....

After my post on 2-10-19 and, based on "Copbait's" suggestion, I replaced the Panasonic CR2450 3V battery in my Wife's 2017 MKC FOB and she has been able to remote start the MKC, without issue, ever since.

The batteries are certainly cheap enough.

Thanks once again for the suggestion.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Oh, I see what you mean.
Well, back in February, after I got the cover off, I took a picture of the open FOB including the currently installed battery. (I still have the picture but I can't quite figure out how to attach it to this forum.)

My FOB only used one(1) battery and it was (and is) a CR2450 3V.

I'm afraid I can't say anything with regards to if any other number battery will work.

If I can't ever figure out how to post a picture, I'll do so. (Just as an audit trail.)