Key Fob Not Detected.....but....it's in my pocket!

[Sooliman]

So, I've been having an issue the past week or so, which is starting to get slightly worse and more annoying each day.
If the key fob was in my left pocket, a week ago, there was a 50% chance it would allow the truck to start. If not....took is out, held it up....started every time.
Now, if the key fob is my left pocket, there is about a 10% chance it allows the truck to start. I have to almost always take it out.
By the way....In my right pocket, I was 100% last week, and we're at the 50/50 point as of today.

The truck has also asked me to 'press start using the key fob' as well - which is kind of interesting in itself, but has worked flawlessly, so I'm not terrified of being stranded.
I know what you may be thinking....must be a weak battery in the key fob. But that thing works damn near perfect from pretty far away (1000 ft) plus.
I will pick up / swap out the battery, just for ha-ha's.....but I have a feeling there is a proximity sensor issue for the ignition brewing.

Has anyone seen this? I didn't see any posts on it...

 

[Neurobit]

So, I've been having an issue the past week or so, which is starting to get slightly worse and more annoying each day.
If the key fob was in my left pocket, a week ago, there was a 50% chance it would allow the truck to start. If not....took is out, held it up....started every time.
Now, if the key fob is my left pocket, there is about a 10% chance it allows the truck to start. I have to almost always take it out.
By the way....In my right pocket, I was 100% last week, and we're at the 50/50 point as of today.

The truck has also asked me to 'press start using the key fob' as well - which is kind of interesting in itself, but has worked flawlessly, so I'm not terrified of being stranded.
I know what you may be thinking....must be a weak battery in the key fob. But that thing works **** near perfect from pretty far away (1000 ft) plus.
I will pick up / swap out the battery, just for ha-ha's.....but I have a feeling there is a proximity sensor issue for the ignition brewing.

Has anyone seen this? I didn't see any posts on it...

Yeah, I get this a few times a week. I just press ok on the steering wheel and it goes away. Battery on the FOB may be low. I never had this issue when it was new. BTW, I always keep the FOB on my right side pockets.

Cheers,

 

[Hammer1]

My eco always did this when the key was in my left pocket. I just put it in my right pocket and have no issues

 

[novistion]

You will never get stranded with this. You can take the battery completely out, and have the key in two halves, and if you push the start button with the key it will always work.

Possible problem: I've had this with a old gen too. If your key is left too close to the truck or inside of the truck, it will "lock" the key so no one can take your truck. If you want to test this next time it pops up that it isn't detected, take the key about 100 feet away and come back. If it works then, then that is the issue.

But the obvious first, battery and proximity sensors. But 99% of the time if it's the battery in the fob, you'll get a message in the gauge display saying key fob battery low.

 

[202snowman]

So, I've been having an issue the past week or so, which is starting to get slightly worse and more annoying each day.
If the key fob was in my left pocket, a week ago, there was a 50% chance it would allow the truck to start. If not....took is out, held it up....started every time.
Now, if the key fob is my left pocket, there is about a 10% chance it allows the truck to start. I have to almost always take it out.
By the way....In my right pocket, I was 100% last week, and we're at the 50/50 point as of today.

The truck has also asked me to 'press start using the key fob' as well - which is kind of interesting in itself, but has worked flawlessly, so I'm not terrified of being stranded.
I know what you may be thinking....must be a weak battery in the key fob. But that thing works **** near perfect from pretty far away (1000 ft) plus.
I will pick up / swap out the battery, just for ha-ha's.....but I have a feeling there is a proximity sensor issue for the ignition brewing.

Has anyone seen this? I didn't see any posts on it...

One stupid question for you...do you have anything else in that pocket with the fob, like a cellphone? I know that my IPhone 6s for work interferes with the fob at times, especialoy if I'm attempting to grab the handle to proximity unlock / lock the doors.

 

[NoRamForUconnect]

If your cell phone is near the key it greatly reduces the range.

 

[Sooliman]

Standard procedure is cell (iPhone X) in right pocket and Fob in left.....been having to modify accordingly!
I'll change the battery, although I'd be shocked if the battery was dying. It's a 6/18 build and I took delivery in October.
@novistion - I'll try your trick...worth a try.

 

[Gman]

That's funny. My left pocket is dedicated to my phone, right pocket is for keys and change.

If you have multiple proximity keys in your pocket, that can create problems. I've also seen issues with a weak fob battery.

 

[Doc]

Lead britches?

 

[jniemuth]

I have the same issue with my FOB's. The truck starting on the first press is about 40%. Tried different pockets, tried the cell phone not in the truck at all, nothing seems to matter. It happens with both FOB's and the truck is only 3 months old. Had it at the dealer twice with no resolution. Funny thing though, if you hit the start button without your foot on the brake, the accessories and dash will light up, then hit the button again with your foot on the brake and it will start every time. This tells me it has nothing to do with the FOB communicating with the truck. Must be something messing up with the starting procedures? The dealer ordered a new FOB to make sure that is not the problem. I am picking it up this week.

 

[Sooliman]

I have the same issue with my FOB's. The truck starting on the first press is about 40%. Tried different pockets, tried the cell phone not in the truck at all, nothing seems to matter. It happens with both FOB's and the truck is only 3 months old. Had it at the dealer twice with no resolution. Funny thing though, if you hit the start button without your foot on the brake, the accessories and dash will light up, then hit the button again with your foot on the brake and it will start every time. This tells me it has nothing to do with the FOB communicating with the truck. Must be something messing up with the starting procedures? The dealer ordered a new FOB to make sure that is not the problem. I am picking it up this week.

My issue is identical.....the accessories and dash light up, it just won’t start.

 

[bonebro]

Sometimes while driving or parked with the truck running, I get this:


Dealer put a new battery in. Didn’t help.

 

[Neurobit]

Sometimes while driving or parked with the truck running, I get this:

View attachment 14869
Dealer put a new battery in. Didn’t help.

Yeah, it's not the battery. They're just very sensitive. More so than other vehicles I've had. I have noticed that it happens with certain clothing I wear, etc.
I just hit OK on the steering wheel when I see this and it shuts it up.

 

[rlc2020]

I have been having a similar issue, but mostly with the remote start. It will honk one time and flash the lights and then do nothing. No error message on the dash. It says " press brake to start" as if I'm in the truck and hitting the button but not pressing the brake. It doesn't seem to register that I'm using the remote at all. Last night after trying a few times to get the remote start to work I gave up and it gave me the "Key Fob not detected" message while I tried to start it with the ignition button. After 3 tries it did finally start. But it is acting very strange. Fob works for lock and unluck every time so It's not a battery or range issue.

This may or may not be related, but my uconnect app and the mopar website both will not remotely access the vehicle. No starts, no remote locking, no location, etc. They have a trouble ticket open for that for what that is worth. I will be going to the dealership soon to have everything looked at.

 

[Edwards]

I have been having a similar issue, but mostly with the remote start. It will honk one time and flash the lights and then do nothing. No error message on the dash. It says " press brake to start" as if I'm in the truck and hitting the button but not pressing the brake. It doesn't seem to register that I'm using the remote at all. Last night after trying a few times to get the remote start to work I gave up and it gave me the "Key Fob not detected" message while I tried to start it with the ignition button. After 3 tries it did finally start. But it is acting very strange. Fob works for lock and unluck every time so It's not a battery or range issue.

This may or may not be related, but my uconnect app and the mopar website both will not remotely access the vehicle. No starts, no remote locking, no location, etc. They have a trouble ticket open for that for what that is worth. I will be going to the dealership soon to have everything looked at.

If you get the flash and honk then it's not a fob issue. The truck is letting you know "remote start signal received" so the fob is done. You have another issue preventing remote start. Go through the manual of all the conditions that must be met for a remote start to actually start. There are quite a few.

If you can't figure anything out, have the dealer check it. Could be all kinds of simple things, like your hood closed sensor not registering the hood closed.

 

[Edwards]

Sometimes while driving or parked with the truck running, I get this:

View attachment 14869
Dealer put a new battery in. Didn’t help.

Possible issues:
1. low fob battery
2. RF interference (does it do this everywhere or one/few specific locations?)
3. range (too far away)
4. bad fob (try other one)
5. bad/disconnected RF receiver (several in truck)

If you can rule out most of these it will help dealer narrow it down, i.e. bad RF receiver in truck.

 

[bonebro]

Possible issues:
1. low fob battery
2. RF interference (does it do this everywhere or one/few specific locations?)
3. range (too far away)
4. bad fob (try other one)
5. bad/disconnected RF receiver (several in truck)

If you can rule out most of these it will help dealer narrow it down, i.e. bad RF receiver in truck.

Thanks for the help @Edwards. Only two I can’t rule out are range and bad receiver... I use my left pocket. When passive locking/unlocking, if I move my left pocket closer to the truck it works. The RF ranges inside and outside the truck seem to be much smaller than in the 4th gen. It’s probly just me; I need to change the way I use the key from the way I used it in my 4th gen.

 

[Electrical]

Possible issues:
1. low fob battery
2. RF interference (does it do this everywhere or one/few specific locations?)
3. range (too far away)
4. bad fob (try other one)
5. bad/disconnected RF receiver (several in truck)

If you can rule out most of these it will help dealer narrow it down, i.e. bad RF receiver in truck.

I think you nailed it in the other thread... it's not the RF, it's the LF... the low frequency detection.

And potentially firmware. This, based on the post you quoted above. The RF works fine if remote start attempted to start the truck ,but if truck says "press brake to start", then the LF is malfunctioning. The only time that message should appear is when LF detects a key inside the cab.

 

[rlc2020]

dealer says it's low battery voltage. They did a recharge on the battery and sent me on my way. working so far. Not sure if it's a permanent fix or not. Will keep you posted. I did not have a low voltage warning at all so I am still skeptical...

 

[dannydyn]

Side question from a soon-to-be owner: Does the truck have a back up way to be started if the fob battery dies on you? In my Audi, I can stick the fob in the 'charging slot' located in the dash, and start it (fob is used as a physical key).