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Remote start not working when cold

HydroRebel

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I was looking at the diagram for the BW 44-45 transfer case and I noticed that it only has a mechanical oil pump, so I'm not sure if cooling is the reason for the parasitic loss. On my truck I'm assuming that I have the BW 44-44 transfer case as I have 4wd Auto which includes extra clutch disk in the case.
Just curious where did you get the transfer case diagrams? That's good to know though cause as of right now it was just an assumption that this cooling valve was for the transfer case when it could be for anything else on the drivetrain. Who knows maybe the actual module (DTCM) wouldn't sleep for some reason. The parasitic drain hasn't returned since I pulled the fuse so I'm knocking on wood that it doesn't happen again but I expect that it will.
 

loc8or

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Newby here. I'm joining the crowd. Remote start definitely has issues. Since getting cold mine works sporadically.
Called the app help number Saturday. Had to push the remote call button in truck for a test call. Did that, everything worked. And this am, not working again. Sits in heated garage at night. It was -19F this morning. Go to work at 8am,neither app or fob works at 11:30 am. Manually started truck without any problems at all. At home for 25 minutes and tried fob. Worked fine.
I totally agree this is a voltage sensing problem! Thinking bringing it in is gonna be a waste of time.
2020 limited with 6000 miles.
 

jtodd5781

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Just curious where did you get the transfer case diagrams? That's good to know though cause as of right now it was just an assumption that this cooling valve was for the transfer case when it could be for anything else on the drivetrain. Who knows maybe the actual module (DTCM) wouldn't sleep for some reason. The parasitic drain hasn't returned since I pulled the fuse so I'm knocking on wood that it doesn't happen again but I expect that it will.
Here is the link showing all the parts that are in the transfer case. Borg Warner 4445 Transfer Case – www.RigidAxle.com
 

HydroRebel

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Here is the link showing all the parts that are in the transfer case. Borg Warner 4445 Transfer Case – www.RigidAxle.com
Thanks or the link. I'm now convinced that F38 fuse has nothing to do with the transfer case. The question still remains though, what exactly is it for? I might never find out!

Newby here. I'm joining the crowd. Remote start definitely has issues. Since getting cold mine works sporadically.
Called the app help number Saturday. Had to push the remote call button in truck for a test call. Did that, everything worked. And this am, not working again. Sits in heated garage at night. It was -19F this morning. Go to work at 8am,neither app or fob works at 11:30 am. Manually started truck without any problems at all. At home for 25 minutes and tried fob. Worked fine.
I totally agree this is a voltage sensing problem! Thinking bringing it in is gonna be a waste of time.
2020 limited with 6000 miles.
Welcome to the forum and to the unfortunate remote start issues club. From all the info we've gathered so far it seems our trucks aren't happy about starting remotely when the voltage dips below a certain number (whatever that is exactly). I managed to see it remote start with as low as 12.3 volts but failed at 11.6 volts when it can start manually just fine. The threshold would probably be around 12 volts. Doesn't really matter though because the voltage shouldn't be dipping to that number anyway which means we're all experiencing some parasitic battery drain. I managed to find my culprit to F38 circuit at least once so far and haven't found anything else as of yet. Hard to say if that was a one off scenario.
 

Sherran

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Monday it was 5F outside and the remote start worked but I had to practically slap my truck with it as it would not work from my front door about 30 ft away. This morning it was 9F and same thing, but at least it worked!
 

SharkLazer

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To follow up on my experiences.... after going out of my way to do some interstate driving after overnight charging the dead battery, everything seems to be working okay right now. It took a long time for the battery gauge (in the dash) to read above 12v though. I wish there was a gauge for the eTorque battery since I have no idea how (if at all) it's status impacts remote start.

Interestingly the check engine light that came on from the battery going completely dead turned itself off after a couple days... so weird.

Haven't made an appointment with my dealership yet, they're over a pass and it's been snowing for about a week straight here and forcast to keep snowing for a few more days. Might be a while before I get there :)
 

jtodd5781

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Thanks or the link. I'm now convinced that F38 fuse has nothing to do with the transfer case. The question still remains though, what exactly is it for? I might never find out!


Welcome to the forum and to the unfortunate remote start issues club. From all the info we've gathered so far it seems our trucks aren't happy about starting remotely when the voltage dips below a certain number (whatever that is exactly). I managed to see it remote start with as low as 12.3 volts but failed at 11.6 volts when it can start manually just fine. The threshold would probably be around 12 volts. Doesn't really matter though because the voltage shouldn't be dipping to that number anyway which means we're all experiencing some parasitic battery drain. I managed to find my culprit to F38 circuit at least once so far and haven't found anything else as of yet. Hard to say if that was a one off scenario.
Well, after sitting at the dealer for most of the day they came to the conclusion that the battery is bad and replaced the battery. We shall see if this works or not as it's supposed to be -18°C or 0°F for those that are watching this post that deal with Fahrenheit when I go to start my truck in the morning. If it starts I will be tickle pink as it's has never started below -12°C or 10°F. Wish me luck.
 
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16 degrees today. remote start did not work. Has to be a temp thing.
 

jtodd5781

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16 degrees today. remote start did not work. Has to be a temp thing.
It has to do with the battery or parasitic loss. There is no reason why it shouldn't start at 16°F. So far all the dealer came up with is bad battery today after testing it as being good last week. they replaced it and we shall see tomorrow morning as the temp is supposed to be near 0°F.
 

Bigdumps

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I'm having the same issue. Key fob doesn't work to remote start, or even unlock the truck at times. App works about 60% of the time.
Today I was locked out of my truck for 20 minutes because the fob wouldn't work, and the app kept failing.
Finally got it to unlock with the app, but took about another 10 minutes to get the truck to detect the fob for the truck to start.

Add it to the growing list of issues in the 6 months I've had it.
 

HydroRebel

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Well, after sitting at the dealer for most of the day they came to the conclusion that the battery is bad and replaced the battery. We shall see if this works or not as it's supposed to be -18°C or 0°F for those that are watching this post that deal with Fahrenheit when I go to start my truck in the morning. If it starts I will be tickle pink as it's has never started below -12°C or 10°F. Wish me luck.
I do wish you luck. Based on the information you provided so far in this thread you're in a similar boat as me and I doubt it's your battery. It only took one day for my new battery to do the same thing.
 

HydroRebel

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It has to do with the battery or parasitic loss. There is no reason why it shouldn't start at 16°F. So far all the dealer came up with is bad battery today after testing it as being good last week. they replaced it and we shall see tomorrow morning as the temp is supposed to be near 0°F.
Agreed. My truck remote started perfectly fine all winter only acting up in the last 2 weeks. Putting a trickle charger on for a little while allows the truck to remote start no problem.
 

loc8or

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Out of curiosity, when did everyone's remote starting problems start. I'm in NW MN and it got cold about 2 weeks ago. That's about when my problems started.
We have had very cold temps before that , on and off, and remote starting worked fine. Also got an oil change before this cold snap.
Makes me wonder if they did some upgrading that I don't know about. Doubt it though. I really do believe it is due to low voltage sensing.
"IF" it is a voltage thing, I really hope they come out with a fix. Or any fix for that matter!
 

Jimmy07

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Thanks or the link. I'm now convinced that F38 fuse has nothing to do with the transfer case. The question still remains though, what exactly is it for? I might never find out!
Fuse F38 is the fused ignition run/start power for the drivetrain control module, so yes, it does have to do with the transfer case.
 

jtodd5781

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Agreed. My truck remote started perfectly fine all winter only acting up in the last 2 weeks. Putting a trickle charger on for a little while allows the truck to remote start no problem.
Mine started just fine this morning and the temperature was at 0°F, which it has never started before when the temp is less than around 20°F (At least not this year). Hopefully this fixed it. It's supposed to get cold again tonight, however it will be warming up for the next 7 days after that so I won't know for sure if the battery fixed the problem for a while.
 

jtodd5781

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Out of curiosity, when did everyone's remote starting problems start. I'm in NW MN and it got cold about 2 weeks ago. That's about when my problems started.
We have had very cold temps before that , on and off, and remote starting worked fine. Also got an oil change before this cold snap.
Makes me wonder if they did some upgrading that I don't know about. Doubt it though. I really do believe it is due to low voltage sensing.
"IF" it is a voltage thing, I really hope they come out with a fix. Or any fix for that matter!
I first noticed the problem last year when the truck was sitting at the airport for 4 days and wouldn't start through the app or with the FOB even though the temperature briefly went down to 25°F and never went below freezing the rest of the time with the temp staying between 36 and 57°F. The temperature at the time I tried to start it was around 40°.
 

HydroRebel

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Out of curiosity, when did everyone's remote starting problems start. I'm in NW MN and it got cold about 2 weeks ago. That's about when my problems started.
We have had very cold temps before that , on and off, and remote starting worked fine. Also got an oil change before this cold snap.
Makes me wonder if they did some upgrading that I don't know about. Doubt it though. I really do believe it is due to low voltage sensing.
"IF" it is a voltage thing, I really hope they come out with a fix. Or any fix for that matter!
My issues only started recently. Our winters are usually consistently cold. Never had any issues remote starting all winter in whatever temperature. I did find a parasitic draw from fuse F38 the other day.
Fuse F38 is the fused ignition run/start power for the drivetrain control module, so yes, it does have to do with the transfer case.
Jimmy, for fuse F38 DTCM / Active CL Temp VLV, do you have any idea what valve they're referring to here?

Mine started just fine this morning and the temperature was at 0°F, which it has never started before when the temp is less than around 20°F (At least not this year). Hopefully this fixed it. It's supposed to get cold again tonight, however it will be warming up for the next 7 days after that so I won't know for sure if the battery fixed the problem for a while.
That's good to hear, hopefully it stays that way. Was -28C here this morning and my truck remote started no problem without being plugged in. I haven't had any issue since I pulled that fuse (knock on wood). I wonder if cycling the power to that circuit cured the issue, at least temporarily.
 

ColoradoCub

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Started mine this weekend at the coldest temp it’s ever seen -17 F and had no issues, I did use the uconnect from my phone though.
 

jtodd5781

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Started mine this weekend at the coldest temp it’s ever seen -17 F and had no issues, I did use the uconnect from my phone though.
That's great to hear. I wish that I could have been this fortunate. Hope it stays that way. If it started through uconnect, it'll start with the FOB.
 

jtodd5781

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My issues only started recently. Our winters are usually consistently cold. Never had any issues remote starting all winter in whatever temperature. I did find a parasitic draw from fuse F38 the other day.

Jimmy, for fuse F38 DTCM / Active CL Temp VLV, do you have any idea what valve they're referring to here?


That's good to hear, hopefully it stays that way. Was -28C here this morning and my truck remote started no problem without being plugged in. I haven't had any issue since I pulled that fuse (knock on wood). I wonder if cycling the power to that circuit cured the issue, at least temporarily.
Well, at least the dealer has something to look at. Did you let RamCares know about the issue with F38?
 

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