Hi everyone. I have a 2015 Chevy Malibu that is randomly trying to start itself. The key fob is the original when I bought it. It has the auto start on the fob but is the kind that requires the key in the ignition to drive. I will admit the fob has seen better days, it is being held together by hair ties as it wants to spring itself apart, but all the buttons (lock/unlock/trunk) still work, including the auto start and it has been like this for years. Maybe this is the issue and I just need a new one, idk.
Anyway, the scene is thus - car completely off (not in aux) but the key is in ignition, could be for 2 minutes or hours, and randomly it will try and start, but not fully turn the engine and actually start, just that little half second of a start and then go right back off. Today it did it 3 times in a row. Obviously I won’t be leaving my key in the ignition any longer as it does seem to require that, I don’t recall it ever happening if the key was out.
Otherwise car runs great and no current issues.
Curious if anyone has encountered or knows about this? Thanks in advance for any help!
If it is like mine the auto start needs to first have the lock button pushed two times, then the remote start button will work. Therefore I would focus on a worn or malfunctioning key cylinder or possibly a mal adjusted ignition switch on the steering column. I don’t understand the reason for leaving the key in the ignition though.
Buy a new FOB, have it programmed to the car.
While you sort this out, you do have a carbon monoxide detector in your house, right? If the car ever manages to fully start in your garage while you’re sleeping, it could kill you if you don’t.
Thanks for the heads up but no garage. She has to endure the elements!
Thanks for the advice, I’ll look into that. And there is no good reason to leave the keys in, I’m just out in the boonies behind a locked gate and I forget sometimes.
Concur w/advice to renew the questionable key fob. Just a note though, starter motors sometimes develop failure modes like that. Usually though the ignition switch is not involved. Tom and Ray had a caller on their radio program, the car (Porsche I think), after being parked would randomly drive away all by itself. They’d find it up against a tree, some distance from where they’d parked it. Manual transmission, parked in gear, faulty starter motor engaged when nobody looking. One of my co-workers had a similar problem, car caught fire.