It’s cold and of course when I need it the factory installed key fob doesn’t work. I took the car to one of those fancy car accessory stores and they said my alarm was working just fine. The power locks work fine when locking the car from inside the car. Just not using my remote fob. Searching Google I found an article about a similar condition where they said the celinoid was faulty and this was common for my model.
I know little about cars but this sounds expensive. What is a celinoid and why just the car fob. What is the point of having a remote start if you can’t use it in 18 degree weather.
Anybody have any ideas what is wrong and how expensive this will be to repair?
You are referring to a solenoid which is basically an electrical switch that is activated by another switched circuit. A circuit using a small amount of current controls the solenoid coil action which usually turns on power to a load, via a set of electrical contacts, that requires a higher current to run it.
Most cars supply a connection to ground to activate the door locks, yours may be designed that way also or perhaps not. Either way, the door lock solenoid can be controlled by the door lock switch or the remote control. If the remote control is supplying the proper condition to turn on the solenoid it should work unless there is a wire connection problem to the solenoid. The trouble shouldn’t be real hard to find for someone that is familiar with the remote system design. Any fuses used in the remote operation should be checked first.
Plus 2 for the fob batteries. I think there is a chirp when they start going bad. Anything older than four years is suspect and I change mine as a preventive measure.
Plus 3 on key fob batteries. I know the AutoZone and Pep Boys near me both have a simple tester that can read an Rf and Ir signal from the fob, depending on what mode it uses. I’ve tested mine with it, and determined I needed a new battery when it detected the first button press, but not the second or third.