All of the sudden the remote to my 2009 Subaru Outback stopped working. The car doesn’t respond at all. I mentioned this when I had the car in for service and they tested my remote. They detected a signal that it was sending out so that means something is wrong on the car side and the remote appears to be functioning fine. Unfortunately I only have 1 remote (bought the car used). I didn’t have them look any further into it because they admitted that they had no idea what the problem could be and it would take time to investigate. Does anyone have suggestions for things to try or what the problem could be? Thank you
No experience with remote locks, sounds frustrating. Are you able to put a key in the lock and make it work that way until you get the remote problem fixed?
As to what is wrong, it’s either the remote fob or the car. That is pretty certain. My guess is car is correctly receiving the signal, but the actuator in the door lock isn’t working. One thing you could look at is near the hinges of the door there should be a wiring harness from the chassis to the door interior. Do you notice any damage to that harness from it rubbing and chaffing as the door is opened and closed over the years?
If it isn’t the harness, then I’d expect the problem to be the actuator motor or its mechanism itself. As you mention, the only way to know for sure is for a shop to pull out the schematic and do further investigation.
Most of the time, it’s not cost-effective to repair or try to repair gizmos and gadgets that tend to be failure prone…
Sometimes the remote system can be reprogramed by the dealer . They usually have a diagnostic fee of about $100.00 which might be waived if you have them repair it. Most of the time it is the remote receiver and that item can $400 to $500 .
Do the power locks work from inside? If so, here is a great link to help you out. http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f77/remote-unlock-does-not-work-117165/
Thank you for the responses. Yes, for the time being I can manually open the car by physically putting the key in the lock. Also, the power locks still work from inside the car with no problems. I will check the wiring harness and also give reprogramming a shot
I would go ahead and change the battery in the key fob. Start simple and go from there. You said they checked it at the dealership. I could be sending s signal, but not s strong enough signal. I doubt it’s an actuator. The odds of them both going out at the same time is slim. I’m assuming the rear hatch and panic button don’t work either. It’s either be the fob battery or the receiver in the vehicles gone bad
Try this, click the fob twice,as if to unlock all the doors. If all the other doors unlock it’s probably the actuator in the drivers door.
Replace battery first.
Then try reprogramming it your self? I recall some odd procedure when I bought an additional remote for my 2005 Legacy(same generation car).
http://www.remotesremotes.com/2009-Subaru-Legacy-Keyless-Remote-Key-Fob-Clicker-s/5920.htm
Are all buttons not responding?
How to fix broken button on keyless entry remote: