# Key fob won't unlock the car (includes reprogramming instructions)



## seawind3000 (Sep 17, 2010)

I took apart my key fob to replace the plastic pad. With the new pad in place all the functions light up the little green led but it won't lock,unlock the car or open the trunk. The door lock cylinder was seized when I bought the car. So now I have a locked Phaeton in my driveway that I can't get into. I don't have a scan tool (I would need to be in the car to use it anyway) and the nearest dealer is 260 miles away :banghead:

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike


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## remrem (Jan 20, 2008)

Hi Mike,

I'm just taking a shot in the dark here, but is it possible you put the pad in upside down, so that even though you're getting the green light indicating contact, that perhaps it's not closing the correct circuit? I don't know if that's even possible, but I can't help but suspect it's something simple like that, and not that you've somehow changed the coding. Also, be sure that you're standing near and aiming the fob at the rear window area, so you are close to the receiver's antenna. If that doesn't work, hopefully someone more knowledgeable will soon submit a more helpful post. Good luck!

Ron M.


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## steveskinr (Oct 31, 2007)

Will it open the trunk?

If not... something wrong in remote or car or battery.

Open trunk with keyblade. Put on a battery charger. Try key again in a little bit.

(I assume you know how to open the trunk with a keyblade. I have the electric trunk so it is possible you might not know. There is that little plastic triangle you slide. Not intuitively obvious. If you have electric trunk, and the key won't open it, you will need to gently pull it open which will take maybe a minute of slow motion.)

If still no go, undo the skibag and poke a long stick with wire on the end to try and pull open a door handle or hit an unlock switch. Audi Bob told me about that one. I will call him now and ask which he found easiest.

Steve


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## steveskinr (Oct 31, 2007)

Mike 

I remembered it wrong, though I think that would work. 

Front handles are probably inaccessible, but if they are locked, only one pull of the front handle is necessary.

I sat in the back without the key in the car, locked it and then pulled the rear handle twice to get the back door open. Once is not enough. (I have the child locks turned off.) If you need me to do any experiments, I am up for a few more hours and will check back here occasionally.

I muddled the story earlier. The gal had her valet key accidentally and couldn't get into the trunk many miles from home. A broomstick through the skibag and a hit on the luminescent lever fixed it.

I grew up in Papua New Guinea so ice is foreign to me. You probably have deiced many locks in your time in Newfoundland.

Steve


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## seawind3000 (Sep 17, 2010)

Ok, the lock guy pushed the unlock button on the drivers door with negative results. He then pulled the inside handle and the alarm system ran for about a minute, the key in the trunk made the "trunk" light on the center dash screen light up but it remained locked..... and I DO know how hard it is to lift manually. it is also 9* here so the rubber might be frozen, I'll try it again in the morning with the double pull on the inside handle. If I need you to "experiment" for me , I'll let you know. This forum is great! Thanks for the insight and I'll keep you informed.

Mike


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

Mike:

I think that the suggestion made earlier that you get the trunk open and then charge up the left battery is probably a pretty good suggestion.

If you are confident that the small button battery in the key fob is in good shape, then it is logical to assume that the failure of the car to respond to the unlocking signal is probably due to low voltage within the car itself (in other words, reception of the signal is the problem, rather than transmission of the signal).

The fact that you are encountering cold weather conditions increases the probability that the vehicle battery could be in a low charge condition.

FWIW.

Michael


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## seawind3000 (Sep 17, 2010)

The car is run several hours a day so the new battery's should be in good shape but I will charge it when I get the trunk open, just in case.

Mike


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## jkuisma (Nov 23, 2009)

Nnnnnh, sorry to hear you're in this kind of trouble, Mike. 

I have exactly the same experience with the key fob, and there's a reason for this happening: the remote can get out of sync with the receiver in the car. There are two "easy" ways to make this happen:

- replace the battery (does not always go out of the sync)
- push the remote buttons a dozen or so times without the car in the remote's range - this happens very easily while you're working with the key internals.

A remote which is out of sync with the car obviously does not open it. Instead, there will be a fault code triggered in the central locking control unit. Re-syncing the key is pretty simple BUT, unfortunately, seems like this will not be easy for you. 

If the remote does not unlock the car, you should open the driver's door lock cylinder with the key, step into the car and start it within 15 seconds or so. If you wait longer, the alarm will go off. But, once the car is started this way, it will syncronize with the remote the next time you lock the car.

In your case? This is a longshot, but I am afraid that your options are limited. I would open the trunk with the key and disconnect both batteries, reconnect them and keep fingers crossed that this resets the key syncronization. 

Jouko

PS: BY THE WAY where did you get a replacement pad? I am asking because the keypad in the Phaeton key is not the same with the other VW lineup. Touareg has the same, that's it. And, as far as I know, you cannot buy the Phaeton keypad as a spare part. If I'm wrong, please let us know the part number. But, do recheck that your replacement part is compatible! The generic pad is a millimeter or so shorter that the Phaeton pad, if my memory serves me right.

PS2: One key gone out of sync should not prevent the other keys from working! Got a spare key to try?


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## seawind3000 (Sep 17, 2010)

Yes the spare key...........ya I changed the pad on that too:banghead: but thanks for the ps2 thought. I will try the two battery disconnect later today. Thanks.

Mike


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## jkuisma (Nov 23, 2009)

> Yes the spare key...........ya I changed the pad on that too but thanks for the ps2 thought. I will try the two battery disconnect later today. Thanks.


Good luck, hope it works for you! Care to share the part number for the keypad?

Jouko


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## sinhamn (Aug 7, 2007)

surprisngly I have add the same problem today.
the key doesnot lock the car or unlock the car or the trunk.
when i came to my garage this morning I was surprised that the car was not locked. So, initallly I thought that I must have forgot to lock the car last pm.
now I am noticing that when I try to lock, unlock or open the trunk nothing happens. Not sure if this is a simple problem of changing the battery in the remote or something more like themain battery of the car???
man


PanEuropean said:


> Mike:
> 
> I think that the suggestion made earlier that you get the trunk open and then charge up the left battery is probably a pretty good suggestion.
> 
> ...


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## seawind3000 (Sep 17, 2010)

I bought the pads on ebay along with replacement VW badges for the other side covering the screw.

I got in the trunk and disconnected the battery's ( left neg first then the right neg) and the alarm went off 3 times even with both neg cables removed. After the reconnect, the red led alarm lights on the doors are off, still no go with the key fob buttons but I think I'll shove a youngster through the ski bag pass-through to open my doors from the inside....I'll keep you posted.

Mike


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## WillemBal (Nov 20, 2010)

sinhamn said:


> surprisngly I have add the same problem today.
> the key doesnot lock the car or unlock the car or the trunk.
> when i came to my garage this morning I was surprised that the car was not locked. So, initallly I thought that I must have forgot to lock the car last pm.
> now I am noticing that when I try to lock, unlock or open the trunk nothing happens. Not sure if this is a simple problem of changing the battery in the remote or something more like themain battery of the car???
> man


A similar thing happened some time ago, however the fix was easy. It was caused by myself, because I opened the front door using the key in the door lock cylinder for some silly reason. I opened the door, and some second later the alarm went off. I immediately closed the door and while standing outside, I decided to open the door by using my key fob. Nothing happened, also unlocking it failed.
So I again opened the door (don't remember whether it was locked or not), then got in, started the car using the start button. While doing so, I noticed on the J523 screen that the car recognized my key. Then, while still sitting in the car with the engine running, I pressed the unlock button of the key fob. Worked (again). Stopped the engine, got out and locked with key fob. Worked.
So I guess the trick is that you get IN to the car, next start the engine pretty soon, next when the car is running, just press the unlock button of the key fob. You will notice its correct operation by means of the turn indicators, which start to flash once. Hope this works for you.

Willem


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## sinhamn (Aug 7, 2007)

Thank you ! didnot realise it was this simple. have driven almost 80 k on it and never realised it
thanks again it worked
Man


WillemBal said:


> A similar thing happened some time ago, however the fix was easy. It was caused by myself, because I opened the front door using the key in the door lock cylinder for some silly reason. I opened the door, and some second later the alarm went off. I immediately closed the door and while standing outside, I decided to open the door by using my key fob. Nothing happened, also unlocking it failed.
> So I again opened the door (don't remember whether it was locked or not), then got in, started the car using the start button. While doing so, I noticed on the J523 screen that the car recognized my key. Then, while still sitting in the car with the engine running, I pressed the unlock button of the key fob. Worked (again). Stopped the engine, got out and locked with key fob. Worked.
> So I guess the trick is that you get IN to the car, next start the engine pretty soon, next when the car is running, just press the unlock button of the key fob. You will notice its correct operation by means of the turn indicators, which start to flash once. Hope this works for you.
> 
> Willem


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## remrem (Jan 20, 2008)

seawind3000 said:


> Yes the spare key...........ya I changed the pad on that too:banghead: but thanks for the ps2 thought. I will try the two battery disconnect later today. Thanks.
> Mike


Hi again Mike,
Any chance you kept the old pads??? As I theorized in my original post 2 days ago, I suspected the pads might have been improperly positioned and thus not closing the correct circuits when pressed. Knowing now that you replaced the old pads with new ones that are perhaps not compatable parts, means there may still be some merit to my theory and perhaps these new pads could be the entire source of your problem. Even if the old pads are worn out, if you put them back it would allow you to confirm or refute this, before you start sending in the youngsters :laugh:

Again, this is just a theory, but one worth testing (?) Though I must admit, if I were a betting man I think I'd put my money on Joukou's theory.

Good luck!

Ron M.


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## seawind3000 (Sep 17, 2010)

LOL the old pad doesn't unlock the doors but the hook through the ski bag hole double pull trick workes great. She is warming up in the driveway waiting for a run to reset some systems....be back soon!

Mike


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## steveskinr (Oct 31, 2007)

Glad you are up and running again Mike.

Here is a thought from a friend in case this happens to someone who passes this way again.

"Someone will need to clear all of the fault codes in the “05-Acc/Start Auth.” Section of the Vag Com. Once the codes are cleared the key will start working again as long as it’s one of the “original “ keys. Believe it or not that same key that doesn’t open the doors will start the car but it won’t operate the door lock system."

"We repaired one just like this a week ago!! Usually this happens to the key & they lose their memory when the batteries go dead."


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## seawind3000 (Sep 17, 2010)

I tried the lock button while the key was in the ignition with the engine running and no lights flashed, then I tried the trunk button and it worked. So i will try the lock/unlock feature when I can sit in the car and have some one outside with the fob.

Mike


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## seawind3000 (Sep 17, 2010)

All the fob buttons work like new!!!!! Thanks to the forum!!:wave: This is a great forum, the vw dealer won't need to send me a bill.

Mike


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

Related topic: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5188253-Good-key-locked-in-trunk

Michael


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## fdtinc (Dec 31, 2010)

*key syncro question*

jkuisam wrote:

"- push the remote buttons a dozen or so times without the car in the remote's range - 
A remote which is out of sync with the car obviously does not open it. Instead, there will be a fault code triggered in the central locking control unit..."

Why does anything go "out of synch" here?

I had always thought that these keys (being standard to VAG for many years now, except the CC) simply transmit a signal when pressed. The fobs would not know whether or not the vehicle was in range, being a one-way communication. What happens with the signal would thus not be know to the key (or the car know that a signal was sent).

Is the key/receiver a bi-directional system, with the key, in addition to being a transmitter, also being a receiver (and thus, when out of range, the fob is waiting for reception confirmation, that of course doen't come back)?

If the bi-directional setup is not used, how do things get unsyched / error-code tirggered?
(I couldn't find anything with search about it, excuse the question if that is posted elsewhere.)

Anyone who can clarify, much appreciated.
C. Dieter.


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## jkuisma (Nov 23, 2009)

The remote fob transmits a so called rolling code. See http://auto.howstuffworks.com/remote-entry2.htm Most of all remotes work this way nowadays. Otherwise it would be too easy to capture and record the remote code and use it to get access to the car.

Jouko


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## solar2004 (Oct 25, 2010)

*car won't open*

I have a 2004 W12 and can't get in it, the key won't open the doors by remote, and also won't open the door mechanically with the key in the barrel. The car told me the battery in the key fob was empty, so I changed it, and now it won't open  The boot opens mechanically, and the alarm goes off for a minute, so I can't understand why the door doesn't open... any ideas, help with this one? I have both keys, and neither work. Done 200,000 miles now and only locked myself out of it once... but then the key was in the car, and I was outside in the rain...


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## seawind3000 (Sep 17, 2010)

If you can open the trunk... you're home free! Use a hook through the ski bag hole double pull the rear door handle to open the rear door, climb in the back seat and reach out front and put the key in the ignition and start the car. With the car running, press the un-lock button on the fob to re sink it with the car.

Mike


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

seawind3000 said:


> If you can open the trunk... you're home free! Use a hook through the ski bag hole double pull the rear door handle to open the rear door, climb in the back seat and reach out front and put the key in the ignition and start the car. With the car running, press the un-lock button on the fob to re sink it with the car.


I laughed when I read the above post - that can only be the "voice of experience" speaking! 

Michael


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

On second thought - after re-reading Nick's post, I noticed that he is located in Europe. The door-locking mechanisms outside of North America are slightly different than the North American Region (NAR) ones. European (in other words, Rest of World, or ROW) door locking mechanisms incorporate what is called a 'safe mode'. If the door is 'safed', it is possible that pulling twice on the inside door handle may not release the door. If this is the case, it will be necessary to stick a long pole (for example, a 1 meter long wooden dowel or similar) through the ski bag hole and press the electric door unlock button.

Let's just hope that:

*1)* Nick's car has a ski bag (the ski bag was standard in NAR, but optional in the ROW)

*2) *He has not pressed the button on the driver door that enables the child-safe feature for the rear doors.

Personally, I would be inclined to get some penetrating lubricant (WD-40 or similar) and squirt it into the driver door key-lock slot, then wiggle the key blade in the slot and fool around with it, hoping to free up the seized lock cylinder. Be aware that WD-40 is not an appropriate or desirable lubricant to use on a functional door lock cylinder (powdered graphite is the preferred lubricant to keep a functional lock mechanism functioning), but WD-40 is a suitable solvent for the purpose of freeing up seized door lock cylinders.

Michael


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## seawind3000 (Sep 17, 2010)

I had my key cylinder replaced last month, so I won't be stuck on the outside looking in. 


Mike


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