Car not unlocking

**Bucko** · 18th August 2009, 18:50

Went out to the veccy this morning and pressed the button on the key to unlonk and..... nothing. Tried a few time, then tried the other button, again nothing

Getting worried now so tried the spare key ...... nothing

Really worried now so tried the other spare key I had and hey presto car unlocks and the other two keys start working as well!!!

Anyone had this happen to them?
Anyone know why??????

**old cruiser** · 18th August 2009, 19:20

Very strange mate, must have lost Sync for some reason, just worrying that it's might happen again, hopefully someone might be able to shed some light on it.
Cheers Pete

**Thunder** · 18th August 2009, 20:47

are the keyflobs battrey low

**Readster** · 18th August 2009, 22:28

Almost 100% its the fob batteries at fault, I believe that they only last a year or so....

**Big Dave** · 19th August 2009, 01:12

Originally Posted by Readster

Almost 100% its the fob batteries at fault, I believe that they only last a year or so....

If your Vectra has Check control then it will tell you if the fob batteries require changing.

Vauxhall suggest the fob batteries are replaced every 2 years.

**Swaite53** · 19th August 2009, 08:33

I'm not sure if this applies to the Vec-C, as I don't think I've seen it in the handbook, but it certainly did on the Vec-B and Astras, so it's worth a shot.

There is a code transmitted when you lock/unlock the car, and it changes each time, to avoid people picking up the signals to remotely unlock them without the key. Occasionally, this will get out of sync, and cause the problem you described. This can be rectified by putting the key in the ignition, turning it on (but not starting the engine) and pressing either of the buttons on the fob. The car should lock and then unlock, and will then re-sync itself.

My mate had it about 2 months ago with his Astra, and thought he was going to have to buy a new fob (£80+), and that's when I found out it also works on Astras.

**Bucko** · 19th August 2009, 08:42

Thanks for all the suggestions.
Don't think it's low battery on the key fobs as they have been changed and the one I use is a flip key that I got about 8 months ago. Plus the key that eventually unlocked the car was the one with the oldest battery.
I will certainly try the re-syncing thing.
And come to think of it, it just did get a firmware upgrade to the ECU a couple of weeks ago so wonder if that threw it out??
Just a worry about it happening again.