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Keyless Fob Needs New Battery Every Few Weeks

Motorfingers

Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2016
Messages
9
Location
South Jersey
V-Series Cadillac(s)?
2011 CTS-V Sedan
I've had my 2011 CTS-V for over three years now and the keyless feature is great. If I get paranoid about hackers, I have an RF shield that I can use, and I do keep that handy for traveling. But I find that the fob needs a battery after a few weeks or I get an increasingly weak signal from it until I must put it in the center console or even the fob pocket to start the car.

It starts out with an occasional "Key not found" message when I first get in the car. If I turn the keys in my pocket so that the Cadillac fob is not under metal, that works. For a few weeks, then I have to take it out and plop the fob in the drink holder.

Changing the battery makes everything OK again. Checking an old battery gives a reading 3.01 Volts, which is down from a new battery (more like 3.5 Volts) but not enough to kill the fob. And, it should need a battery every year or two, not every month or two.

Anyone have any comment on this? I'm reluctant to take this to a dealer until I understand the problem better.
 
Is this with just one FOB or all of them?
Try a different FOB for a few weeks. You should have gotten 2 of them when you bought the car.
 
The second fob didn't work at all; changed the battery. Old battery was at 0.22 Volts, i.e. essentially dead, probably original from 2011. Fob with new battery didn't work either. I checked the owner's manual and found that I could program the second fob if the first one worked in the center console. All its buttons were dead but it would start the car in the fob pocket, so I started the reprogramming procedure. The car announced that it was already synced with the first fob and asked for another. I put the 2nd fob in the pocket and it instantly asked for the third fob, and I terminated the learn procedure.

Then, the buttons on the first fob would work. The second fob would then start the car but none of its buttons would work and it wouldn't open the door.

This looks like antennas or grounds inside the car. I suspect that both fobs are OK. I have a dealer appointment Thursday morning.
 
Success! Just Needed Better CR2032 Battery

I just got the car back from the dealer. Last Friday didn't work out because of a black ice alert but got it in to the dealer this morning. While they were changing the oil, the service representative took on the keyless keys himself. When the car was done, he presented me with my existing keys, and from about 40 feet away he demonstrated the lock and unlock buttons on both remotes. He told me that they had cleaned the insides and pushed the battery contacts up a bit but the real problem was that the batteries that I was using were marginal and died shortly after being put into use.

I have a stash of CR2032 batteries I bought in bulk off the Internet a couple of years ago. I will get fresh batteries from Radio Shack next time. The remaining bulk CR2032's will go to less demanding tasks, or the landfill, if that's OK for lithium batteries.

Cost was just $8 above the oil change cost. All they cahrged me for was the batteries. The dealer:

Gold Coast Cadillac
2123 Highway 35
Oakhurst, NJ 07755
(732) 695-1400
Parts (732) 695-2015
If you have a V and want service, call (732) 695-8459 or call the general number and ask for Chris in Service. He drives a V and understands and respects our babies.
 

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