GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: trueblue_ips on 17 November 2020, 15:25
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My 2019 plate golf r won't open. It's keyless so I normally just grab the handle. The first key fob packed in six months ago, now the spare key fob won't open the doors either. I've tried normal keyless entry and pressing the open button on both key fobs but no luck.
Hard to believe two key fobs have gone in a car that's only 18 months old.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be wrong please?
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battery?
Check the manual for how to open the door when keyless fails but you will need new batteries.
The batteries don't last long.
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I would guess batteries. I don't think they last all that long with keyless entry.
You can still get into the car by removing the little cover next to the handle and opening with the key. Remember those days of unlocking a car by inserting a key in the lock!
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Definitely batteries, mine lasted a similar amount of time :sad:
+1 mb, take the cover off the handle and use the key, does take a little effort to prise the plastic cap off.
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Thanks both, I reckon it is batteries as used one key exclusively and that lasted about 8 or 9 months, switched to the second key and that's lasted about the same.
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Thanks both, I reckon it is batteries as used one key exclusively and that lasted about 8 or 9 months, switched to the second key and that's lasted about the same.
Keep a spare key fob battery in the glovebox and another in your wallet. That way you’ll be prepared in future if (or when) it happens again.
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I would guess batteries. I don't think they last all that long with keyless entry.
You can still get into the car by removing the little cover next to the handle and opening with the key. Remember those days of unlocking a car by inserting a key in the lock!
Does keyless have push button start, therefore no ignition key slot? In the old days, if you unlocked the door manually, the alarm would go off, and you'd need to turn the ignition on to silence it.
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Presume you’re sorted now..but there is a bit you can flick off on the door handle to use the key if the battery fails. It happened to me early on but strangely enough not since then in the same time frame, if that makes sense. Unless it’s because I use a faraday pouch at night which saves some battery. But as others have said I now have spare batteries secreted all over the place :smiley:
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Realised 2 others already mentioned the bit of plastic removal.. must have been a larger glass of wine with my tea than usual
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must have been a larger glass of wine with my tea than usual
I prefer a biscuit with my tea, but each to their own :laugh:
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Thanks both, I reckon it is batteries as used one key exclusively and that lasted about 8 or 9 months, switched to the second key and that's lasted about the same.
sounds like your batteries last longer than your (and mine) footie team performs though!
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must have been a larger glass of wine with my tea than usual
I prefer a biscuit with my tea, but each to their own :laugh:
With not driving anywhere these days I’m finding a glass of wine goes well with everything.. :rolleyes:
I’ve noticed, and ignored, the fact that with the infrequent driving my car doesn’t open first time grabbing the handle , I have to press the button but then for the rest of the outing it behaves . Is that a battery thing or just because of lack of use. Must be a battery thing I guess as don’t remember it doing that when returning to it in an airport car park... but been so long memory might be letting me down. :cry:
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Yeah mine does that after a day or two not being used, normally touch the handle2 or 4 times and it unlocks, also I think when the battery is flat you hold the keyfob where the ignition key normally goes in and you can then start the car
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So to avoid the minor inconvenience of reaching for a key to open a car you have to accept the inconvenience of keeping spare batteries in wallet and car, keeping the key in a special pouch and occasionally getting locked out.
Well at least VW can show customers a longer options list and sell more cars.
Whatever next, steering wheels that warm your hands?
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I had keyless on a car for nearly 9 years and hated it, greater security risk - especially when the rear door actuators failed (which was a common fault on Discovery4’s) and you thought the car was locked, but the rear door(s) weren’t - great, so after locking, you had to keep the key out of range and check the doors - a great example of convenience🙄
In fairness, not heard of actuator failure being a VW issue?
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Yep, that's keyless entry. The solution to a problem that I never had.
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Thanks both, I reckon it is batteries as used one key exclusively and that lasted about 8 or 9 months, switched to the second key and that's lasted about the same.
sounds like your batteries last longer than your (and mine) footie team performs though!
Ayyyy, another Town fan!
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Tractor Boys - best football chant ever when you boys play Norwich😂
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Daft question, does the Golf not warn you on the instrument cluster when the key battery is getting low?
The only reason I ask, is because our Seat Leon used to, but that wasn't keyless entry/start.
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Not that I am aware of... Or indeed noticed before mine failed, fortunately it was at work in a secure car park when mine would not lock the car!
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Ha.. I had a whole conversation with VWUK about the warning, or lack of, I think there was a time period where for some cars it was missed off . I got no warning with mine and was stuck in twice, once unable to unlock it in a remote dark location and once unable to lock it in a public car park . The manual and VWUK seemed to think there should be some warning.
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Non keyless does warn you. Never had keyless to try.
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Thanks for everyone's replies. I was panicking when I posted as had school run and couldn't open my damn car.
Sorted at VW today. They replaced the batteries in both key fobs for £9 and I can open my car again :rolleyes:
Still seems odd to to me the batteries only last 8 months or so but they didn't seem surprised.
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PS to pick up on comments re warning, I had no warning battery levels on the key fobs were low. Does seem an oversight and an easy thing for VW to fix.
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Thanks for everyone's replies. I was panicking when I posted as had school run and couldn't open my damn car.
Sorted at VW today. They replaced the batteries in both key fobs for £9 and I can open my car again :rolleyes:
Still seems odd to to me the batteries only last 8 months or so but they didn't seem surprised.
Judging by discussions on various forums, it’s not unusual for owners with keyless to have to change their key fob batteries at around 12 months; sometimes sooner as you’ve had to.
My 2020 Polo GTI+ has keyless. I picked the car up a couple of months ago and already have a spare replacement battery for the key fob in the glovebox and another in my wallet in case the existing battery dies unexpectedly without warning.
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So to avoid the minor inconvenience of reaching for a key to open a car you have to accept the inconvenience of keeping spare batteries in wallet and car, keeping the key in a special pouch and occasionally getting locked out.
Well at least VW can show customers a longer options list and sell more cars.
Whatever next, steering wheels that warm your hands?
Well if you have keyless entry you should also store the keys in a signal blocking pouch or box to stop the car getting easily stolen :grin:. The negatives outweigh the positives in my opinion and I'm glad my model has a key
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I used to have to change the keyfob battery in my old 14 plate Gti(non key-less) approx every 10 months or so, it did used to give me a warning though.
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I just disable the keyless entry whenever I park up at home. I too would prefer not to have it but it has so just have to get on with it. Changing a battery now and then is hardly a major issue.
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I just disable the keyless entry whenever I park up at home. I too would prefer not to have it but it has so just have to get on with it. Changing a battery now and then is hardly a major issue.
I do this (disable keyless) too. I also would prefer not to have keyless but didn’t have a choice as it was part of the standard spec. on my car. Agree, changing the key fob battery isn’t an issue and takes literally no more than a couple of minutes - and I’m prepared, as I’ve got spares in the car and my wallet. Hopefully my spare batteries are genuine (I didn’t buy them off a dodgy internet site!).
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Same here, have gotten into the habit of disabling the keyless upon parking up so no change of remote theft... fingers crossed!
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Had the very same thing happen to my two month old car last Sunday!
Locked the car on the drive then went to open later in the afternoon and nothing!
Found out how to change battery and replaced with a new one but still nothing, no red light nothing..
Checked both batteries with my multimeter and both were reading over three volts so they were ok.
The spare key opened the car no problems...
I've had to book the car in at my dealers but because I need a car they can't see it until January 2021, if it wasn't for cv-19 they said I could have gone in at the weekend, unfortunately they want it in for two days to run diagnostics!
As the spare worked ok I'm hoping it just needs a new key fob.
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Had the very same thing happen to my two month old car last Sunday!
Locked the car on the drive then went to open later in the afternoon and nothing!
Found out how to change battery and replaced with a new one but still nothing, no red light nothing..
Checked both batteries with my multimeter and both were reading over three volts so they were ok.
The spare key opened the car no problems...
I've had to book the car in at my dealers but because I need a car they can't see it until January 2021, if it wasn't for cv-19 they said I could have gone in at the weekend, unfortunately they want it in for two days to run diagnostics!
As the spare worked ok I'm hoping it just needs a new key fob.
Same here, main key fob died , changed the battery but that did not work so booked it in for three weeks later, used the spare for a week before that also died so my wife took both fobs to vw apparently they tried about six batteries before getting both fobs working again, that was five weeks ago but last weekend the original fob died again, I tried a brand new battery reading 3.2 v but it did not work ( in either fob as I tried) so removed the battery from the spare fob and swapped them around, ended up with both to be working. I have no idea what is going on, mine is a no 7.5 for reference.
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Car informed me the battery in my fob needed replacing a couple of months ago, (Mk7, not keyless). Got a new battery but it didn't work. Tried it in the spare key and it didn't work in there either. Put the original battery back in and just carried on. Warning came up again so got another battery and tried again with same result in both keys. Getting annoyed now as thought I'd managed to buy a couple of duff batteries when I realised there was a protective cover on the back of the battery. Removed that and everything worked! :grin:
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:whistle: Love the honesty mb, make me laugh :smiley:
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Honestly, I found this once bought 4 duracell 2025 from Tesco all were rubbish. Bought 2 from Morrisons no issues. If no red light blame it on the battery first.
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Same here, main key fob died , changed the battery but that did not work so booked it in for three weeks later, used the spare for a week before that also died so my wife took both fobs to vw apparently they tried about six batteries before getting both fobs working again, that was five weeks ago but last weekend the original fob died again, I tried a brand new battery reading 3.2 v but it did not work ( in either fob as I tried) so removed the battery from the spare fob and swapped them around, ended up with both to be working. I have no idea what is going on, mine is a no 7.5 for reference.
I had a very similar situation to yourself. I couldn't work it out either.
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Still seems odd to to me the batteries only last 8 months or so but they didn't seem surprised.
Is it not because they are constantly transmitting?
The new BMW fobs go to sleep if left idle after a few minutes so that should help with the batteries and security.
I'd imagine VW would follow suit if not doing it already.
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I had my GTi pp for three and half years and only replaced the batteries once in one key fob and that was at about the three year mark, maybe just before.
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Ya I’ve had my GTi 7 years now and only on the 2nd battery
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One aspect I haven’t seen mentioned is why isn’t the battery replacement for keyless cars part of the VW service schedule? I had my car serviced by VW at the end of May (major service). In the summer we met up with some friends for a walk in a National Trust park. On return to the car I thought I would show off the keyless entry. Nothing happened. So I deduced flat battery. Not being quite as well organised as SRGTD (who posted earlier in this thread), I did have a spare battery but it was in the car. Not in the wallet as well.
So, I removed the plastic cover from the door handle and used the mechanical key to enter the car. Great, except the alarm goes off. Try to silence the alarm but “key not present “ (or similar) is the display message.
I then of course have to go through removal and replacement of the battery with the din of the alarm, not to mention suspicious looks from onlookers. New battery in and all is ok.
But going back to my opening question, why isn’t this key fob battery replaced during servicing? For most non car enthusiasts my National Trust scenario would have meant a long wait for the AA.
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Thats a user provided part... same as petrol...
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Hmm, I didn't realise the alarm would go off and you can't switch it off? Will check the manual and if so will add some batteries to my shopping list...
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I think most car drivers know that you need to put petrol in a car to be able to drive it. You also have a petrol gauge that tells you when you need to add more.
There is no warning on a keyless entry car (in a Golf anyway) to tell you the battery needs replacing. And when it does fail your stuffed.
Without petrol you can’t drive so you have a petrol gauge. With a keyless fob and a flat battery you can’t drive. But there is no warning system. As it is so critical I am surprised it wasn’t part of the not inexpensive service. As per my opening sentence, it is well understood that you put petrol in a car but how many keyless Golf owners carry spare key batteries?
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Looking in the manual, page 125 'no valid vehicle key recognised', you can perform an emergency engine start, hold down the brake pedal, hold the key at the sensor on the steering column (where a key would go in a non keyless start car) directly after pressing the start button and the ignition will switch on automatically (and in some cases the engine will start).
It doesn't specify under what conditions the engine will start but at the very least the alarm should stop if the ignition switches on?
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Page 71 - 'switching off the alarm' - on vehicles with keyless access: grip the door handle (the unlocking sensor).
If anyone can confirm this and the details in my previous post I'd be grateful.
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The eighth post down covers it:
https://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/33174-no-key-fob-battery-warning/
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I have found the same paragraphs in my handbook (Edition 11.2017) , some on different pages but same text.
With regard to p71 about gripping the door handle to silence the alarm, I certainly gripped it to enter the car (maybe not long enough?) but the alarm kept going.
As per the previous post from Watts, the vwroc forum seems to confirm what is in the handbook. So that is “correction”, “prevention” is regular changing of key fob battery plus carry spares.
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I will be picking up a spare battery on my next shopping trip. All seems good at the moment though, the light on the fob is nice and bright.
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Just a thought on why some new batteries don’t work. The current flow in these devices is very low, which means that the contacts between the battery and the device must be totally clean. Ideally, when a new battery is fitted, the area where it makes contact shouldn’t be touches and it helps to give the contacts a scraping with a blade of some sort.
It is possible that the short life of some batteries is also due to slight corrosion at the contacts, maybe if the key is kept in hot, moist conditions, or was contaminated when the original battery was inserted. Don’t know, could be rubbish. Anyway, never had trouble with mine and love keyless, especially with the ability to disable it when necessary.
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The earliest to can get my 'car' booked into my dealers to investigate (2 day booking) my recent dead key-fob is the first week of Jan'21, I won't be surprised if they just put a new battery in and say it's fixed, mine just died one morning after using it just two minutes before.
I both of the batteries I tried registered a good voltage when I checked using a multimeter, so I'm now relying on the second key-fob until January.
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I've figured out another solution to this flat key fob battery.
If you have a Keyless entry & start Golf and it has the SOS button by the interior lights, then install the VW 'We connect go' app onto your mobile phone and set it up for your car.
Then if your keyfob goes flat, you can still open the car using the app, no need to flick off the lock barrel cover on the door handle.
One of our keyfobs went flat earlier today, and this method worked.
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I've figured out another solution to this flat key fob battery.
If you have a Keyless entry & start Golf and it has the SOS button by the interior lights, then install the VW 'We connect go' app onto your mobile phone and set it up for your car.
Then if your keyfob goes flat, you can still open the car using the app, no need to flick off the lock barrel cover on the door handle.
One of our keyfobs went flat earlier today, and this method worked.
Great idea! Will it work with my mobile? :whistle:
(https://i.postimg.cc/1RLwPBf9/15681.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
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:grin:
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Good find, unfortunately whilst I have keyless, no SoS button :huh:
Just have to rely on spares in wallet and car :wink:
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Had the very same thing happen to my two month old car last Sunday!
Locked the car on the drive then went to open later in the afternoon and nothing!
Found out how to change battery and replaced with a new one but still nothing, no red light nothing..
Checked both batteries with my multimeter and both were reading over three volts so they were ok.
The spare key opened the car no problems...
I've had to book the car in at my dealers but because I need a car they can't see it until January 2021, if it wasn't for cv-19 they said I could have gone in at the weekend, unfortunately they want it in for two days to run diagnostics!
As the spare worked ok I'm hoping it just needs a new key fob.
Did you try taking the battery out of the spare and putting it in your main key if it definitely works? or too worried to risk the spare not working too?
I had the battery go on my key fob several months back and I haven't bought a spare yet. Tired a different battery.... nothing, not even a red light on the fob. The battery had been kept in the cupboard for a couple of years in the packet and never been used. Had to rush over to Halfords and grabbed whatever battery they had (Energizer) and it worked right away. Looked it up online and there's quite a few comments saying some brands work on theirs and some don't. I used to have an old TV remote that didn't work with most batteries but always worked with Panasonic ones.
When it wasn't working I managed to get into the car with the key but the alarm was going off, plus somehow it actually still started. Not sure if thats normal?. I now keep a spare battery in my car as I know I can still get in with the key and at home.
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Ahhh................May 2019 GTi 7.5 PP. Keyless. Just gone to the missus's car on the drive and can't get in ! No red light on the fob.....
Managed to get in and start it with the spare key.
Found this thread and having read 6 pages I'm guessing I need a new fob battery (!) but was hoping someone would have mentioned what the battery type is ? Can I get them off Amazon/Ebay or are they a VW dealer special ( well, "special" price).....
Edit - just managed to get the key apart, it's a Panasonic CR2025 @3V if that helps anyone reading this thread in future....
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Yeah real common battery - probably your local petrol station has them.
Buy two, keep one (inside of its packaging) in your wallet or handbag (hey, its 2021, who am I to judge)
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LOL...... I don't carry either, just my phone in it's case with a debit card....!
Just reading a more or less identical thread over on the Karoq forum. Seems that a few members have had problems with anything other than a like for like Panasonic battery being needed. Something about mA/h and pulses.....
Have a read if interested.
I've cancelled my Amazon order for generic 2025's and ordered genuine Panasonic's just in case....
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Got in my car yesterday after work and it popped up with the replace key battery warning so nipped into screwfix on the way home and picked up some Varta brand batteries.
Replaced in my daily fob and also my spare and no issues so far, curiously a year ago they replaced the battery on the service and the car has had another service just a few weeks ago and they didn't replace it this time around.
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I recently had my key-fob die on my 'new' car only two moths after buying it, no warning just stopped, I tried two new batteries (good make) but nothing.
Booked into the dealers and had to wait until the beginning of January, lo and behold (as I expected) they put two new batteries in (they changed spare as well) and it started working again, they reckon that it's not the voltage of the battery but the mAh that makes the difference.
Charged me £10 for the privilege! I got a bit angry (not usual for me) saying that changing the batteries should be part of the handover when buying an 'Approved VW' and it was a bit of a cheek on a two month old car, costs them very little but should be part of the customer service.
More importantly when I mentioned that I didn't get a low battery warning on the dash they didn't say a thing, to me that was the bigger issue as it's likely to happen again (they said I should have seen one).
I've bought a few Varta cells which seem to have a high mAh ready just in case.
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Regarding your finding:
On testing, the voltage was down sufficiently to stop the keyless entry from working. So the battery lasted just 11 months.
Regarding your comment:
2025 (180mAh) would appear to be greater than that of the Panasonic 2025 (165mAh)
The capacity alone does not say anything about the pulse capability of a battery.
The explanation is quite simple.
We have different batteries for different applications for CR batteries as well as for silver batteries.
For a car key as a good example, consider that the different temperatures (summer and winter) have a strong influence on the pulse capability.
Therefore datasheets are always using room temperature as base. (Independent of the manufacturer)
Using a battery that is not designed for higher pulses may mean that not all the capacity in the battery can be used.
For pulse application like your car key we recommend to use our CR20XXMFR (165mAh)
For application without pulse demand we (like a real time clock) we recommend to use our CR20XX.MFR (180mAh)
Attached I send you the two related datasheets.
The above is a cut n paste from the Karoq forum, a reply from a battery manufacturer. I hope your milliamps aren't too high ! As said, I've ordered Panasonics, will post how I get on !
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Not sure if this helps...
I checked the new batteries they fitted and they didn't have any branding on them but the part number on the invoice is as follows;
P VN 10437301
(not sure if the P means anything)
EDIT - just searched this code and it seems the VW ones could be made by Sony?
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Like this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-VW-key-fob-remote-Battery-CR2025-N10437301-/254611587751
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I guess so, when I searched I found these..
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-volkswagen-audi-parts/remote-transmitter-battery-priced-each/n10437301/
The packet seems to have VW branding on it but are made by Sony, obviously they could both be the same but different packaging.
I was hoping to find the power details of the VW ones from some of the pictures.
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My fob failed today so I just unlocked the door manually, ignored the alarm (as did the few passers by luckily) and with the key placed by the sensor on the column thankfully it started albeit after a few attempts. Lucky as it would've been a fairly long and cold walk to the nearest garage! The dead battery is a Panasonic so I'll get a couple of those.