Keyless entry not working

[nick49]

I tried to get the keyless entry on my wife's '99 Boxster to work as it has been intermittent at best for the last several months. First I checked the battery and it is good. I removed it replaced it reversing polarity momentarily as suggested here, also left it out for a period of time. The red LEDs illuminate when the buttons are pushed but it will not lock the door even at very close range. If I manually lock the door I can get it to unlock maybe 1 in 50 or so trys. If the doors are unlocked I can get the rear trunk to open if I push for a couple of seconds. The range is also OK as I did the TSB antenna trim. Any ideas? BTW we only have one remote. Thanks for any ideas.

[Dan Hinkebein]

Nick,

The first thing I would do would be to replace the battery. Even though it may seem fine when you test it with a voltmeter, the voltage drop when you press the button on the fob may be too great.

Did the problem happen before or after you modified the antenna lead? If it started after, did you go back and double-check the length of the lead? If the lead isn't the correct length, 130 mm for US cars, the remote will not function properly. It may seem trivial, but antennas are very sensitive and if it is, ever so slightly, too long or too short it can change the frequency it is capable of receiving. I worked with cellular phones in the late 80's and early 90's when most phones were not handheld. One of the biggest complaints we would get was reception. Nine times out of 10 it was caused by the owner angling the antenna instead of leaving it straight up and down or modify the spiral to try to reduce the wind noise it would make. This would cause the radio signal to “miss” the antenna.

I did have a similar problem after my remote went through the washing machine. It worked okay for a while but then began working sporadically as you described. I eventually just replace the remote and all has been well since.

Dan Hinkebein