Key Fob doesn’t work after windows tinted
 

I dropped my car off to get the windows retinted finally. Was done around 5pm and the guy left my key fob under a towel next to the car for me to pick up after hours. Went to pick it up, grabbed the key, the door unlocked no problem with the key in my hand and started with the push button start. When I turned the car on my check engine light was suddenly on, wasn’t on before. Got home and checked the code: P0512. Searched around because I was baffled and found that someone had the same, they cleaned the rubber stoppers in the door jams and it worked for them. So I took the rubber stoppers off, cleaned them with rubbing alcohol, put them back on, cleared the code and restarted the car. Started up with no cel.

Fast forward to this morning (next day) and I go to get in my car and the doors aren’t unlocking. It’s early and I’m not thinking and go okay the battery is dead. Jump it with a portable battery, and I get in the car and to start it I have to start it with my key fob against the button. And even after starting it, the key light comes on the dash, so I realize then it’s my fob. Key light disappears and doesn’t show up again, but I can’t start my car without the fob against the button. Figure it’s the battery. Change the battery, doesn’t help. I also realized the red light blinked on the old battery anyway. Disconnected the battery terminal in a last ditch effort, no avail.

Really at a loss, I’m sure I’m just not connecting the pieces but what’s happening. Using my spare fob with a new battery, I have the same issue. Just so confused why the fob worked fine yesterday but now suddenly doesn’t.

It sounds to me like they disconnected the battery or pulled the fuse to keep the windows in place. Check the for blown or wrong amp fuse. Anything else weird like your radio station presets got wiped?

They said they clamped the door jam buttons to keep them in place, that’s all they said they did. Checked the fuse, looked good. Will pick one up later today just in the off chance Im missing something and it’s bad. Nothing else weird so far that I can see.

i wonder if they screwed up the door sensors... held in place is different than he-man clamping them with the vice grips of death...

They do still work normally it seems, windows adjust when opening and closing doors without hesitation. Remote doesn’t work whether doors are opened or closed. I’m baffled.

Metallic tint or ceramic?

Try a different new battery in the fob. The "new" batteries for these have around a 50/50 chance of being any good.

Ceramic

Definitely worth a shot, I’ll grab some tomorrow. Went to 5 different stores trying to find it, each had every type except 1632

Half update: took it to the dealer and they’re kinda baffled. The remote works sometimes but very rarely. They’re swapping out the ignition switch and seeing if that resolves it. Said if not it’s likely the receiver which they say is very expensive, so fingers crossed it’s not that

There are some components under the rear deck lid related to the receiver. Maybe something under it was disturbed/dislodged during installation.

I only did the side windows and windshield, do you think they’d still potentially mess with that space? I’ll try anything at this point tbh

Probably not unless they leaned on it doing your side window with a tremendous amount of force. When I had mine done the guy awarded the job was the smallest one on the team and he was pretty much an acrobat. I've had the back deck lid off on my Gen 1 and the box is towards the right.

There is a procedure to resync your fob. You may want to try that before throwing random parts at it. I'm assuming it's not covered under warranty given your explanation of the situation.

From my seat reading your issue makes as much sense as your radio stops working after you have a flat tire fixed considering it worked flawlessly before.

I did some digging and found it is a pretty well documented problem with some relatively simple solutions. Mind you I don't think it is a common problem but when it does happen people search for answers.

Finally - you may have paid for ceramic tint. Are you sure you received ceramic tint?

I’ll give them a call tomorrow morning and ask them to resync the remote first and see how that goes. Thank you so much for trying to find solutions, I spent a couple hours looking but nothing I found seemed to help much.

What were some of the simple solutions you found outside of what you’ve listed?

I actually do not, I’ll look into how to tell the difference and take a look at what I have and get back to you. Never would have even guessed that’s something they’d lie about, but I suppose it’s not surprising.

I'm not suggesting they lied. It could have been a product pulled from the wrong shelf, a product returned to the wrong shelf, something like that. Even so, the last 4 cars I have had tinted with standard tint and keyless entry/push start have never had a problem.

Suggestions were on other forums for other cars but the solutions ranged from waiting a few days (something got wet and needs to dry out) to removing the tint.

This is going to sound dumb but did you put anything in the rear wing window or bottom left of the back window like a decal, stuffed animal on the deck lid - anything like that? Were any other services installed even if not at the same time?

Ah okay. I talked to them about the tint potentially being metallic and she said it couldn’t be that because in the car the remote still won’t work. It’s been a week so it shouldn’t be water because it’s definitely had time to dry and been plenty hot. I do have a small decal on the right hand side of the rear windshield (passenger side) all the way at the bottom but I’ve also had it there for a long time. Can’t think of anything else installed lately. I put a dash came in about a year ago. My rear view mirror connector was left hanging after the tint and so was the dash cam wire, so I had to plug those back in, but nothing has changed otherwise in at least a year

I wish I had a solution but it's now out of my limited knowledge space. You could try a handful of different batteries in the fob. As @Tcoat mentioned you never know how long they have been on the shelf. When you push a button on the fob does it light up?

Having to hold the key to the start button has nothing to do with tint. You are already in the car. Every symptom is listed in the owners manual as an issue with the fob battery being low.
If changing the battery a couple of times (to rule it out) then I am baffled. Maybe try the second fob?

Yeah I’ve tried a few packs of batteries in both remotes, not to mention I’d be willing to bet the dealer tried one or two because they thought the same thing: has to be the battery. Red light shows on both remotes with all the batteries. Weirdest thing is it works sometimes, very rarely, but twice it randomly started working. Could lock/unlock doors, handle unlock worked, push to start without it close worked. Then next time I got in the car it was back to nothing again. But that was twice out of maybe 40 times since the problem started.

Edit: also can’t thank you guys enough for the help

Unplug the battery. Hold down the brake pedal for 10 seconds to drain. Sit the car for an hour just to be sure. Plug it all back in. Try again.

Don’t have the car now, but especially if the ignition switch doesn’t fix it come Monday I’ll give it a go.

Ended up being the ignition switch!

Bringing the thread back with an update: fob stopped working again. Brought to Subaru and here’s what they’re thinking.
They noticed a bad accident on the car fax. Happened in 2017, lost control and car spun hitting a bunch of wooden posts. Driver side curtain and seat airbag deployed. Had the airbag module reset by myairbags, replaced the driver side seat and curtain airbag. I cannot remember if I replaced the seatbelt. Looking back at old records I don’t think I did, but it’s possible. Subaru thinks it could be the wiring harness (quoted me $3k for the repair, part is also on back order until may. She thinks because the ignition switch plugs into that main harness, possibly it’s shorting it out. They tested the switch in another car and said it works fine.
They suggested taking the car to Toyota due to the alarm system being made by Toyota and seeing if they have any insight to potentially avoid such an expensive repair.

Never imagined this could be related to an accident from 5 years ago, anyone have any input?

i have heard of airbag deployment burning up wires/connectors. though the scenario's i've heard of were all burned up airbag-specific connectors/wires.

wiring harnesses are not fun to replace. if that was the case, could also try looking into locating a junkyard car that was rear-ended or something that you could get the harness out of.

Do you think the problem could have been dormant for 5 years and shown up now?

anything's possible.
most likely only if there was a physical wire breakage, and that broken portion chaffed against another wire to cause the damage.

you are in florida, so it's possible that the heat from the airbag deployment in the wires affected other wires, and then reduced the insulation thickness that the repeated heat/cool cycles of the florida heat did it in the rest of the way.

i just find it weird that they're only speculating that it's the harness because 'the button works in another car'-- should be able to test for that with an ohm meter at both ends of the harness-- both continuity across individual wires(should be near-zero), and also resistance between wires(should be near-infinite).

It definitely feels like they don’t really want to have anything to do with it at this point. They lay pretty heavily into “this is just a shot in the dark, might not fix it” anytime they come up with a potential solution. And they usually preface it with “this is gonna be expensive” no matter what it is. I’m hoping I’ll be able to determine the cause on my own at least, and take it somewhere else for repairs. But I’m pretty lost at this point. I’m going to open up the head unit space and see if I can see anything physical they might’ve missed tomorrow.

Just out of curiosity, do you have anything plugged into the center console. The Keyless access receiver is right by the shifter. I have seen Inductive phone chargers and other electronic device wires around the console cause exactly what you're dealing with.

One BRZ had a dash cam cig plug that was made so bad it was causing so much interference the keyless access wouldn't start. Unplugged it, started, plug back in, wouldn't start.

I would try and eliminate any aftermarket anything near the center console, or even remove the console and make sure the keyless receiver isn't damaged or partially plugged in.

https://www.subarupartsdeal.com/reso...d78586f12c.png

difference between a repair shop and a dealership service center. service centers just get 'em in, and get 'em out. if you're still struggling, go to an independent shop. no reason to go to the dealer for everything.

I have a phone charger plugged in there and dash cam plugged into the OBD reader. Unplugged both, pulled the center console and radio out and checked everything there. Everything is plugged in tight. Tried wiggling things around a bit to see if anything was possibly loose. Can’t find anything unusual

So this has me thinking the touch/proximity sensor or door harness may be damaged. I've also seen when these sensors get hit, they look ok and operate for a while, then water gets in and corrodes the circuit. Only way I know to test them is with a dealer tool and basically, you move the key fob close to each sensor and it gives feedback to the laptop.

When there is a short like this in the keyless access system, basically it all shuts down, and the fail safe is as you do, touch the key to the button to Verify to allow to start.

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/pict...ictureid=12780

Usually, RKE and Immobilizer are two separate systems.

Touching the "button" on the door handle, the car's remote keyless entry system will ping the remote with the antenna that's inside the door handle, and the remote will answer back and remote unlock the car.

Starting the car uses an entirely different antenna inside the car. Some companies put it in the button, some put it in the cupholder, some put a slot for the key under the dash, that's the antenna you have to get close to when your remote battery dies, because that antenna can provide the energy for the immo transponder to answer back, like an RFID tag. In the picture above, that's the electrical key oscillator.

Keep in mind, a key can go bad. I assume you've only got one? You couldn't possibly have omitted trying the other one right? You couldn't possibly have forgotten to tell us about it right?

Hint: even an independent shop can "test" a remote. At work I used a Bartec Tech400 Pro to program TPMS sensors and that has functions to "listen" to an RKE signal, or a car's antenna pinging a key and it answering back. Also, many pro-level scan tools will be able to view live data and trouble codes for the smart key system. There is literally no need for this "maybe it's the body harness give us 3000$" bullshit.

manual de servicio:

Chapter: ANTI-THEFT SYSTEM/SMART ENTRY & START SYSTEM > ENTRY & START SYSTEM (ENTRY FUNCTION)

Verse: All Door Entry Lock/Unlock Functions and Wireless Functions do not Operate

And unto CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION:
If neither the entry door lock/unlock function nor the wireless door lock/unlock function works, it might be due to interference from external radio waves, or due to a defect in the key or a signal circuit located between the door control receiver and the collation ECM (smart key ECM ASSY). The signal circuit is shared by the entry function and the wireless door lock function.

Entry cancel function (manual operation)
NOTE:
While the entry and start system is canceled, it is possible to lock and unlock the doors with the wireless operation, and the start system can be operated by holding the key against the engine switch.
(a) The following functions are disabled when the entry and start system is canceled.
1. Entry unlock/lock functions
2. Entry ignition function
3. Key lock-in prevention function
4. Entry back door open/lock function
5. Entry warning functions


Collation ECM (smart key ECM ASSY)
The collation ECM (smart key ECM ASSY) transmits a request code to each electrical key antenna. It identifies and checks the ID code transmitted from the electrical key transmitter SUB ASSY and then transmits a signal to an appropriate ECM according to the function operated.
When an ignition operation is performed, the collation ECM (smart key ECM ASSY) exchanges encrypted codes with the steering lock ECM (steering lock actuator ASSY).* 1
When an ignition operation is performed, the collation ECM (smart key ECM ASSY) exchanges encrypted codes with the ID code box (immobilizer code ECM).* 2

So yeah.

Anyway. if there is an issue with his RKE putting the smart key ecm into entry cancel function, the question still stands: Why? And my advice still stands: Instead of asking on the internet if people can see the electrons in the control modules and read the fault data that is putting the car into entry cancel, it might be best to consult someone with a scan tool that can actually do that.

Because in post #23 , the vehicle history was in a Driver side collision, and may or may not have been repaired properly. Along with the Hack dealership that doesn't want to properly diagnose the issue.

I do have two remotes and the times that it had randomly started working, they both would work. After my previous post of trying to wiggle everything around a bit, I messed around a little more, gave up, and started plugging everything back in and putting it back. After plugging the heated seat sensors, center console “cig charger”, push start button sensor back in and shoving a little aggressively on the buttons housing to snap it into place, everything worked again. Tried messing with all of these again to get it to fail so I could pinpoint where the issue was and no matter what I did I couldn’t get it to fail again. So as it sits right now, everything is working and has been for about 16 hours. Took it on some bumpy roads thinking making it would jar it around, no changes. It’s making me think it’s likely in the wiring harness, but still I’m uncertain.

I also really appreciate all of your guys help. Sorry I’m not the most technically inclined but I do read through it all and try to learn with each experience. The electrical side of cars has never been my forte unfortunately.

No, that's a theory. There is very little use in theorizing about an accident 5 years ago when no one has peeped at the error codes it has now.