I was searching the archives of this forum the other day and swear I saw a picture of the key fob and a description of the buttons. One of the description points to what I thought was nothing more then the transmitter eye, but it was labelled "battery check". Am I having a senior's moment or did I actually see this?
There is no mention in the manual of a battery check feature for our key fobs......
It would be kinda cool if it did have one though........
TIA

 

theres a small LED in the transmitter eye that "flashes" when you press a button... could that be it?

 

Yea, I thought of that and took a look....didn't see anything when buttons pressed.

 

I guess ALL the buttons are a "battery check" button... if you press one and nothing happens - maybe the FOB batteries are too low!

 

Nope, new batteries....

But let me share something with you. Years ago on a Volvo forum, folks were complaining about the short distance the key fobs would work at only. In other words, if you are across a large parking lot, the fob would not work until you were pretty much next to the car. I found the Crossfire much the same, however the fob will work from around 30 or 40 ft away.
Someone posted a trick that I have used ever since....and you are not going to believe it. Stand far enough from your Crossfire so that the Fob no longer works (it is out of range). Now try standing in the same location, but this time, take the fob and hold it against your chin bone. Your fob now has the strength to trigger the Crossfire. What happens is, your bones become part of the transmitter and act as an antenna. True!
I have been laughed off the internet for suggesting such a thing in the past, until you try it. Last night I was walking across a large parking lot at the Mall where the Crossfire was parked away from the crowds and some distance away from the store. I tried the fob and it didn't work. For a lark, I tried the chin thing and sure enough, it triggered the locks.
Try it..........

I was a sound engineer in another life and worked with a lot of RF microphones so I understand how this works...your bone mass simply acts as an extension of the transmitter...

Now I'll wait for the jokes............

 

I'll let others make the jokes because I have seen stranger things when it comes to electronics...

Are you sure you aren't just raising the height of the FOB? I have found out that if I use the FOB at pocket height in a full parking lot, I have to be really close to the car. If I raise it head high, it works from a much farther distance.

 

I used to have the same complaint about my Audi TT, but then I discovered the short keyless-entry distance is a FEATURE, not a defect.

If you can open the car from 100 yards away, you're literally opening the door to thieves/attackers/etc. Some cars (Volvo, Audi, some BMWs) have the feature that REQUIRES you to be very close to the car to open it.

That way, the doors unlock only wher YOU are ready to get in!

 

You are correct about the fob to the chin trick. I learned about this in the early 90's with a viper alarm system. It was in the guide book to do this from long distances, if you forgot to lock it and had walked a long distance away from the car. Don't know anything of the low battery warning though.

 

Good point......but take it away from you chin at the same height, and the results are not the same...

 

I also tried the alarm with the key fully extended and that works. I guess the key acts as an antennae too.

 

Ditto, I also was told about this when I had my viper alarm installed in 98 and it works...but not so great with the crossfire. Sometimes I get so aggitated by having to walk right up to it (mostly from behind) to get it to work, its embarassing