Key fobs were designed to make our lives easier. Once upon a time, we had to put our keys into the keyhole to open our car doors. Today, all you need to do is use the key fob. This way, you can open your car door some distance from the car.
Imagine how you will feel when your Chevy Silverado key fob stops working. All that convenience is gone. It must be a frustrating experience. Why did the key fob stop working? How do you fix the problem? We will answer both questions in this post. Let’s dive straight in.
Chevy Silverado Key Fob Not Working: Possible Problems and How To Fix
There are so many possible reasons why the key fob of your car is not working. Before you conclude that the problem is the key fob, you need to be sure first. The easiest way to do this is to first test the door with a spare key fob.
Not everyone owns a spare key fob. If you don’t, then you can purchase a used one from the local spare part store. Once you try the spare remote and it opens your doors, then you are sure that your Silverado key fob is bad. Here are some of the most common reasons why the key fob has stopped working:
Bad battery
This is usually the first culprit to check for when your car’s key fob stops working. Key fobs mostly make use of category 4 button cell batteries. These batteries aren’t expensive so it is always easy to change them when they get bad.
Before you purchase a battery for your key fob, make sure that you verify the kind of battery it uses. You can find out from the car owner’s manual or your local dealer. Also, you can open the key fob and check behind the battery lodged in the unit. There should be a number inscribed on it telling you the battery category.
While checking the type of battery in the key fob, you should also check it. This is necessary to be sure that you have a battery problem. Test the battery using a multimeter. If it is producing the required voltage, it means that you don’t have a battery problem. However, if it doesn’t produce any voltage, the battery is bad and you need to change it.
Broken internal contacts
We expose our key fobs to all kinds of wear and tear. Interestingly, these items are not indestructible so soon they develop faults. There are two very common points of the key fob that develop internal contact failure. They are the buttons and the battery terminals.
How do you know that your key fob is not working because of broken internal contacts? The easiest way is to take the key fob apart and check the different contact points. You can run a simple visual evaluation of each of these points. If you notice any of these parts is loose, you can solder them back into place. When you do this, the key fob should start working normally.
What if the contact points at the terminals aren’t bad? Then you should check the buttons. Some of them may have become loose and need to be soldered into place. Sometimes, the problem is beyond soldering and you need to purchase a new remote.
Failed programming
For your key fob to work with your car, it must be programmed. Sometimes, the key fob loses this memory and so it can no longer open your Chevy Silverado. The reason why the key fob is programmed is to prevent other people with similar key fobs or cars from accessing yours.
What do you do when the key fob and your car can no longer communicate? It is simple, you need to reprogram the key fob. There are two ways of doing this. You can either reprogram the key fob by yourself or take it to the local dealership.
Here is how to reprogram your key fob by yourself in steps:
Step 1 – Open your vehicle then close the doors.
Step 2 – Put your car key into the ignition.
Step 3 – Turn the key in the ignition but don’t start the car. Just move it to the “run position” then move it to the “locked position” again. Do this a couple of times depending on your car.
Step 4 – After turning the key a number of times, you should hear a chime. When you do, press any of the “unlock or lock” buttons on the key fob. After doing this, you should hear another chime.
Step 5 – By now, the key fob should start working again.
Note that this procedure doesn’t work for every car. If it doesn’t work for you, you can try this one below:
Step 1 – Open the car then lock the doors manually.
Step 2 – Put the key into the ignition then pull it out. Do this six times in ten seconds.
Step 3 – The interior and exterior lights of your car should flash.
Step 4 – Now, put the key into the ignition then turn it to “accessory.”
Step 5 – Push a button on the key fob. If the process is successful then you should see the hazard lights flash. This means that your key fob is ready to use.
Asides from these methods, you can visit the local dealership to help you reprogram the key fob. If the car has a security system attached to the remote, then you must check for special reprogramming procedures.
Broken key fob
If you have tried all the measures above and the key fob doesn’t work, then it is probably broken. In this case, there is just one solution, changing the key fob. Key fobs are not so expensive and you can find one at the local spare parts store or dealership. You can either purchase a used or new one. Whichever you choose, you still have to program it to work with your Chevy Silverado.
Conclusion
Great! You now know why your Chevy Silverado key fob is not working. We have also shown you some ways to solve the problem. If you have any questions, drop them in the comments section.
