Key Fobs are designed to make life a lot easier for car owners and boost the overall security of their cars against theft. But while these little devices are a great upgrade, they do come with their set of issues.
Sooner or later, you may notice that your Subaru key fob isn’t working, which means you won’t be able to remotely control your vehicle. There are a bunch of reasons why this could happen, and there are many easy fixes that can bring back the convenience of owning and using a key fob.
Subaru Key Fob Not Working? Here’s the First Certainty Test
Before trying out any of the fixes in this post, be sure to check that the problem is from your key fob and not your car door. A second remote would come in handy. Try using the backup remote to lock and unlock the doors. If it works, then you know for sure that there is a fault in the main remote.
If the backup remote doesn’t work as well, then it could be that it is also bad. However, your door locks could also be experiencing a mechanical or electrical problem. In such a case, you should check if your door works with a physical key.
If your doors respond to the physical key, then this rules out the possibility of a mechanical problem. Still, you have to check to ensure that the electronics are fine. Try unlocking all your car doors via the physical primary control inside the car. If this works, then the problem is most likely coming from your key fob.
Subaru Key Fob Not Working: Causes
After having confirmed that your Subaru key fob has a problem, consider checking out for each of these likely causes:
- Dead or Bad Battery
- Damaged key fob remote transmitter or receiver
- Key Fob not programmed
- Car key remote broken
Subaru Key Fob Not Working: How to Fix
1. Check your key fob battery
Sometimes, the fix to an unresponsive key fob would be as simple as changing the battery. The key fob’s battery is its primary source of power and it usually comes with a long shelf life.
Changing the key fob battery might be the first thing that comes to mind so this might sound obvious, but you note that getting the right battery type is extremely important.
Make sure you get a battery similar in specs to the type you’re replacing. When done, check if the remote works. If it doesn’t, then it could be likely that your key fob is damaged.
2. Check if the key fob is programmed properly
In order for the key fob to lock and unlock your car just by pressing a button, it has to be effectively paired with the receiver in your car. This not only allows it to unlock your car without fail but makes sure that anyone with the same model won’t be able to do so.
If your key fob is not working and you’ve tried other fixes, there is a chance that you didn’t program it properly or it needs to be reprogrammed.
Reprogramming the key fob is an extremely easy process and would only take a few minutes. To do this, your key fob needs to be the type that you can program yourself rather than the modern types that would have to be programmed by the dealer.
If you can program yours on your own, then follow these steps:
- Open the key fob case and inside, you will find the transmitter circuit board. You will find one or two series of numbers (8 digits code)
- Take a pen and write down the first 8-digit number series. Keep this close by as you will need it during the programming process
- Put the key fob case back together
- Enter your vehicle and shut the doors (make sure your vehicle is turned off)
- Ensure that all doors are locked using the door button control
- Insert the key in the ignition and turn it to the run position (this should turn on the electrical systems and not the engine) and back to the lock position for about 10 times. You should do this quickly.
- After the tenth run, you will hear a chime from the instrument panel
- Next, open and close the driver’s side door once more. Again, you will hear the chime, and your dome lights will flash.
- This gives you 45 seconds to program the 8-digit transmitter code into the engine’s computer using the car’s lock/unlock button.
- If this procedure is successful, you should be able to use your key fob remote once again.
3. Check if the key fob is damaged or broken
This is usually the last thing that comes to mind because you should notice the signs before it actually happens. Dropping your key fob severally is likely to damage it and after some time, you would notice that your key fob can’t unlock your car doors. The most common points of damage that could impair its function are the buttons and battery terminal contacts.
To confirm this, you need to take apart the remote and perform a thorough visual inspection. Check the battery connector terminals for damage. If they feel loose or are broken, then you would have to solder them back in place.
Also check if the place where the button is soldered for damage and if they have come loose, you can solder them back together, however, if the button has been physically snapped off, then you need to get a new remote.
Fixing a damaged key fob might require a bit of knowledge on how these things work so you don’t damage the transmitter circuit board while trying to fix its other parts.
Wrap-up
If changing the battery or reprogramming the key fob doesn’t work, then you’re better off replacing the key fob. They won’t cost much to replace but you should go for the ones that you can program yourself. This gives you the freedom to reprogram it whenever a fault develops. Modern key fobs programmed by dealers come with their own set of benefits so the choice would depend on your convenience.
