Keyless entry troubleshooting
 

We recently picked up a wagon and purchased it knowing the keyless entry was no good. It's now my job to figure out why and get it working for the Misses.

I started off by replacing the key fob battery and that resulted in no change. Now today, I replaced the diversity antenna as well with no change.

There was a previous hatch wiring repair that doesn't look to good....I'm going to repair that soon as well.

Besides that am I missing anything? Any way to test the fob or car? What fuses should I be checking?

Also...I accidentally broke the ribbon cable for the red plug...any one have an idea what that is? It sheared off and I can't see where it's supposed to go.

Small update. keyless DOES work. range is short, the button press doenst always result in an action. I ordered a proper VL2020 battery as I rigged a CR2032 in there currently. Will test more tomorrow....

I think the red ribbon should go down into the glass. The black ribbon goes up into the spoiler.
Neither of my fobs worked when I got the car, but a locksmith showed me they were both emitting signal.
Ultimately, I had to replace all the bodged loom wiring into the glass, including sorting the switch, and finding out how to ping the lid with no power, and then I found that the diversity antenna was knackered, and I replaced it.

Everything is now working properly. However - my red ribbon cable was OK.

That's strange locksmith service is needed for that fob issue..

I have the same issue with mine as well. I don't want to drop $400 on a new antenna amplifier if I don't know for sure if it's broken or not. I've looked at all the wires in the loom and they appear fine but I'm not opposed to replacing them if I have to. There is no sign of corrosion or water penetration on the amplifier module as some others have shown.

This should be a good reference on which wires to trace. I had the same issue, what fixed it was the hatch wiring loom. I am now having the issues again but that is due to an imperfect job the first time.

I just wanted to add a comment to the diversity antenna issue, without starting yet another thread. My comment is: Be aware that there are two frequencies used on the E61: 868.4 MHz and 315 MHz. Make sure your replacement is the right one.

that's a very good post. thx. will be digging into this soon to sell the car in proper working condition.

Before selling the car, one must think about that option. It will help to fix the issue, i also took help from suffolk county locksmith for keyless entry troubleshooting problem.

I faced troubles like locked keys in car or lost keys many times but i never thought of selling that car. With the help of mechanic i overcomed that problem but never thought of selling my car.