Dead key remote - Polo 6C GTI

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davinw
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Posts: 3
Registered for: 4 years 3 months
Car Make: VW
Car Model: Polo 6C GTi

Dead key remote - Polo 6C GTI

Post by davinw »

Good day gents,

My key remote appears to have died. I am unable to lock/unlock the car using the remote and have to do these manually. The alarm is triggered when unlocking and is only deactivated once ignition is switched on.

Some background info:
-Remote locking/unlocking worked perfectly fine the previous day. On the "problematic day", the remote unlocked once and did not want to double
click, to unlock all doors, and stopped working since.
-The car was parked overnight outside in an "unknown area" (trying to provide as much info as possible).
-"Key remote battery low" notification was raised last year and I decided to ignore and swop to spare key instead of replacing batteries (I know, right?).
However, no low battery notification was raised with the spare key in use.

Troubleshooting:
-Checked the "main" key and the same issue is observed i.e. dead remote with red light not even flashing when buttons are pressed.
-Swopped CR2032 from wife's remote (VW UP) to both my remotes and still nothing (held battery down as 2032 is too big for 6C remote). However,
batteries works fine in her remote.
-Checked all the fuses and all are intact.
-The car starts and operates fine, with the car battery being replaced a year ago.

I have searched far and wide for a possible diagnosis but could not find any. So I have decided to not be a spectator and ask the question.

Please help.
Jet Li
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Re: Dead key remote - Polo 6C GTI

Post by Jet Li »

You can try by firstly Removing the battery, Press and hold any button on your key for few seconds.
insert the new battery, repeat the same process and it should start to flick the red light.

I hope it works
'09 8P S3 Sportback (MT)
'10 B8 S4 V6T (DSG)
'15 6C GTi (MT)
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amstel18
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Car Make: VW
Car Model: Tiguan Allspace
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Location: Brackenfell, Cape Town

Re: Dead key remote - Polo 6C GTI

Post by amstel18 »

pRE-2016 vw's you needed to resync the spare key, after battery replacement. There was a procedure for it online and even in the service book.

But seeing that you now have 2 dead keys, I think a trip to the dealership is in order.
Current:
2022 GWM P-Series LT 4x4
Ex:
2018 VW Tiguan Allspace
2013 Audi A3 Sportback 1.8 TFSI S-Tronic
2015 Pure White 1.2tsi Comfortline
2011 2L BiTdi ROK D/C Highline
2006 Seat Ibiza Cupra TDI
91 Caddy, ADY motor on mp9, wildcat 4-1 branch and 50mm Evolution s/s exhaust
96 1600 Chico (sold)
davinw
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Posts: 3
Registered for: 4 years 3 months
Car Make: VW
Car Model: Polo 6C GTi

Re: Dead key remote - Polo 6C GTI

Post by davinw »

Jet Li wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 1:37 pm You can try by firstly Removing the battery, Press and hold any button on your key for few seconds.
insert the new battery, repeat the same process and it should start to flick the red light.

I hope it works
Tried above mentioned and remote started flashing when buttons were pressed after new batteries were inserted. Both keys were out of sync and had to be re-set. There are apparently various ways to do it. I held down the unlock button for about 10 sec (while car was locked), unlocked the car with the key and both remote lock and unlock functions started registering/working. The double click only started working after the "all doors" unlock function on the infotainment was selected and reverted to "driver door only".

Spoke to auto elec and according to him batteries sometimes die slowly, giving the car time to detect the drop in voltage and give you the "key battery low" notification. And other times it just dies without warning - as in my case.
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amstel18
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Posts: 4834
Registered for: 16 years 3 months
Car Make: VW
Car Model: Tiguan Allspace
Membership No: missing
Location: Brackenfell, Cape Town

Re: Dead key remote - Polo 6C GTI

Post by amstel18 »

davinw wrote: Tue May 24, 2022 7:44 am
Jet Li wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 1:37 pm You can try by firstly Removing the battery, Press and hold any button on your key for few seconds.
insert the new battery, repeat the same process and it should start to flick the red light.

I hope it works
Tried above mentioned and remote started flashing when buttons were pressed after new batteries were inserted. Both keys were out of sync and had to be re-set. There are apparently various ways to do it. I held down the unlock button for about 10 sec (while car was locked), unlocked the car with the key and both remote lock and unlock functions started registering/working. The double click only started working after the "all doors" unlock function on the infotainment was selected and reverted to "driver door only".

Spoke to auto elec and according to him batteries sometimes die slowly, giving the car time to detect the drop in voltage and give you the "key battery low" notification. And other times it just dies without warning - as in my case.
Glad you sorted and thanks for posting the solution here. That is what will help the poor next guy to sort it out easier :hurray:
Current:
2022 GWM P-Series LT 4x4
Ex:
2018 VW Tiguan Allspace
2013 Audi A3 Sportback 1.8 TFSI S-Tronic
2015 Pure White 1.2tsi Comfortline
2011 2L BiTdi ROK D/C Highline
2006 Seat Ibiza Cupra TDI
91 Caddy, ADY motor on mp9, wildcat 4-1 branch and 50mm Evolution s/s exhaust
96 1600 Chico (sold)
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