poor remote keyfob range 2010 xf s/c
 

hi all, wondering if you have troubles with poor range for xf remote keyfob lock / unlock?
bought a 2010 xf supercharged a month ago and it only came with one keyfob, and the range was poor at best, terrible other times.. changed the battery and didn't get much better. even had to "dock" the keyfob to start it once..

so... i did the unthinkable and paid a dealer almost $500 for parts and programming labor to give me a brand new keyfob. wanted to solve my problem and to get consistent and longer range

well it is now consistent in its poor range.. i'm talking @ 15 feet it may not work. this is a brand new keyfob.. i've only once had it lock the car from 20 ft away. it does work from 10 ft away no problem..

i can't imagine this is a factory condition of poor range and i wonder if there are other antennas on the car that aren't receiving the signal well??

would much appreciate any feedback re: solutions / ideas on this topic

Yes me too. 2009 XF SC. Poor range even with brand new battery (actually both batteries, the remote and the car!). My range was much better a few years back. Like 50 feet easily. Now about 20ft max. It does seem to be variable, but I've never figured out why.

I have to say I've noticed the same, though usually replacing the battery with a good quality one has solved the issue.

As quoted in the Dealer Training (attached) under "Erratic Handset Behavior":
I've never had that message appear on the dash, but I have found that battery replacement improves the range. That said, I'm SURE my range used to be better a couple of years ago. I guess it's possible that the RF receiver has a flaw where it's performance degrades over time? I'd imagine it's pretty well insulated against water ingress etc though.

wow, that document was in depth!!!

+1 on having issues with the key fob.

I noticed its always locking that doesn't want to work as I'm walking away for the car.

If I click unlock on the key fob, then lock, it will lock with no issue.

Changed key fob battery with Energizer brand battery, no differences seen.

I figured some kind of interference with RF.

Why do you need range on the key fob? Doors unlock by just pulling the handle when the fob is in your pocket. And lock by pressing to button on the handle as you close the door. So I never touch they key fob on mine. I just make sure it's somewhere in my bag or pocket and it works perfectly

i usually try to lock it while walking away from the car. end up standing there like a goof 20 ft from the car trying to get it to work and then I'm the guy who has to walk back towards his car to get the thing to lock..

how would we like out television remotes if we had to get up and stand close to the TV each time..

Kids running ahead and wanting to get in the car and out of the rain (well I do live in Portland), Locating the car in the paring lot by activating the alarm. I'm sire there are others. I guess my original point is this is something that used to have a great range and now doesn't......

Fair points. And sorry to take us off track. It may be more widespread than people realize as I expect many of us just use the proximity lock/unlock and never touch the fob

Do you have any devices plugged into the power that could be causing RF interference? I've heard of dash cams and radar detectors causing issues in the past. Any difference if everything is unplugged?

Thanks, That's an interesting theory, as yes, I have both a dashcam and radar detector wired into the power outlet located in the mirror assembly. They do power down after ~2 minutes so as an electronics engineer, I'm struggling to see how they might affect the unlock process when all those devices are powered down....

I guess they could affect the unlock process but I agree it's very unlikely. My suspicion is that the receiver for the remote central locking (located in the rear of the roof) has a flaw where the antenna cable solder joint is weakened by the vibration of the car or something similar, and so the range reduces over time.

I may even pull it when I next get the chance and check out the condition of the antenna...

Can you pull a fuse and test it? I remember reading someone with an S-Type with exactly the issue you describe. Think it was the dash cam wired in if I remember right. He disconnected it and problem fixed

Unlikely to be the same for you, but worth a try

Hi guys!

I recently had this exact problem with my XF 2011. The fobs were perfect up until 'one day' when they just started to have terrible range. The unlock was normally best with almost normal range but the lock required you to almost stand on top of the car to get the doors to lock!

I started to investigate last week and replaced the receiver module which is just in front of the rear cabin light. Surprisingly this didn't help one iota! :( I also tested the remotes at work and they were putting out a fine, strong signal.

Moving on to the fact that unlock was better than lock, I noticed the only thing that really changed was that the cabin lights were ON when trying to lock and normally OFF when unlocking. Moving along this line of thought, I traced the fault to cheap LEDs that had been installed in place of the cabin lights. I took one of the LEDs in to work (I work at a Community College) and found that in operation the LEDs throw out all manner of RF interference in the 280 - 400mhz band... Right over the 315mhz frequency for the remotes!

Further experimentation with the RF meter also showed me that the more expensive 'Philips' LED interfered almost as much as the eBay specials I had.

Replaced all bulbs with incandescents and range is back to normal. Might be worth a look!?

Chris...

Hi Chris,
Ithink you are on the right track here. Wow! I also changed the incandescent interior lights for LED's. The RF interference thing may be right on the money. I'll change back and see what happens. I can also do an RF scan so will also be looking into the spectrum of the emissions.....

Cheers.