My key fob on my 97 xk8 is weak. You have to be close to the car for it to work. Sometimes you have to press hard and a couple of times before it will work. I replaced the batterys with new Panasonic batterys with no improvement. It seems to work better if pointed at the car with the key side of the fob. All four functions work. Anyone else have this problem? Thanks

 

Clean the rubber and gold button contact areas inside with rubbing alcohol. Make sure all the black residue is removed from the gold contacts. This usually brings it right back, good as new.

 

Yeah, I do. Mine sometimes just doesn't want to work. I can then go a week or two without trying to use it, then one day, I decide to do so and it works like magic... for about two or three days. Then it goes back to working the way you described it.

Sometimes cleaning the circuits with a cotton swab and diluted isopropanol helps.

 

Thanks, cleaned the four contacts with alcohol and now it works great. I had lots of black residue on the contacts. Thanks again, my wife thinks I am a genius.

 

Steve, I've noticed that even with a new battery, my key fob doesn't benefit much from cleaning the black tar with the isopropyl alcohol. It used to work, but now that the tar doesn't form as often, I end up scratching my head, wondering why it's not working.

It's not the tar, it's not the battery and it's not the programming. So why does it get to choose when to work?

 

Make sure you also clean the rubber side. Try very gently cleaning the battery contacts with a clean pencil eraser also.

Also look at the gold foil laminated to the circuit board in a circular pattern for each button with a magnifier. Check for broken areas or a small piece of foil which has delaminated. If there is a little piece delaminated, it can be removed with a razor blade as long as it does not interrupt the spiral continuity.

 

Well, I did some thorough cleaning of the remote, as per your instructions. It's opening fine right now. Let's see if it stays that way.

 

Where is the receiver located on the car? Mine seems to work best when aimed at the rear.

98 XK-8 conv.

 

The receiver itself is under the fuesbox in the trunk (boot). The antenna for the reciever is on the right (US passenger side), adjacent to the rear seat, just above the righthand speaker.