Cell masts messing up my keyless entry system?

[Al Weyman]

Most strange this, it has become like Jodrell Bank around here right on my corner outside my shop they have put no less than 4 phone masts everyone protested and everyone railroaded through.

Anyhow I have had some intermittent problems with my keyless entry/immobiliser on my Chevy Blazer, it refuses to function. First couple of times the RAC somehow managed to get it going then Wednesday I pulled up at the shop and this time it would not lock the doors. Now the immobiliser sets itself after a minute and if you cannot deactivate it you ain't going nowhere. I left it here Wednesday and called the RAC in yesterday, they failed to fix it this time. I phoned some rip off merchants who quoted me no less than £500 to rewire the system and bypass the immobiliser, (I am beginning to get worried) plus I have to get it to them.

Then I had a minor brainwave, the immobiliser works by cutting the fuel supply, start it on Autogas numnut (dual fuel motor and fortunately manual switchable). bang she starts and I drove her home. Pull outside my house and the immobiliser and fob are working fine. Come in this morning, as I get out the car the alarm goes off, shut that down and the fob won't function, leap into the car drive it round the corner fine. Come back here dead again!

I have noticed they are building flats opposite and a couple of days ago they erected a huge mobile crane which is directly behind the mast and I am wondering if this is deflecting the mast signals and strengthening them to such an extent its messing with my car, what do you think I should do and do you think the crane maybe having a temporary effect as it is much worse now than it has ever been?

[Dave Brand]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

I have noticed they are building flats opposite and a couple of days ago they erected a huge mobile crane which is directly behind the mast and I am wondering if this is deflecting the mast signals and strengthening them to such an extent its messing with my car, what do you think I should do and do you think the crane maybe having a temporary effect as it is much worse now than it has ever been?

That explanation does sound plausible. As a first step, I'd contact the vehicle importers & ask if they are aware of any such occurrences & if they have a cure. Of course, part of your problem is that it's American - I believe US mobile phones use a different frequency to UK phones. I have a vague memory of similar trouble with Chrysler Voyagers.

[JimW]

Yes, there is lots of this about. Many systems such as this are poorly designed in terms of how they can cope with interference.

If you bought the vehicle new from a UK dealer, then you might have some mileage in getting them (actually the manufacturers) to address the issue. Assuming that it is "CE" marked, they have a duty for it to be able to tolerate an electromagnetic environment such as this. Pressure may reveal that Ford have had to provide modification kits to improve the electronic shielding for the UK market? I'd Google the complaint.

The other possibility is that the various transmitter masts in the location are exceeding their authorised power. (And I know that happens. ) Getting the regulatory authority to pay attention may be difficult. Does your local paper/other community resource have any evidence of others suffering the same problems?

Regards

Jim

[Al Weyman]

Well the only response I got from the importers Byer Mullet (spelling) was to take it 200 miles to Manchester and have the immobiliser removed at great expense, thank God its on Autogas so I at least have a work around! It is a full EU compliant RHD vehicle (Chevrolet not Ford, don't use foul language to me ).

[JimW]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

(Chevrolet not Ford, don't use foul language to me ).

Jim

[Dave Brand]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Well the only response I got from the importers Byer Mullet (spelling) was to take it 200 miles to Manchester and have the immobiliser removed at great expense,

'electronic immobilisers have been required by EU law on all new cars manufactured since October 1998.' Source: www.crimereduction.gov.uk

The spelling is Bauer Millett!

[RCMADD]

simple solution

GET A CAR.

[Al Weyman]

It is a car, an SUV and anyhow tell me what car will effortlessly tow my Chevy Camaro which weighs about 3200lbs, a 6 wheel long wheel base Brian James trailer and all my kit at a steady legal speed and still return the equivilant of over 30mpg (runs on Autogas at 44p a litre!) oh and it has a 6ft luggage bed so I also can sleep in it at the track.

[Bluebottle]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

It is a car, an SUV....

We have a Previa, we usually call it 'The Bus'

I have heard that some areas are particularly problematic, the AA, RAC etc find themselves getting frequent calls to certain small areas although whether it's mobile signals or things like taxi radios or other sorces of RF I wouldn't know
As an aside, I'm intrigued by something.... what autogas system do you have? Ours both switch automaticaly but can be switched manually to petrol, we can't start them on LPG, it switches when the engine warms up wchich can take over a mile of driving in the winter!

[GORDON STREETER]

Al. I have a customer with a Range Rover that wouldn't start at his golf club until the AA towed it down the road away from a newly installed mast. I also have a couple of Volvo estates on my books that can run on LPG, they wont start on gas and wont tick over until warm. But neither of them has been installed by competent people ( no it wasn't me ) I would assume factory fitted would be OK ?

[Al Weyman]

Funny enough its OK now, work it out. I phoned Offtel and they told me its more likely to be a radio device jammed on like a radio door bell push or house alarm system as oddly enough they are on the same waveband as the keyfobs.

The Blazer gas conversion was an aftermarket job and the engine should be warmed up before switching to gas in fact many systems automatically cut in when the engine is warm and cannot be overridden. Fortunately my system will click in once the engine hits 2000rpm or can be forced on manually at the click of a switch or I would have been stuffed as a mate of mine was with his Jeep wen the injection pump packed in as he could not forces his system on to the gas. Also if it had been cold it probably have been difficult to start but as it will run briefly on petrol with the immobiliser still on so I guess I could have got a bit of heat into the engine if push came to shove.

On my old Range Rover that had a gas conversion I was driving to work one morning and it had a bit of a leaking rad and the water level was low, I got about two miles down the road and stopped at some lights and the thing cut out, it would not start even switching back to petrol. When I looked under the bonnet the gas converter thingy that warms up the Liquid Petrolleum Gas into pure gas and gets heated by a branch of the heater take off was encased in about half inch of ice! This had also seized the solinoids up so I could not change back to petro so I had to sit there for about 20 minutes till the thing thawed out then I was back on my way.

[johnh875]

Al I have heard about this happening with LR Disco's at the Telstra tower (major comm's) on Black Mountain near Canberra in the ACT.

[Al Weyman]

Its been alright ever since most strange.

[DAVID PATERSON]

Originally Posted by johnh875

Al I have heard about this happening with LR Disco's at the Telstra tower (major comm's) on Black Mountain near Canberra in the ACT.

I visited Black Mountain tower years ago in a VT Commodore and the remote keyless entry wouldn't work and the car got confused when i tried to unlock and start it with a key. After i got a few km away, everything worked fine.

[GORDON STREETER]

A mate of mine worked in a government laboratory experimenting with RF guns that could wreck things from a fair distance away. This was nearly 40 years ago, Christ knows what can be done now !!!!