Remote Start in the Cold

[duquephart]

Several times now my truck has failed to start (with the fob) in below 0 temps. Anyone else experience this? Taking it to the dealer is, of course, pointless.

[ShamrockShooter]

It was negative 1 deg this morning and my 16 started remotely with key fob no problem. My battery is almost 2 years old.

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[duquephart]

1 minute ago, ShamrockShooter said:

It was negative 1 deg this morning and my 16 started remotely with key fob no problem. My battery is almost 2 years old.

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Mine starts remotely too ----- just not every time. Thus the question.

[aseibel]

When it did not work- were you close enough to the truck to see if it was responding to the key fob at all? did the doors lock/lights flash/horn honk? Did it try to turn over? are you sure your key fob battery is good?

 

seems weird that it would only work intermittently.

[Northman]

First try changing your fob battery. If your fob was out in the cold it likely ran low on power. Cold does that to batteries. -24 F air temp Sunday, fob inside, mine started no problem.

[MidKNIGHTZ71]

Try using the Chevy app on your phone to remote start it next time. 

[crushNchowda]

55 minutes ago, duquephart said:

Several times now my truck has failed to start (with the fob) in below 0 temps. Anyone else experience this? Taking it to the dealer is, of course, pointless.

check out my post someplace about a failed starter.....the design changed slightly on the new trucks, there's a plastic shroud connecting the lead cable from battery to starter & my truck kept starting weaker & weaker (in summer) until it left me stranded on a long road trip. Turned out previously during the winter water must've been collecting in the plastic shroud piece, freezing, then putting strain on the Bendix/shaft or whatever + expanding & eventually loosened the terminal/washer to where the contact was weak plus it was all oxidized & the shaft to the Bendix would wiggle to the touch. Had to Band-Aid it as a new starter wasn't available off shelf & old starter was slightly different so wouldn't work.

 

Dealer replaced under warranty - I made sure the contact shroud piece was wrapped heavily in electrical tape to prevent from happening again.

My guess this is going to be a widespread problem for everyone in colder climates - premature failure of the starter.

 

Check it out.

[duquephart]

16 minutes ago, Northman said:

First try changing your fob battery. If your fob was out in the cold it likely ran low on power. Cold does that to batteries. -24 F air temp Sunday, fob inside, mine started no problem.

 

Fob is inside and everything is less than 9 months old. Message goes from fob to battery (tail lights flash) but it seems not to want to crank. Starts fine with key.

[ducklawyer]

Coworker has his truck in the shop for the same thing. He thought battery in fob was dead. Dealership told him it was injector issues. Has 20k miles so it’s warranty for him.


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[Northman]

7 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

Fob is inside and everything is less than 9 months old. Message goes from fob to battery (tail lights flash) but it seems not to want to crank. Starts fine with key.

Next step then is to check the vehicle battery. It could be defective. I had this happen to my 2010. It would start with the key or fob was hit or miss until they changed the battery. Funny though is that when it would start it turned over normally. I never suspected the battery and was convinced it was the starter. Have them try a new battery.

[CDNSS]

I use the app more often mine starts fine even in -20 But sometimes with fob it wont start when real cold 

[duquephart]

5 minutes ago, CDNSS said:

 But sometimes with fob it wont start when real cold 

 

That's my issue ---- "real cold" being below zero F, albeit not necessarily by much. Press lock the locks click and the tail lights flash. Press start the taillights come on briefly and nothing else. It's as though it just doesn't want to go that one extra step. Fires up just fine with key. Curious. And, as above, just sometimes but enough to be concerned. So far maybe the battery diagnosis makes the most sense. Thanks.

[jimbo285]

This has been widely discussed but, the remote start will work only twice before it needs the key for the 3rd start. My truck starts when it is 90 deg in summer to -50 deg in winter. Only twice before the key needs to be used....

[Pearl2017]

I agree it may be battery related due to the cold. Bear in mind that with all the control electronics involved if the voltage is even slightly low the electronics may choose not engage remote start for whatever reason. Low voltage or nominal grounds we all know can cause general weirdness in the electronics.

[duquephart]

37 minutes ago, jimbo285 said:

This has been widely discussed but, the remote start will work only twice before it needs the key for the 3rd start. My truck starts when it is 90 deg in summer to -50 deg in winter. Only twice before the key needs to be used....

 

BINGO!:

 

A maximum of two remote starts,
or a single start with an extension,
is allowed between ignition cycles.

 

And I'm one of those people who reads the manual cover to cover. Guess you can't remember everything! I don't use the truck every day and my habit has always been to remote start and "warm up" the vehicle when very cold. It makes perfect sense that I've tried more than twice between cycles. I'm used to an after market system where you could start as often as you wanted and even set to start periodically during the night. 

 

THANKS!