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FOBs & Tire Pressure Sensors Not Working After Battery Issue

7K views 22 replies 9 participants last post by  rjgramps 
#1 ·
My recently purchased 2008 Solstice GXP has been sitting in my garage for many weeks and the battery drained dead. When attempting to charge the battery, my charger wouldn't start changing until I disconnected the battery ground terminal. Now that the battery is fully charged, the car starts and runs fine, but the FOBs and Tire Pressure Sensors are not working.

I did a search on the internet finding no useful information, then I searched this forum.

Do I really need to take my 2008 Solstice GXP to a dealer to get this resolved? If I do, will it be permanently resolved, or will this happen every time a disconnect the battery? I really want to disconnect the battery when the car is stored off-season. Reading through previous posts, there may be a TSB "technical service bulletin", but I understand all TSBs have expiration dates.

I would appreciate any current information on this.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Per the TSB, the dealer will reprogram the RCDLR (Remote Control Door Lock Receiver) which also operates the TPMS system. The reprogramming is a permanent fix for the problem which only occurred in the 2008s.

It has to go to the dealer for this, and they will charge you for the service, I think. Maybe not. Don't know. If it was still in warranty it'd be a freebie, but all our Kappas are out of warranty now. A TSB is NOT a recall, but a "how to do it".

If you need a copy, you should be able to find it on the forum. Oh, what the heck, I'll just attach it to this message.

:thumbs:

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#3 · (Edited)
Thank You DaveOC!

I will call my local GM Chevy service center and share the TSB with them. It is ridiculous that when the battery is dead or is disconnected, the problem comes back. I sure hope you are right about it being a permanent fix. I will get it done either for free or via payment, drive the car home, and disconnect the battery overnight. If the problem is back, I will head right back there.

Now I understand why the previous owner who bought the car new, emphasized to me not to ever let the battery run down. He used a battery tender and highly recommended I do the same. I disconnect batteries, not "tender" them, so I want this matter to be 100% history.

I am glad to learn of this right away. Winter weather here is still not yet over, but the roads are clean and dry for me to run to a dealer to get this resolved.

Thanks Again,
Ron
 
#4 ·
Now I understand why the previous owner who bought the car new, emphasized to me not to ever let the battery run down. He used a battery tender and highly recommended I do the same. I disconnect batteries, not "tender" them, so I want this matter to be 100% history.
I also highly recommend a tender if you have AC power available. Even with the battery disconnected, it still has internal leakage which will cause 'sulphation' (battery failure). Using a tender will solve that problem.
 
#5 ·
I recently had the same problem with the key fobs and TPMS. I took it to a local repair shop just a couple of blocks from here and he was able to get things back to normal operation. It is funny because he had a problem getting the tire pressure to read on the in-dash screen and finally he said "you know sometimes you have to disconnect the battery and let the system re-boot itself". We tried that and it did the trick. Disconnecting he battery did not affect the key fobs.
The problem started with a low battery, jump start situation.
This local shop won a customer for life. The owner used to work at a Pontiac dealership and is very computer savy and also a really nice guy to deal with.
 
#8 · (Edited)
One other thing that seems to have been affected.....the trunk release button in the glove box does not function. I can't open the trunk to put up the top. Now I have to drive to the dealer with the top down in this real cold weather.

I had the top in the trunk when working on and detailing the car as the battery drained.

Before I lost battery power, that button was a bit finicky. It always took a few tries to get it to open the trunk. Is that button known to fail?
 
#10 ·
The dash trunk open button is not working? Inside the glove box.

If your fob button is not working you can pop it open and clean the contacts or buy a replacement button pad for about $10 on ebay. I have replaced several and they work fine.
 
#12 ·
The dash trunk open button in the glove box is NOT working, this new issue seemingly is connected to both key FOBs and TPS not working after my battery drained and I disconnected it from the car to charge it better. As I said in a post or two earlier, that glove box hatch button was previously finicky so I cannot rule out the possibility that it failed at the worst opportune time.

I am setting up a visit to the local Chevy dealer (with top-down in cold weather) to get that software update to resolve the FOB/TPS problem. Maybe the hatch release in the glove box will also get resolved as a result.
 
#14 ·
#15 · (Edited)
Good to know Rob. Thank You. I just ordered a release button, will replace the original one with it. Maybe afterward I can get the top back up before heading over to the dealer.

BTW: I called two local Chevy dealers on reprogramming my Solstice RCDLR module to fix the FOB and TPS issue.
The first was $130...ouch!
The second was $138.50 yikes!
 
#19 ·
Waiting for the new hatch release button from Amazon, I disconnected the plug from it and shorted the two terminals together with a needle-nose pliers. It popped open. I have a roof again! Now I can run to the dealer without freezing my butt off.

I am now trying to figure out how to remove the bad button from the glove box housing....squeeze those two tabs? It is surely not easy given the restricted space to work with.
 
#20 ·
I don't remember exactly, but I had to have my '08 Sky re-programed and it cost just about what you mentioned below. Very hard to believe that a programming flaw that they "know" about, and yet they (GM and the Stealership) nail the customer for this. I wasn't happy, not at all....

Quote from ron.dittmer: BTW: I called two local Chevy dealers on reprogramming my Solstice RCDLR module to fix the FOB and TPS issue.
The first was $130...ouch!
The second was $138.50 yikes!
 
#21 ·
I had the same issue on my 2008 Solstice. I live in Northern California and took mine in with the TSB printed out and they still charged $170.00. I’m glad it’s addressed and haven’t had the battery die since so haven’t confirmed it’s a permanent fix but am hopeful they followed the instruction.

The gouging is why I only go to the dealer only when necessary. When I mentioned to them there was an open recall on PPS, before the permanent fix was announced, he said they would diagnose the “service airbag” message but if it wasn’t directly related to the recall they would charge me another $170.00.

Not exactly trying to win over loyalty. Good luck getting your issues resolved


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#23 ·
I did get a new Trunk Release button a few weeks ago, installed it, and all is well with that.

I took my Solstice to the dealer today to get the FOBs and TPS working again. They charged me 1/2 hour of labor which came to $65. They told me to use a battery tender because the problem will reoccur with a disconnected or dead battery.
 
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