Strange Remote Lock Behaviour

[Ron From Regina]

I quit posting on the internet some ago, but a situation so strange has come up, I figured I?d make an exception to that. I want make a record of this, out on the internet, in case this ever happens to anyone else.

Late last week, the remote locks would no longer unlock my truck, (09-F150) but only in my driveway. Everywhere else, no problems. Other than that, the truck worked fine.

Then, a few days ago, I go to start the truck, and the battery is dead. I assume there is a short somewhere, and that has drained the battery, and  is related to the remote locks not working. I assume it  is coincidental that it only happens in my driveway. Maybe the angle I park at is funny or something like that.

Then something dawns on me. A week ago, my wireless doorbell started going off for no reason. I know I have a neighbour on my street with a doorbell on the same frequency, and I often get false alarms. I just assume that he wasn?t home, and his doorbell stuck. I removed the batteries from my doorbell receiver, and thought nothing more of it.
I do a bit of googling, and apparently the keyless entry system on the truck, and the wireless doorbell both run almost the exact same frequency.
I think the keyless entry radio receiver in the truck must ?wake up? when it gets a ping on that frequency. That would explain why my battery went dead, and explain why my remotes didn?t work. The truck was listening to steady door bell signal, and couldn?t acknowledge the remote signal. All this keeping the electronics alive drained the battery. I now had to pull the negative post off while the truck was parked.

Yesterday morning, after connecting the battery so I could go to work, I tried the remote, and it magically started working again.  The first thing I did was put the batteries back into the door bell. No more false doorbell alarm. I then checked the battery drain, it at was normal. Who ever?s doorbell button was stuck, must have returned home and fixed it or its transmitter battery had gone dead.

How?s that for strange?

[S204STi]

Heh, that's a very interesting coincidence.  Not totally unheard of for other electronics to interfere with proper vehicle operation, but this is a new one to me.  Thanks for sharing this!

[Rupert]

There must be an app for this.

[sparkplug]

You could put a kill switch that connects to the battery on your truck. Won't cost you much and is a whole lost easier than removing that negative cable.
I don't charge for that information but accept fudge brownies as payments. And I know the difference between a cow patty and a fudge brownie.

[Laconian]

I quit posting on the internet some ago, but a situation so strange has come up, I figured I?d make an exception to that. I want make a record of this, out on the internet, in case this ever happens to anyone else.

Late last week, the remote locks would no longer unlock my truck, (09-F150) but only in my driveway. Everywhere else, no problems. Other than that, the truck worked fine.

Then, a few days ago, I go to start the truck, and the battery is dead. I assume there is a short somewhere, and that has drained the battery, and  is related to the remote locks not working. I assume it  is coincidental that it only happens in my driveway. Maybe the angle I park at is funny or something like that.

Then something dawns on me. A week ago, my wireless doorbell started going off for no reason. I know I have a neighbour on my street with a doorbell on the same frequency, and I often get false alarms. I just assume that he wasn?t home, and his doorbell stuck. I removed the batteries from my doorbell receiver, and thought nothing more of it.
I do a bit of googling, and apparently the keyless entry system on the truck, and the wireless doorbell both run almost the exact same frequency.
I think the keyless entry radio receiver in the truck must ?wake up? when it gets a ping on that frequency. That would explain why my battery went dead, and explain why my remotes didn?t work. The truck was listening to steady door bell signal, and couldn?t acknowledge the remote signal. All this keeping the electronics alive drained the battery. I now had to pull the negative post off while the truck was parked.

Yesterday morning, after connecting the battery so I could go to work, I tried the remote, and it magically started working again.  The first thing I did was put the batteries back into the door bell. No more false doorbell alarm. I then checked the battery drain, it at was normal. Who ever?s doorbell button was stuck, must have returned home and fixed it or its transmitter battery had gone dead.

How?s that for strange?

Unusual but it seems logical. Good diagnosis skillz on your part, putting those two very different pieces together.