Dad ran his remote for his 2014 Cadillac SRX through the wash. When he finally did find the remote, it was dead. I searched the web for a remedy and found just one, albeit at several different websites.
The recommendation is to take apart the remote and cover the components with instant rice in a bowl from 4.5 hours to overnight. For no apparent reason, I chose to pour the rice over the components in a zip lock bag and then zipped it shut. In hindsight, this was probably a bad move on my part.
I only had an hour last night, so when it was time to go I fished the components out of the rice and put the remote back together. At this point, the remote sort of worked but only sporadically. It would lock the doors sometimes but never unlock them. It would start the vehicle up to two times but after that I would get an error message on the dash stating that the vehicle could not detect the remote and it would not start. And the hatch would intermittently open without pushing any buttons.
So, I took apart the remote again and covered it with instant rice again in the zipped zip lock, telling dad to leave it in the rice until my return this evening, about 24 hours after I left last night.
So, my plan is to reassemble the remote and see what happens. If that fails, I have directions on how to reset the remote. After that, I am out of aces.
The dealer will tow the vehicle to his Service Department at no charge and will sell dad a new remote, programmed, for about $300. The dealer offered no other options. We are trying to avoid paying the $300 if possible.
I’ve seen used factory remotes from 3rd party websites for about $150 but I have little confidence there.
Assuming that the remote is not 100% compliant tonight, any low cost ideas to getting this remote working again would be greatly appreciated.
Does it have an elastomeric keypad?
If so, pull it off the PCB, and make sure it’s 100% dry, and then clean any corrosion off the contacts with an eraser (gently!).
Captain Obvious here, but did you put a new battery in? If the buttons are giving you problems, that’s maybe one thing, but if it won’t start and the car can’t see the key, the remote either doesn’t have power or doesn’t have consistent power. I’d throw a new battery in and make sure the contacts are clean and dry.
EDIT to add: I have a 2014 vehicle with the electronic key…the batteries in those last a year or two, it was probably mostly dead before it went through the wash if it hadn’t been changed before.
The problem isn’t water, it’s water AND electricity. If you’ve already used the remote when it was wet then the damage is probably done. Drying it out (and rice is not the best way to do so, it’s just trendy) may not help at that point.
Try calling some local locksmiths and see what prices they can give you.
If your car was in Eugene Oregon, my shop could get you a refurbished remote with a 3-month warranty, cut and programmed, for $228 including driving out to your house. If your roadside assistance would pay to have it towed to us, that brings it down to $178. If you shop around, you might find a locksmith who could do it for less than $150.
Rice is a mild desiccant, but unless you live in an exceptionally humid area, the rice isn’t going to do anything useful.
When electronics are dunked, sometimes they are permanently broken, sometimes not. Sometimes, when they dry out again, they are fine. People stick things in rice, and when they work again, they say AHA! Must have been the rice. Really, no. The rice doesn’t draw the water out quick enough to do anything useful, and really only lowers the humidity in the container a bit which helps the water evaporate out of the device slightly faster. If you’re not in a humid area, the rice does nothing.
If you built a shrine to the Flying Spaghetti Monster in your kitchen counter and put your electronic device in that, it would be just as effective as the rice.
About the only thing you can do that will have any significance is that if the device has a removable battery, REMOVE IT IMMEDIATELY. Then, just wait. If you are in a very dry area, waiting overnight will often be enough. If you are in a humid area, you might need to wait a couple of days for the device to thoroughly dry out. DO NOT TURN THE DEVICE ON WHILE THERE IS STILL WATER IN IT OR YOU MAY BREAK IT.
The only good thing about the rice cure is that, unlike many other online remedies, it doesn’t actually do any harm. It doesn’t do any good, but it doesn’t do any harm either.
A new car that has only one remote? I know remotes tend to disappear on vehicles that pass through the auction system (I’ve never bought a used car that had more than one set of keys/fobs) but an upscale, two-year-old vehicle should have come with at least two sets. Right?
Anyway, dismantle, dry everything with warm air circulation, polish the keypad contacts and battery connectors, and put a new battery in it. That should fix it.
That’s what I was going to ask, where’s the backup fob? Did your Dad buy this car new? If so, has he kept OnStar? If he has, and has a smartphone, have him download the RemoteLink mobile app if he hasn’t already. You can use your phone to remote start your car, lock and unlock the doors, map the location of the vehicle, check the status of fuel remaining, tire pressure, etc.
This will not replace the fob if the Caddy isn’t detecting it’s presence when it’s time to start the car (I assume an SRX is a push-button start) but it will restore all the other functions of the remote if he wants to go that route. I have it on my Buick, being able to start my car from far further away than the range of the remote is pretty cool.
Edit: that also seems like a lot for that remote. The dealers I’ve worked for have a “key guy” that comes around once a week to cut keys, program new fobs, etc and he generally charges between $75-$175 depending on the car. This is often useful to close a deal on a used car customer when there is only one remote for it as the customer that traded it in for instance failed to produce the other and the customer buying the used car is demanding an extra.
Good points above, remove battery as soon as possible and don’t try to “see if it works” until it is completely dried. Water won’t hurt anything unless the item contains an LCD and things like that. In fact it may be a good idea to flush it out with distilled water if it is contaminated with lake or sea water, soda, etc. The US Navy used to have a routine for salvaging submerged electronics. Consumer grade electronics with warranty returns are often repaired and washed. Point being if no power is applied while wet many items can be salvaged.
You could try a home oven on the very lowest possible setting, maybe 100 to 125 degrees for several hours.
Have you read your owner’s manual? I found a listing for a replacement remote for 100 bucks, and instructions for programming it.
I was able to replace the remote for my pickup for under 10 bucks and it took all of 30 seconds to program it following the instructions in the owner’s manual.