Key fob stops working

[Joanne]

I purchased my first Puma in Feb. The owner had one key and advised me to use it manually rather than via the fob. He mentioned something about alarms etc. However, I was in the fuzzy haze of euphoria at the prospect of my first Puma and not paying attention. Some days later I arranged to get a second key made and both programmed. The local car key company came out and did the job. I understood how to programme the key by putting it in the ignition, turning from position 2 to 0 four times in the space of 6 seconds, waiting for the beep and then pressing any button on the fob. Only managed to programme one key. Each time I tried to programme the other, it knocked the first one out. Someone suggested that I press the buttons on both keys simultaneously when programming. I haven't tried this yet as a more serious problem needs addressing.

The problem is that the fob keeps dropping out. One minute it works to open the door and the next it does not. Which leaves me opening the door manually and setting the alarm off. I have re-programmed the key approx 15 times, sometimes it lasts a few days, sometimes it does not last at all. Not sure what to do.

I tried removing the fuse today as a last resort as I live in a road of retired people and setting off the alarm every morning at 7 when I go to work is not making me very popular. This had no effect, I might have taken out the wrong fuse. I took number 8 (blue 15) for the central locking and wing mirrors. (Interestingly the wing mirrors do not work, although the fuse is fine, so not sure if it an electrical fault linked to both).

Just as I was about to give up all hope, I tried the key fob which isn't programmed and it worked. The alarm and hazard lights stopped. Not really sure what to do now except use the key manually as originally suggested. I don't really want to do this as the lock is quite loose, which may also be the cause of the problem.

Sorry for war and peace approach, has anyone got any ideas how to programme the key and keep it programmed?
Other than this problem, the Puma is everything that I ever dreamed it was. Fun to drive, driver and machine are hand in glove with everything where it needs to be. Perfect. Hope someone can help with the alarm, key fob problem. Thanks.

 

[red]

Hello and welcome to the site.

I've literally never heard of the key losing it's programming, I don't think it wouldn't be the key, I expect it would be the car. Maybe [ref]Ian G[/ref] could offer some insight to the components of the system, since I expect he's taken a number to pieces over the years.

Good luck with it.

 

[YOG]

I suspect that you have a fault in the key, giving you the problem. This type of fault is not unknown, and could be a cracked circuit board, faulty soldered joint, or faulty micro-switch, giving intermittent contact.
You say, "Just as I was about to give up all hope, I tried the key fob which isn't programmed and it worked."
If that was the case, it must be programmed, and one key cannot be "knocking out the other programming"?

The alarm should only set when the car is double locked. If the lock button is only pressed once, it should lock the car, but not set the alarm. Therefore, if the system is working correctly, when the unlock button is pressed, the car will unlock and the alarm should not go off:


If you need to manually lock the car, either with or without the alarm, there are different key operations:
To activate double locking, turn the key in the driver's or passenger's door to position 1 and then to position 2 within two seconds, this will also set the alarm, (Note the two different directions of operation on each door). Using position 1 only, should just lock the car: