So the family and I head over the mountains to get some supplies before winter sets in, my daughter also wanted to get to the Children's Museum.
Drive there Friday afternoon is smooth, the Panamera quite at home on the twist mountain roads,traffic was light. get up nice and early Sat morning. head to the museum.
After 3 hours there we come out and try to get int the car - it wont unlock! (car has Enter & drive) sinking feeling in the gut.
At first I'm thinking the Battery in the fob is getting bad.
Break out the emergency hard key, open the door, car not recognizing the key! Wont let me start it. finally after sitting in the car for a minute while trying yo think of what to do it recognizes the key again.
we still need to make a couple more stops, key works fine, then I remember reading about some having issues with the key not being recognized in certain situations.
I had parked right next to a large shipping container, thinking that may have played a roll as I had no more problems after that.

other than that one little moment, the car ran beautifully, fantastic drive.

 

 

 

I noticed that when my key is in the same pocket as my iPhone, the signal key can be blocked. Taking the key out of my pocket or moving it around in front of the phone allows the key to work.

 

no didn't know that would help.

 

they are a bit finicky at times for sure(i always keep my phone in the other pocket) , once I realized the doors weren't going to unlock I pulled my key out of my pocket and tried the unlock button as well - fob flashed but doors didn't respond.
I then took the silicon case of the fob so I could gain access to the hard key (As I was trying to get the case off the fob I pressed the panic button - that seemed to work, much to the annoyance of my wife and daughter )- unlocked the drivers door and then got in. this probably took 2-3 minutes and the car still wasn't recognizing the key.

 

Yes, it's in the manual, page 246.

It's like on my LS460, except you place the key fob next to the Start/Stop button.

 

Thanks Paul, good to know

 

Funny you should say this. I was just about to post a topic on how I resolved it, and I believe it may be an issue for most people who experienced this.

Symptoms:
You try to use your entry and drive feature to open car and start to drive, but the car displays the key is not recognized.

Solution:
The solution worked for me was actually the fob itself. Once you open the fob battery compartment, you will see the battery inside its own place. The cover you removed to see the battery is supposed to press the battery into place, for a secure hold.
If you look at the battery compartment itself, you will notice that there are two thin, flat metal contacts, on the perimeter of the compartment. Those contacts are supposed to touch the side of the battery (+ side), while the bottom of the battery would contact the 6 small feet, at the (-) side, closing the circuit.
The thin contacts on perimeter of the battery holder space, get pushed into the perimeter, making poor, or no contact with the battery itself. What I did was to take thin tweezers, and gently bend the contacts on perimeter, so that they bulge out more, and make sure that they contact the battery sides.

I tried starting my car the other day, and nothing. Took battery out and slightly bent the contacts on perimeter of the hole. Placed same battery in, making sure the contacts I bent are touching the sides of battery at all times. No problem starting at all.

FYI, if you have entry and drive, if your fob does not recognize anything, you can remove the fake key from ignition, place your fob into the hole, and will be able to start the car without issues. Something to know in case you run into a problem.
However, check those contacts. My fog works great after the fix. I may post something later with a couple pics. Thanks.

 

That's interesting to know. Normally one would assume it's the battery, and if that isn't the case you would almost think that something electronic in the remote has failed, like a bad chip. I wouldn't even suspect that the contacts are faulty. Sounds like Porsche could have had a better design.

 

I too thought the battery was dead. Replaced with new one twice on two separate occasions (which was weird since a battery should last a long time).
After 2nd time i took the battery out and had a detailed look inside the area. The two perimeter contacts were almost slid into the sides of the round hole. After I took tweezers and bent each gently to ensure metal contact protrudes out of the round hole edge, and ensure contact with battery, I had not observed an issue. Been too short thus far, but after a couple months from now, if I do not see same error, I will attribute this to the contacts for sure.
Key not recognized would appear only if fob is not powered, or if the transmitter from fob or receivers on car fail. Tx/Rx failure is unlikely due to design of each, most common issue - power. Contacts are definitely a power category.
We shall see.

 

in my case and several others it is RF interference that causes the issue, once I was able to get away from that spot I haven't had any issues at all.

Good to know about the FOB contact issue - probably a issue when not paying close attention to how it's going back together during a battery replacement.

 

As an FYI.... often times it is not good to leave the key near the car because they continue to communicate with each other and can drain the cars battery sooner as well as making the keyfob battery drain sooner. I just keeps the car awake and sort of in communication with the key. So you should take the key in the house, away from the car if you are not driving it. It has happened a lot to the McLarens and other cars that are proximity sensitive keys.... which are most of the cars nowadays. I know this isn't about your Keyfob not being recognized, but its something related to this subject you guys might want to know about.

 

Thanks, that is good info - my keys aren't stored near the car, but I know some people do just that.

 

Yes, thanks Antigravity. It doesn't apply to me either, but something good to know, and it makes sense.