Key fob battery low message won’t go away

[PuckPuck]

I bought my MS September 2019. Key fob low battery came on. I thought it was a little pre-mature but didn’t think much of it. Got a new battery, replaced it in my key fob, but the message is still there. Even after several hours of being parked. Go back to the car, unlock it and same message.

what gives?

 

[Akikiki]

Nornal. You don't know the secret handshake. Get both fobs and go to the car. It wants both fobs in the car to clear the message for one fob. Don't fight the sauce, just go with the flow.

 

[JPoldo]

My problem was finally resolved after a big surprise.I

I have other items that use the CR2032 battery so bought the 4-pack a while ago and replaced the battery in my primary keyfob. The message didn't go away so I followed all the procedues in forums / videos including MCU reset using both scroll wheels, reseting driver's display with buttons above scroll wheels, and simultaneously pressing top of both key fobs, etc. Low battery message wouldn't disappear.

One of my batteries measured 3.023v and other 2.975v which appears close enough for a 3 volt battery. Of course these values are at no-load and could fall when a button is pressed.

Frustrsted, I read the specs of different batteries brands and some listed 3.3v as nominal. Could a few hundred millivolts be the answer?

I installed a pair of fresh 3.3v batteries and brought both keyfobs to to the model S. Instantly, the warning message disappeared. Problem solved.

Lesson learned, don't buy multi-pack batteries for Tesla keyfobs as they are very sensitive to slightly low voltage. When the warning message appears install a fresh new battery. Batteries, although not used, lose voltage sitting on the shelf and Tesla's are very sensitive to low voltage.

 

[Haggy]

It's not a matter of both fobs. The car decides to give you a low battery message when it encounters a low battery in a given fob, and the message won't go away until you change the battery in that particular fob.

My wife rarely uses my car, and I'm not sure if she used it or walked by it when she had the fob. All I knew was that the car said that my fob had a low battery. Changing it didn't help.

About six months later, she had an occasion to use the car, and it said that she needed a new battery. I replaced it, and the car needed to see that fob alone. The message went away.

In the interim, Tesla body changed the fob when they saw the message. My initial battery was probably still good, and so was the one I replaced it with, so after three good batteries, I asked a Tesla mechanic who came to fix my Model 3 if he knew how to reset it. He had no clue either.

Essentially, Tesla is giving an incorrect message. It should say that fob X has a low battery, where X corresponds to which fob it is. Even if you have no clue which fob is which, you'd figure out that if the message doesn't go away, it's a different fob.

Hopefully, this will help someone else.

 

[Akikiki]

Or take both fobs inside the car (with good batteries) and reboot the car.

 

[George I]

It took 5 days after I replaced battery in fob for 2016 S to acknowledge new battery in Oct2021. Other than booking service appointment after 3 days I did nothing else. Of course I then cancelled appt. after message disapeared.

 

[dthomas658]

My problem was finally resolved after a big surprise.I

I have other items that use the CR2032 battery so bought the 4-pack a while ago and replaced the battery in my primary keyfob. The message didn't go away so I followed all the procedues in forums / videos including MCU reset using both scroll wheels, reseting driver's display with buttons above scroll wheels, and simultaneously pressing top of both key fobs, etc. Low battery message wouldn't disappear.

One of my batteries measured 3.023v and other 2.975v which appears close enough for a 3 volt battery. Of course these values are at no-load and could fall when a button is pressed.

Frustrsted, I read the specs of different batteries brands and some listed 3.3v as nominal. Could a few hundred millivolts be the answer?

I installed a pair of fresh 3.3v batteries and brought both keyfobs to to the model S. Instantly, the warning message disappeared. Problem solved.

Lesson learned, don't buy multi-pack batteries for Tesla keyfobs as they are very sensitive to slightly low voltage. When the warning message appears install a fresh new battery. Batteries, although not used, lose voltage sitting on the shelf and Tesla's are very sensitive to low voltage.

 

[dthomas658]

I bought my MS September 2019. Key fob low battery came on. I thought it was a little pre-mature but didn’t think much of it. Got a new battery, replaced it in my key fob, but the message is still there. Even after several hours of being parked. Go back to the car, unlock it and same message.

what gives?

Thanks for the info. It worked as you stated

 

[Akikiki]

This is not directed at anyone as criticism. Its simply a reminder.

Whether it be 4 pack of batteries, 2 pack, even 1 pack, there's no telling when it was made, when it was shipped and how long its been hanging on the rack before it sold. I have a lot of IoT devices that use many different coin batteries. I have yet to see a manufacture date on any. The ones I bought yesterday could be 6+ months or a year old. Heck with the supply chain as backed up as it is these days, it could have sit on a ship off the west coast for a year before I get it. (Well, probably not.) LOL

 

[Electric700]

This happened to me when I had both fobs in the car. One of them was low so I replaced the battery and the message went away (be sure to remove the protective battery terminal cover, if there is one, on the new key fob battery and check both sides).

 

[Alset2go]

This is not directed at anyone as criticism. Its simply a reminder.

Whether it be 4 pack of batteries, 2 pack, even 1 pack, there's no telling when it was made, when it was shipped and how long its been hanging on the rack before it sold. I have a lot of IoT devices that use many different coin batteries. I have yet to see a manufacture date on any. The ones I bought yesterday could be 6+ months or a year old. Heck with the supply chain as backed up as it is these days, it could have sit on a ship off the west coast for a year before I get it. (Well, probably not.) LOL

2 new batteries,both fobs taken to car.Message cleared…Thank you so much.

 

[whatsgonewell]

Nornal. You don't know the secret handshake. Get both fobs and go to the car. It wants both fobs in the car to clear the message for one fob. Don't fight the sauce, just go with the flow.

I just followed your advice.. Worked perfect.

 

[paradigm21]

Nornal. You don't know the secret handshake. Get both fobs and go to the car. It wants both fobs in the car to clear the message for one fob. Don't fight the sauce, just go with the flow.

+1 thanks! Can't they just document this in the manual!

 

[kc1953]

+1 thanks! Can't they just document this in the manual!

What fun would that be?

 

[Akikiki]

+1 thanks! Can't they just document this in the manual!

I can't simply let that go without my two cents. I have to first ask, have you looked in the manual? You didn't say you did.
I will admit, I already know this (from reading one of the previous versions of the manual for my car), so I am not going to look at a more recent version to see if it is there. But I can't imagine it not being in the manual.

 

[whatsgonewell]

What fun would that be?

I can't simply let that go without my two cents. I have to first ask, have you looked in the manual? You didn't say you did.
I will admit, I already know this (from reading one of the previous versions of the manual for my car), so I am not going to look at a more recent version to see if it is there. But I can't imagine it not being in the manual.

 

[whatsgonewell]

Akikiki .. you said you tried clearing the fob battery message by placing two FOBs together in the car.. what action did you repeat .. resetting the central console?

 

[Akikiki]

Yes. The car doesn't "see" any trigger unless you can so-to-speak make it recognize something. I tried updating/saving a profile, but that didn't trigger a response. I also went through the menu and performed a SHUTDOWN. And I sat in the car for a good two minutes before pressing the brake to wake the car up. That didn't trigger anything either.

 

[patientfool]

FWIW I've been struggling with this with my 2017 S75D. I use my key all the time, wife uses hers off and on. I initially replaced both batteries using some that I got off amazon but try what I might, the message wouldn't go away. At one point I bought another set - this time Duracell - and replaced mine. Still the message wouldn't go away.

Today in frustration I dug out the multimeter and tested both batteries. Mine was over 3.2V but my wife's was 2.8V. I grabbed another of the Duracell's and replaced hers, went outside and the message was gone.

TLDR - test your batteries with a multimeter and confirm their voltage is high enough.

 

[Akikiki]

Thank you for reminding us. Even though it should be easy to remember, - well - we don't. Surely helps to be reminded it usually pays off.