an important note about the key fob and RF interference.

[PhilBa]

Only semi joking but a piece of aluminum foil to block the external RF might have helped. I'd try to position it between the transmitters and one of the car's receiver with fob on the car side of the foil.

 

[W8MM]

I had an "almost" lock-out issue a month or so ago when parking at our local play house for a night of theatrical entertainment. The car refused to unlock and wouldn't auto-present the handles nor respond when pushing on the handles to pop them out. I tried putting the fob at the base of the windshield (presumably for an NFC connection) and nothing different happened. Remembering my diagnosis from a previous incident with an early production Porsche Panamera with remote-unlock issues, I moved to the rear of the Model S to put the car body between me and the cell tower that was causing the porsche system problems. The car was pointing nose-first toward the offending cell tower and I was able to unlock the rear hatch on the first try, then the handles presented and we could enter the car and drive away. I theorize that the Model S may have different receivers to catch the fob signals and one in the rear of the car was not being overloaded by the cell tower. Or, just as possibly, the cell tower may have had a lull in transmitting just as I moved to the rear of the car.

In any event, I was quite surprised that the RF interference seemed to overpower the (NFC?) sensor at the base of the windshield as well as the UHF radio link receiver system.

 

[HHHH]

I had an "almost" lock-out issue a month or so ago when parking at our local play house for a night of theatrical entertainment. The car refused to unlock and wouldn't auto-present the handles nor respond when pushing on the handles to pop them out. I tried putting the fob at the base of the windshield (presumably for an NFC connection) and nothing different happened. Remembering my diagnosis from a previous incident with an early production Porsche Panamera with remote-unlock issues, I moved to the rear of the Model S to put the car body between me and the cell tower that was causing the porsche system problems. The car was pointing nose-first toward the offending cell tower and I was able to unlock the rear hatch on the first try, then the handles presented and we could enter the car and drive away. I theorize that the Model S may have different receivers to catch the fob signals and one in the rear of the car was not being overloaded by the cell tower. Or, just as possibly, the cell tower may have had a lull in transmitting just as I moved to the rear of the car.

In any event, I was quite surprised that the RF interference seemed to overpower the (NFC?) sensor at the base of the windshield as well as the UHF radio link receiver system.

Mike,

I wonder what would have happened if you used the iPhone app? Based on what you're saying I'm curious to see if the app would have been influenced as well.

 

[Vitdoc]

Had a Mt. Wilson experience yesterday with my S. Stopped the car at the Mt. Wilson gate just adjacent to the telecommunications towers. Tried restarting - no go. Fob not detected.
Left the car and it locked. Unable to open. Called Tesla from the observatory. They opened the car with 3g. Got back to the car sat in the driver's seat and another person placed the fob
at the base of the rear window which recognized it and allowed for starting the car. Got the hell out of there. I am not sure if the car will not shut off if it senses a driver in the drivers seat.
I did see a notice that the fob was not recognized when I drove past the towers but the car kept going. Tesla told me to put the fob near the 12 volt outlet in the car. This did not work.
The rear of the back windshield seems to be the "sweet spot". Interestingly I have a pace maker which I am 100% dependent on. If it had been interfered with I would be dead.
Probably not going back to Mt. Wilson soon.

 

[svs]

We have a major problem at our home and no idea what to do. We have a Volt & Tesla -- each with 2 key fobs -- and 2 garage doors (with 3 transmitters). Beginning about a week ago, neither car recognizes the fobs in the garage or the driveway and the garage doors don't work from the transmitters. I have turned off our main breaker and it had no affect on the cars. I bought a radio scanner but I don't know what frequencies I should be concentrating on. I am totally frustrated. Any ideas?

 

[woof]

We have a major problem at our home and no idea what to do. We have a Volt & Tesla -- each with 2 key fobs -- and 2 garage doors (with 3 transmitters). Beginning about a week ago, neither car recognizes the fobs in the garage or the driveway and the garage doors don't work from the transmitters. I have turned off our main breaker and it had no affect on the cars. I bought a radio scanner but I don't know what frequencies I should be concentrating on. I am totally frustrated. Any ideas?

Welcome. Not sure a radio scanner is the best tool here, I'd start with a spectrum analyzer looking for strong signals...the frequency doesn't really matter if the signal is really strong or noisy as it can overwhelm nearby receivers. Even weaker signals near the intermediate frequency of the receiver (often 10.7 MHz for the garage door and many other devices...dunno about the Volt and the Tesla) or even on the 2nd harmonic can be quite problematic to reception.

Perhaps a local Amateur Radio operator (HAM) could help? Find one nearby by contacting the section manager for your location:
Sections

Good luck, let us know what you find.

 

[dlipofsky]

I had a similar experience last week on Lookout Mountain outside of Denver when I parked under a similar cluster of antennae. After 5 minutes of desperately walking around the car and clicking on all the fob buttons I finally got the trunk to pop. Crawled in through the trunk, but even sitting in the drivers seat with the fob in my hand it wouldn't start. I opened the door ans set the car alarm off. No cell phone reception so I couldn't use the phone app or call for help. What finally worked was walking a hundred yards away and back (although that could of course been coincidence).

 

[MattMatt]

Want to bump this because I was up at Mt Wilson tonight with my 2017 Model S to see the comet Neowise. Fob stopped working, couldn't get into the car, no trunk, no frunk, no summon. Was able to stand on a wall to get cell service, but car had no internet so Tesla app was not working. Finally created a Hotspot on my phone with same ssid and password as my home wifi and the Tesla connected and let me unlock it.

Didn't try all the spots on the car, and was majorly freaked out. So Mt Wilson strikes again... Good to know...

 

[David29]

I have had similar experiences with television towers, and at my local car wash, of all places.

I have stopped a couple of times at an electronics supply store in Needham, MA, and have been temporarily unable to unlock the car. There are two television towers within roughly a half mile of the store, and my guess is that at least one of the towers has multiple broadcast antennas plus what look like microwave antennas. Fortunately, I have been able to unlock the car by making repeated tries, so it may be that one or more of the signals at the store is variable in strength, or perhaps my changes in position are the key (pun intended).

At the self-service part of the car wash, there is an RFID reader that appears to drown out the key fob, because I have had trouble unlocking the car when I step out to use the kiosk and enter my purchase. So I have learned to leave the door ajar and/or to roll down the driver's window before I get out of the car. (There is an RFID reader to support the car wash's subscription service. The subscriber mounts an RFID decal on the car and that is read, avoiding the need to make payment.)

 

[dbateman]

Wow. Fascinating, thanks for sharing!

I wonder if there's an area up there that's strong enough to prevent the car from starting because it can't see the fob...

Yes there is! We were on Mt. Wilson last night for a star party viewing through the 60 inch telescope. At the main entrance gate to the telescope at the top of the mountain, the car could not be opened. We found the spot on the rear window (one of the workers on Mt. Wilson knew this trick, as I was fumbling with the passenger side wiper location). But he placed a foil sun shade over the fob to shield it from the RF interference, before wiping it along the top of the rear glass. Once he got the car open, the screen came on, and everything looked promising. But there was a warning message on the screen said, car cannot start, fob not in car. I tried placing the fob by the USB ports in the consul - nothing. I put the fob in the cup-holder - nothing. I finally placed the foil sunscreen over the consul, and BINGO! that worked.

We were supposed to go look at stars, but instead we said good-bye to Mt. Wilson and headed off the mountain as soon as the car went into drive!