Anyone else having trouble unlocking their CX-5 with the fob?

M

melonbar

Member
:
Mazda CX-5 2014
Hi all,

I haven't been able to find anything useful online and am wondering if anyone else has run into this issue. Every morning it takes me multiple attempts to unlock my CX-5. However if the car was recently used, the car responds normally to the key fob. I thought the battery of the key fob was dying, but I had the same issue with the spare fob which I rarely use and the red light comes on whenever I press a button on the fob. The car eventually responds after spamming the unlock and lock buttons, but I've noticed it's taking a little longer each time. It's not THAT big of an inconvenience, but I just had a very unpleasant experience in the rain :( Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated!
 
melonbar said:
Hi all,

I haven't been able to find anything useful online and am wondering if anyone else has run into this issue. Every morning it takes me multiple attempts to unlock my CX-5. However if the car was recently used, the car responds normally to the key fob. I thought the battery of the key fob was dying, but I had the same issue with the spare fob which I rarely use and the red light comes on whenever I press a button on the fob. The car eventually responds after spamming the unlock and lock buttons, but I've noticed it's taking a little longer each time. It's not THAT big of an inconvenience, but I just had a very unpleasant experience in the rain :( Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

First step is to try a new battery. The fact that your spare key fob is having the same problem does not indicate it's not a low battery because the spare fob draws current at a similar rate to the fob you actually use. The shelf life of the little button cell batteries is about 10 years. So a fresh battery has an expiration date at least 9 years in the future.
 
change the battery like Mike suggested. Mine started acting up like that so I went to the spare and after a few weeks, started doing the same thing. After putting in a new battery, both fobs worked perfectly.
 
Mainly I have issues with the button on the door. Press it once, sometimes everything unlocks, twice, locks it again, or maybe twice unlocks the rear and passenger door, or...depends on the split second amount of time between presses. It can really be frustrating at times.
 
No issues here at all. Works perfect every time.

Uno, maybe you need to go into settings and determine what you have it set up to do. You can change what and how many clicks of the button do what. The way you describe it, I think you're making it way harder than it needs to be. I've never had to once think or worry about the timing of pressing the buttons.
 
jhu8 said:
No issues here at all. Works perfect every time.

Uno, maybe you need to go into settings and determine what you have it set up to do. You can change what and how many clicks of the button do what. The way you describe it, I think you're making it way harder than it needs to be. I've never had to once think or worry about the timing of pressing the buttons.
Click to expand...
I think part of it is half the time I forget if the vehicle is locked or not, and so I am defeating the purpose of it and pushing the button getting the opposite of what I expect.
 
Unobtanium said:
Mainly I have issues with the button on the door. Press it once, sometimes everything unlocks, twice, locks it again, or maybe twice unlocks the rear and passenger door, or...depends on the split second amount of time between presses. It can really be frustrating at times.
Click to expand...
With the large number of problems that you have with your car, I wonder if you bought a 'lemon' or perhaps a damaged CX-5 that some one else 'unloaded' to get out from under all the issues. Used cars can sometimes be like that.
 
GP 2004 said:
With the large number of problems that you have with your car, I wonder if you bought a 'lemon' or perhaps a damaged CX-5 that some one else 'unloaded' to get out from under all the issues. Used cars can sometimes be like that.
Click to expand...
I doubt it. Probably just me being picky. Vehicle works fine, little foibles are just nitpicks. I think they all do it, personally, and I'm just more in tune wiht things than most (except my door locks...my door locks are my fault, I think. Except when I wait too long and it locks everything).

Press...locks all
Press again...unlocks drivers door
Press again...OOPS waited too lock, all locked again. lol!
 
Unobtanium said:
I doubt it. Probably just me being picky. Vehicle works fine, little foibles are just nitpicks. I think they all do it, personally, and I'm just more in tune wiht things than most (except my door locks...my door locks are my fault, I think. Except when I wait too long and it locks everything).

Press...locks all
Press again...unlocks drivers door
Press again...OOPS waited too lock, all locked again. lol!
Click to expand...

That is something wrong then. There's not a timer like your alluding to. You walk up to your car after work, its locked. Press driver side door. That door unlocks. You could wait 2 min, press again and all doors unlock. The drivers door won't lock on its own like that. Unless you have the walk away feature on. And of course you then have to actually walk away.
 
jhu8 said:
That is something wrong then. There's not a timer like your alluding to. You walk up to your car after work, its locked. Press driver side door. That door unlocks. You could wait 2 min, press again and all doors unlock. The drivers door won't lock on its own like that. Unless you have the walk away feature on. And of course you then have to actually walk away.
Click to expand...

I need to mess with settings, then, because there definitely is not what you say going on.
 
melonbar said:
Hi all,

I haven't been able to find anything useful online and am wondering if anyone else has run into this issue. Every morning it takes me multiple attempts to unlock my CX-5. However if the car was recently used, the car responds normally to the key fob. I thought the battery of the key fob was dying, but I had the same issue with the spare fob which I rarely use and the red light comes on whenever I press a button on the fob. The car eventually responds after spamming the unlock and lock buttons, but I've noticed it's taking a little longer each time. It's not THAT big of an inconvenience, but I just had a very unpleasant experience in the rain :( Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

Does this happen when you are not at home? With one of my previous cars I had an issue where whenever I visited the zoo the remote would not work, presumably due to some type of interference.
 
AllezDada said:
Does this happen when you are not at home? With one of my previous cars I had an issue where whenever I visited the zoo the remote would not work, presumably due to some type of interference.
Click to expand...

What is it about Zoo's? My Ford remote didn't work when I was at the Zoo.
 
melonbar said:
Hi all,

I haven't been able to find anything useful online and am wondering if anyone else has run into this issue. Every morning it takes me multiple attempts to unlock my CX-5. However if the car was recently used, the car responds normally to the key fob. I thought the battery of the key fob was dying, but I had the same issue with the spare fob which I rarely use and the red light comes on whenever I press a button on the fob. The car eventually responds after spamming the unlock and lock buttons, but I've noticed it's taking a little longer each time. It's not THAT big of an inconvenience, but I just had a very unpleasant experience in the rain :( Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

Most likely its the batteries and temperature. Voltage drops when the fob is cool as it would be sitting overnight. If the battery is weakened by time, this is enough to malfunction. Your hand eventually warms it up enough that it functions better. You can expect it will fail outright soon though.
 
Unobtanium said:
Mainly I have issues with the button on the door. Press it once, sometimes everything unlocks, twice, locks it again, or maybe twice unlocks the rear and passenger door, or...depends on the split second amount of time between presses. It can really be frustrating at times.
Click to expand...

The fobs must be different between trim levels. My '13 Sport has separate lock and unlock buttons. Press once to unlock the drivers door, twice in quick succession to unlock all the doors. Once on the lock button to lock all the doors, twice to sound the horn.

Just reread what you said and realized your talking about a door button. I didn't even know about that option and obviously don't have a button on my door at all.
 
melonbar said:
Hi all,

I haven't been able to find anything useful online and am wondering if anyone else has run into this issue. Every morning it takes me multiple attempts to unlock my CX-5. However if the car was recently used, the car responds normally to the key fob. I thought the battery of the key fob was dying, but I had the same issue with the spare fob which I rarely use and the red light comes on whenever I press a button on the fob. The car eventually responds after spamming the unlock and lock buttons, but I've noticed it's taking a little longer each time. It's not THAT big of an inconvenience, but I just had a very unpleasant experience in the rain :( Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

Did you ever find a resolution to this problem? My 2017 CX-5 is doing the exact same thing. Not only do both my key fobs fail to unlock initially, but the keyless entry button on my door handle does not work either. Usually after spamming any of the 3 buttons (2 fobs and door button) 10-15 times it will unlock, and it only happens first thing in the morning on my way to work. Any other part of the day it unlocks fine.
 
ohflyer87 said:
Did you ever find a resolution to this problem? My 2017 CX-5 is doing the exact same thing. Not only do both my key fobs fail to unlock initially, but the keyless entry button on my door handle does not work either. Usually after spamming any of the 3 buttons (2 fobs and door button) 10-15 times it will unlock, and it only happens first thing in the morning on my way to work. Any other part of the day it unlocks fine.
Click to expand...

Cold in the morning > stiff grease on actuators?
 
It may sound goofy but try parking in a different spot like 10 or so feet away. There are certain parking lots where I live that seem to kill the signal depending where you park. I have experienced this with 3 different vehicles but relatively the same spot in the parking lot.
 
melonbar said:
Hi all,

I haven't been able to find anything useful online and am wondering if anyone else has run into this issue. Every morning it takes me multiple attempts to unlock my CX-5. However if the car was recently used, the car responds normally to the key fob. I thought the battery of the key fob was dying, but I had the same issue with the spare fob which I rarely use and the red light comes on whenever I press a button on the fob. The car eventually responds after spamming the unlock and lock buttons, but I've noticed it's taking a little longer each time. It's not THAT big of an inconvenience, but I just had a very unpleasant experience in the rain :( Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

I have same issue with my 2017 CX-5 sport.. issue happen when I try to go to work... Once car finally unlocks then key fob works fine.
Another location where I had this issue was in my parking garage trying to unlock the car to go home....

Like other poster after spaming unlock button a couple of times car did unlock the. Worked normal.

Long story short I guessed the problem with the battery in the keyfob being weak and low temp did not help...
 
Last edited:
I have a problem in that I replaced the fob batteries and can’t get in. Key doesn’t open the door. I’m told that the car is in anti theft mode. How do I get in?
 
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