macarchie

Key fob stopped working last week. Yesterday, I took it apart to put in new battery and saw the battery clip had come loose. I grabbed the soldering iron and fixed it. Put it back together with new battery and it worked fine. An hour later, the horn starts beeping (3 chirps then beeps then off and repeat.) I started the engine and the beeps stopped. I left the car unlocked and went back inside. At 1:38 a.m., the horn starts beeping again. This time, it keeps beeping after the engine is turned off. I disconnected the battery negative terminal and the beeping stops and I went back to bed. This morning, reconnected the battery, beeping starts immediately. Online search suggests panic button on key fob may be stuck. Left the key fob in bedroom (150' from detached garage) then reconnected the battery and after a few minutes it starts beeping again! Battery was disconnected for 7 hours which should have reset the computer. What should I do? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
- Jimmy

843de

Check the contact pads in the key fob itself, they will wear out and become dirty or corroded over time, also check the door switches for smooth operation, one may be sticking.

Here's a thread on a similar issue had by another member a couple of years back.

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/problems-service-repairs-42/alarm-question-31281/

macarchie

Thanks for the response.
I took the battery out of the key fob and then reconnected the battery in the car. It has now been 2 hours and the horn has not gone off again. Hopefully, this works. I will clean the key fob contacts and put it back together tomorrow.
I am impressed that the key fob transmitted the "panic" signal almost 150' from inside the house.

Snoopy

I believe the FOBS work from about 200 ft. under ideal conditions......a new battery sure helps.

If you believe the panic button is sticking, insert something between the button and contact to "break" the connection. Might give you an idea of the problem.

843de

200' is the nominal range I've found Snoopy, if you try the "FOB under you chin trick" it turns your body into a sort of ground plane and the range goes out to almost double what you'd expect.

Yeah I have been "that" bored on occasion.

ChevroletCustomerService

How are things going with the HHR and the horn going off this morning?

Michelle, Chevrolet Customer Service

macarchie

No problem. The key fob is sitting in the kitchen with no battery and the car is running great. I'll try to clean the key fob and if that doesn't work, I'll either do without or look into buying another one. (We only got one key fob when we bought the car from Carmax.) I am just glad that there is nothing wrong with the car. Thanks for asking.

donbrew

My wild speculation is that you may have either not cleaned up your flux or you got a bit of solder on the board where the panic button contacts are, or one of the rubber buttons got stuck on the hole in the cover.

ChevroletCustomerService

I am happy you are not experiencing this today, but it is a bummer that your key fob can't be used without issues. What is the model year of your HHR? I apologize if I have overlooked it along the way some where.

Michelle, Chevrolet Customer Service

macarchie

Our HHR is a 2008 LT. I'm not too concerned about the key fob. I drove for 20 years with only a single key and had no problems. Personally, I appreciate simplicity. The wife's 2005 Montana has an issue with the traction control light coming on. It drives fine and this is more of an annoyance than anything else. Maybe someday I'll get around to putting the key fob back together or get another one... Right now, it is more important to the the new fruit trees planted before the weather gets really hot.