Keyless remote entry and radio not working

[caitlin]

Hi guys.

I have a 2006 Chevy Cobalt that is giving me some issues.

The first thing is that my keyless remote stops working intermittently. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I have a brand new battery in it.

The other thing that's been happening is that my radio is going on/off too. It's an aftermarket radio, so I initially assumed that there was a wire that was loose or something, but other stuff has been starting to disprove that theory. There is really no rhyme or reason as to when in shuts off. Sometimes it will be working fine, and then I'll get in the car and it will be turned off. Other times, I'll be driving, and it will shut itself off abruptly. Not necessarily at a bump or anything, either. I can be sitting at a stoplight, and the radio will shut off.

A couple things that I have noticed. A big clue is that the radio and remote don't work at the same time. If my remote is not working, my radio will not work. I've been testing this idea that the two are connected for several weeks now. Another thing is that the time that the two actually do work has been getting shorter and shorter. Meaning, a week ago, I'd get an hour or so at a time of radio/remote. Two days ago, my remote worked when I got in the car, and I turned the radio on, and it lasted about 5 seconds, then nothing. Tonight, the car remote worked, got in the car and turned radio on, and the radio didn't even last a full second.

I didn't really thing it was a fuse thing, because I'd figure if I fuse was blown, it wouldn't work at all. Nonetheless, I got in there and switched some around, and still nothing. So.

Any ideas?

[1WhiteSSTC]

welcome to the forum

Well......fuses are a funny thing while they are on their way to shorting out, definitely check ALL fuses for the car and see if any are partially shorted/dead. If that doesn't work my next guess would be a bad wiring job for the aftermarket deck.......beyond that if the wiring isn't the problem I would fair to guess it could be a problem with a control module somewhere. Hopefully it's just a bad fuse so check it out and if that isn't the case I'd pull the deck out and see what wires they tapped into for power/ground/remote wire. After that if it's still giving you problems dealership time.

oh FYI lol, beware, lotta testosterone around here and not nearly enough estrogen

[BlackCobalt707]

is the radio grounding out somewhere?

[Tom]

The remote is a simple fix, I have heard and have it happen to me too,

What happens is the metal lead that should touch the battery (to complete the circuit) gets knocked out of whack, so pop open the remote and check that, if the metal lead is loose, a dab of glue will fix it.

but if its a connection associated with your radio problem, your going to have to pop the radio out and check connections, If a shop did the install, its there warranty work to handle.

[caitlin]

Thanks for your help. =)

Originally Posted by 1WhiteSSTC Hopefully it's just a bad fuse so check it out and if that isn't the case I'd pull the deck out and see what wires they tapped into for power/ground/remote wire. After that if it's still giving you problems dealership time.

I don't think it's a fuse. I checked the appropriate spots (the manual had a map), and changed some around with some spares. None of them looked broken or burnt out or anything. I'll go in there again and check again anyway.

Does pulling out the deck mean to pull out the radio? I'm pretty car stupid, but looking at this post/tutorial, it seems like it is a fairly straightforward and simple process.

Originally Posted by BlackCobalt707 is the radio grounding out somewhere

No idea. I didn't install it.

Originally Posted by Tom The remote is a simple fix, I have heard and have it happen to me too, What happens is the metal lead that should touch the battery (to complete the circuit) gets knocked out of whack, so pop open the remote and check that, if the metal lead is loose, a dab of glue will fix it.

It's not that. On my other remote, the whole piece holding the battery in came undone. Funny story, I couldn't find a soldering iron, so I tried to hold it down with electric tape (yeah yeah, I know), didn't work, and when I took the tape off, it yanked off a resistor with it. I ended up throwing that one away, but I know that my current remote is good.

Still wouldn't explain why the radio doesn't work at the same time that the remote doesn't.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by caitlin Still wouldn't explain why the radio doesn't work at the same time that the remote doesn't.

the thing about are radio is there alot other devices that it relates too, its not that odd...its just tracking down the source.

If your under warranty, have the dealer take a look.

[caitlin]

Originally Posted by Tom the thing about are radio is there alot other devices that it relates too, its not that odd...its just tracking down the source. If your under warranty, have the dealer take a look.

Ah okay. Cool.

Not under warranty. I'm on my own for this one (if I want to get it fixed for free, at least).

[ff_drift_lol]

heh...smart girl

[1WhiteSSTC]

Originally Posted by caitlin Does pulling out the deck mean to pull out the radio? I'm pretty car stupid, but looking at this post/tutorial, it seems like it is a fairly straightforward and simple process.

The link u posted above looks about right for a radio pull, I have never done it myself and sorta hope I never have too lol.

[caitlin]

Today, my radio/remote worked for about 45 minutes — I started to think it was magically fixed. Then it shut itself off right as I pulled into my driveway. =\

I guess I'll try pulling the radio tonight and make sure the wires look fine.