I thought I would post this up for anyone receiving the "Key Fob Not Recognized" message.
A few weeks back, I was traveling with my wife and the dogs from Florida to Pennsylvania. We stopped overnight at a hotel in NC. The next morning (Sunday), we packed everything and everyone back into the car. After putting everything into the car, I had to give the dogs a quick walk, so I locked the door with my key fob. It beeped 3 times, telling me that my wife's key fob was still in the car (packed in the luggage). I pressed it again and it locked.
When I came back to the car, I tried to unlock the car with the door handle and it didn't work. Using the key fob, I was able to unlock the car. We got everyone into the car. I tried to start the car and received the dreaded "Key Fob not Recognized" message. I stepped out and got back in and received the message again. I then dug out the other key fob, placed both outside the car, closed the door, got back in with only one of the key fobs. Same message. I was able to remote start the car, but it would not respond to the button press. I then tried holding the fob against the button area as explained in the manual for a dead battery. Still no luck.
I called Dodge for help and they said that the car would have to be towed to a dealer and be reprogrammed. Being Sunday in NC, the closest open dealer was probably 5 states away. I asked the operator whether it would make sense to pull the fuse for the system and they told me that could make it worse. That was the extent of Dodge's help.
I decided pulling a fuse wouldn't really "make things worse", so I looked up the fuse (#51), pulled it, waited for about 10 seconds so the ignition module could reboot correctly and put it back in.
I got back in, and the car started right up!
The moral...
1) Don't lock the 2nd key fob in the car.
2) Take what Dodge support says with a grain of salt.
3) If in doubt, REBOOT!
A few weeks back, I was traveling with my wife and the dogs from Florida to Pennsylvania. We stopped overnight at a hotel in NC. The next morning (Sunday), we packed everything and everyone back into the car. After putting everything into the car, I had to give the dogs a quick walk, so I locked the door with my key fob. It beeped 3 times, telling me that my wife's key fob was still in the car (packed in the luggage). I pressed it again and it locked.
When I came back to the car, I tried to unlock the car with the door handle and it didn't work. Using the key fob, I was able to unlock the car. We got everyone into the car. I tried to start the car and received the dreaded "Key Fob not Recognized" message. I stepped out and got back in and received the message again. I then dug out the other key fob, placed both outside the car, closed the door, got back in with only one of the key fobs. Same message. I was able to remote start the car, but it would not respond to the button press. I then tried holding the fob against the button area as explained in the manual for a dead battery. Still no luck.
I called Dodge for help and they said that the car would have to be towed to a dealer and be reprogrammed. Being Sunday in NC, the closest open dealer was probably 5 states away. I asked the operator whether it would make sense to pull the fuse for the system and they told me that could make it worse. That was the extent of Dodge's help.
I decided pulling a fuse wouldn't really "make things worse", so I looked up the fuse (#51), pulled it, waited for about 10 seconds so the ignition module could reboot correctly and put it back in.
I got back in, and the car started right up!
The moral...
1) Don't lock the 2nd key fob in the car.
2) Take what Dodge support says with a grain of salt.
3) If in doubt, REBOOT!
