crappy Auto Start

Ken226 · Jan 18, 2018

His issue is most likely caused by 2 successive remote starts.

It's programmed, intentionally, to disable the remote start system if it has been remote started twice, without anyone actually getting in and driving it.

This is to prevent your 2 year old from getting your keys and remote starting your truck as fast as he can for 10 hours strait (as well as a few other scenarios).

IMRAM · Jan 18, 2018

Should the remote have the same distance capability as the horn activation? I can make my horn honk or my doors lock from a long ways away. Much further than my remote start will work.

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shibby927 · Jan 19, 2018

JPT said:
Mine works as long as I am close (even with a new FOB battery). After coming from having a Viper alarm with bidirectional communication, it makes me feel that the factory remote start is lacking. It is ok, but not great. I used to be able to start my truck from 1/2 mile away, and get feedback to know if it actually started.

I had aftermarket (compustar I think?) installed on my wife's 2015 Chrysler 200. That thing works great. Her remote start fob beeps when you press the button and you hold it until it beeps to confirm the vehicle has started. It's nice to know it started, and it has pretty damned good range as well. Makes my factory remote start on my RAM look pathetic by comparison.

I like the Uconnect feature where I can start my truck with my computer but $15.00 a month for Uconnect Access is ridiculous.

JPT · Jan 19, 2018

shibby927 said:
I like the Uconnect feature where I can start my truck with my computer but $15.00 a month for Uconnect Access is ridiculous.

True words right there... I have it right now (pay for it), but not sure how long I will keep paying.

Summit1 · Jan 20, 2018

My wife's Jeep came with the OEM remote starter, and ot usually works from a fairly long distance. One day a few years ago, both vehicles wpuld not remotely start, even at a distance of fifty feet or less.

The problem was some sort of strong RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) nearby. The remote starters worked well in other locations.

I set out on a "transmitter hunt" to find the offending transmitter, but the signal disappeared in the process, so the result worked out OK (although I really wanted to know what the actual source was... just being a bit of a geek

).

Also, consider low (vehicle) battery voltage, which would disable the remote starter function, although starting the old fashioned way will usually work.

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Ken226 · Jan 20, 2018

IMRAM said:
Should the remote have the same distance capability as the horn activation? I can make my horn honk or my doors lock from a long ways away. Much further than my remote start will work.

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No.

Even though the same key fob is transmitting both the lock/unlock signal and the remote start signal, the truck receives the signals using 2 separate antennas. At least, that is the case on my 2013.

I installed an OEM remote start kit in my truck. It came with a replacement RF module and a separate antenna for the remote start signal.

manxam · Jan 20, 2018

Ken226 said:
His issue is most likely caused by 2 successive remote starts.

It's programmed, intentionally, to disable the remote start system if it has been remote started twice, without anyone actually getting in and driving it.

This is to prevent your 2 year old from getting your keys and remote starting your truck as fast as he can for 10 hours strait (as well as a few other scenarios).

<rant>
I absolutely hate this "feature" and wish I could disable it. When I first got my truck I thought the remote start had broken.
Many days in the winter, I auto start my truck in the morning before leaving for work and don't drive it again until it's home time. If I don't make any stops along the way and start it manually it means that I will not be able to remote start it again in the morning without doing a quick manual start/stop with a key when I get home.

Why not be smart enough to detect that it was started via the fob and then the key was inserted : RESET. Only disable the auto start if there is no key inserted after the second auto-start sequence.
</rant>

damnimcooltom · Jan 20, 2018

manxam said:
<rant>
I absolutely hate this "feature" and wish I could disable it. When I first got my truck I thought the remote start had broken.
Many days in the winter, I auto start my truck in the morning before leaving for work and don't drive it again until it's home time. If I don't make any stops along the way and start it manually it means that I will not be able to remote start it again in the morning without doing a quick manual start/stop with a key when I get home.

Why not be smart enough to detect that it was started via the fob and then the key was inserted : RESET. Only disable the auto start if there is no key inserted after the second auto-start sequence.
</rant>

Yours isn't working correctly, then. I can remote start mine, get in, press the dash button, and drive to work, then remote start at work, and drive home. I rarely get in the vehicle and start it from the driver's seat.

What he was describing is remote starting, and either using the remote to turn it back off without actually getting in the vehicle, or letting it run until is times out and shuts off on its own. What you describe isn't my experience in any of my FCA remote start vehicles, 2012-2017.

retgi · Jan 22, 2018

My 17 Long Horn has the same issue. At least 50% of time it won't remote start because I'm more than thirty feet away! I do have buyers remorse because I traded in a 2012 F150 Platinum Ecoboost for this Ram and that was a big mistake! I could remote start it from at least three times the distance plus it had other features that aren't offered on Ram trucks! At the end of this year I will be trading it in on a new Ford F150 Platinum Edition.

HitchHiker · Jan 22, 2018

retgi said:
My 17 Long Horn has the same issue. At least 50% of time it won't remote start because I'm more than thirty feet away! I do have buyers remorse because I traded in a 2012 F150 Platinum Ecoboost for this Ram and that was a big mistake! I could remote start it from at least three times the distance plus it had other features that aren't offered on Ram trucks! At the end of this year I will be trading it in on a new Ford F150 Platinum Edition.

What other features did your F150 have that you're referring to? Curious.

chrisbh17 · Jan 22, 2018

The remote start on my 17 big Horn seems finicky as well. Sometimes it starts from a decent distance, sometimes not. Not much rhyme or reason as to why, that I can see.

It's supposed to be good up to 300 feet I thought... I'm sure not seeing that

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My-17-1500 · Jan 22, 2018

I agree on the crappy remote start on my 17 1500 bighorn also. It only works for me if I have direct line of site and like less then 100 feet---I'm going to change the batteries but that distance in my opinion really defeat's the purpose of it. in the summer or winter to warm it up or cool it down if I'm already within 100 feet--ill be there in less then a minute so kind of a waste---I am spoiled by the aftermarket I put on my Nissan xterra. its a 2 way system and I can start it in movie theatre 200 yards away and have the car the temp how I want it before I get there. it has the same 15 minute run time length feature and our rams. I think I will be going back to the guys that did the Nissan and see what they can do--The Stock one is nice if the car is outside my house and I can start it at home before I take off but doesn't have the capability I have grown used to---but I will say I love my truck!!!! this is minor irritant for me --love the truck!

CajunRamit · Jan 22, 2018

I also have a 17 Limited, the remote start doesn’t work 50% of the time either. Lots of money for luxury with limited luxury! I’ll bring it in and see what they say about it.

damnimcooltom · Jan 22, 2018

In my experience, the 2013+ remotes seem to be pretty directional. My older remotes seemed to work from further away, and I didn't need to point it toward the vehicle, but the 2014, 15, and 17 vehicles I have seem to need the remote pointed at the vehicle to work at any distance. The aftermarket ones seem to be similar. We had a CompuStar unit in my wife's PT Cruiser, and you could start the car at the check stand at the store, and the car would be running when you came out. I had a newer CompuStar unit put in my 04 RAM in 2016, and the distance was a fraction of what the older one would do. Is part of this on purpose to get us to buy the more expensive two-way and/or smart phone setups? I wouldn't doubt it.

chrisbh17 · Jan 22, 2018

I kinda wonder if the antenna gets thrown out of location or something when the vehicle is delivered, driven, etc.

The UltraStart I had in my old Frontier was strictly a one-way remote start (no alarm, etc). I could start the truck without even being able to SEE the truck, at least 500' away, reliably.

I with the one in my RAM was better than it is, but mostly I just use it to start the truck 5 or 10 minutes before leaving during the winter just to get it warmed up a bit.

raynor · Jan 22, 2018

Do you have a habit of turning off the truck before manually putting it in park? If you turn off the car in gear the transmission will automatically go to park but it will disable the auto start.

chrisbh17 · Jan 22, 2018

raynor said:
Do you have a habit of turning off the truck before manually putting it in park? If you turn off the car in gear the transmission will automatically go to park but it will disable the auto start.

That would explain the one time my remote start wouldnt work while I was standing right next to the truck!

Good to know.

grampy · Jan 22, 2018

I initially had problems, but learned that if you press the button twice too quickly it doesn't work. Pressing slowly works all the time. Love it.

Katonaj · Jan 22, 2018

IMRAM said:
I recently bought a 2017 limited. The autostart has never been reliable, so today I went and put new batteries in both FOBs. I do exactly as I was told to do it from the dealer, it works about 50% of the time. I like this vehicle, but my GM product I had prior for five years had excellent range and was virtually 100% reliable. So tonight when it wouldn’t work I walked out to my driveway and displayed on the dash it read “auto start disabled please start vehicle to reset”. What good is a autostart when you have to start your vehicle to reset it? I really like this truck, but extremely disappointed in this, and I won’t be satisfied until it’s fixed because I paid way too much for this vehicle. Before I go to the dealer, wondering if anybody has any ideas? Very disappointing.

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My 2013 and my 2015 does this **** no matter how much gas is in it. Thought maybe it has something to do with the security system since we live near a railroad track. Some of these trains really shake the ground but it's annoying.

IMRAM · Jan 23, 2018

Well I love my truck, and this is one of the few things I found that is inferior but I have no buyers remorse whatsoever coming from my 2014 Chevy LTZ. Was a great truck but I like this truck better so far. I could stand in office building 25 floors up down the street and look out the window and start my Chevy pick up 100% a the time, so in that regard it was much better. The stereo was also much better in the Chevy. Other than that I like my RAM better and would take it any day over that Chevy. Again that’s just my opinion.

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crappy Auto Start

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