Doors Unlocking Themselves...Key Fob Related

deyomatic · April 3, 2018

I tried the search but came up empty. I have a 2014 Silverado WT as a work vehicle. A couple of weeks ago the drivers door just started unlocking itself, both while driving and while parked- not a nice feature if you like to keep your belongings secure. One person suggested that the alternator was (somehow) to blame, and the shop tested it and replaced it, stating that it was putting out too much voltage, and replaced the battery at the same time. Within one day it began again. To spare the details, I traced it to the key fob- with the battery out of the fob, the doors do not try to unlock themselves anymore. A brand new battery did not fix the problem.

Has anyone else had this happen? Is my problem the fob, or is it inside the truck with whatever receives the signal from the fob? Anyone know anything else to further diagnose?

I CAN just take it to the dealer, but then I'm sitting around for half a day.

Thanks.

BO TIE 1 · April 3, 2018

I tried the search but came up empty. I have a 2014 Silverado WT as a work vehicle. A couple of weeks ago the drivers door just started unlocking itself, both while driving and while parked- not a nice feature if you like to keep your belongings secure. One person suggested that the alternator was (somehow) to blame, and the shop tested it and replaced it, stating that it was putting out too much voltage, and replaced the battery at the same time. Within one day it began again. To spare the details, I traced it to the key fob- with the battery out of the fob, the doors do not try to unlock themselves anymore. A brand new battery did not fix the problem.

Has anyone else had this happen? Is my problem the fob, or is it inside the truck with whatever receives the signal from the fob? Anyone know anything else to further diagnose?
I CAN just take it to the dealer, but then I'm sitting around for half a day.

Thanks.

Well if you took the battery out of the fob and it stopped I would think the fob is jacked up.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

wforrest08 · April 3, 2018

I’m assuming it’s factory door locks & key fob? Do you only have one fob? If you have both of them try the other one. If not leave the one at home and drive the truck around for the day and see if it trys to unlock it’s self if you haven’t already. I’d pull the fob apart and see if by chance if the button is sticking before getting a new/different one programmed to your truck, this thread shows how to take it apart.

deyomatic · April 3, 2018

It seemed like the fob to me, too. I wanted to check to see if there was anything behind the scenes...wasn't sure if the antenna that receives the signal could go bad.

Unfortunately, I checked with my fleet manager and this is the only fob that it came with.

bowtiemark · August 25, 2019

did anyone find a problem yet?

just started happening to my truck wrap my key Fob in aluminum paper because truck wouldn’t stop unlocking and didn’t want my battery to die, truck stop unlocking...

BallerShotCaller22 · August 13, 2020

It’s the fob. Started happening to me every 10-15 seconds. Broke open the fob. Immediately stopped. The good news is that it was also ‘remote opening’ all my windows while parked outside. Oh and my truck got broken into because I left the door unlocked a couple nights ago.... or did I? Kind of a huge issue here.

Linx78 · October 23, 2020

Did anyone find a good solution to this problem yet? Looked outside last night because I saw headlights in my driveway. It was my truck. I went out to and found the doors had just unlocked.

mud69bug · January 24, 2021

Hi.

Just wanted to say thank you to op. Went in the woods yesterday through some mudholes to find fishing spots rarely visited. Outside this afternoon and see marker lights flashing and hear door lock cycling off and on. Just knew I had got water somewhere it didn't belong. Saw this post popped battery out of fob and immediately the truck got quiet. Took it apart and as best I can tell the unlock button was partially stuck. Worked it several times with a pocket screwdriver. Reassembled fob and so far no problems. Thank you.

Tracys Chevy · June 2, 2021

On 10/23/2020 at 6:58 AM, Linx78 said:

Did anyone find a good solution to this problem yet? Looked outside last night because I saw headlights in my driveway. It was my truck. I went out to and found the doors had just unlocked.

Tracys Chevy · June 2, 2021

Anyone else had this happen? I noticed my lights on so I went out to inspect. My doors were all unlocked. My doors are unlocking on their own at random times.

swede7704 · December 13, 2021

My dealership told me that my 2017 Silverado's remote module is in the headliner. So to even test the module the headliner has to be removed costing labor in the range of $500.00. If the module tests good, I'm still out the labor costs.

Sure would like to find an easier and less costly way of finding the problem.

Vmans · August 28, 2023

I know the post is several years old, but I just recently had this happen in my 2015 Silverado Z71. I was standing beside my truck, it was off and the keys were in my pocket, as I was on the phone with my local dealership the truck suddenly locked and then remotely started by itself. The tech on the phone said he'd never heard of anything like that happening and suggested bringing it in so they could attempt to diagnose it, they'd first look at the wiring harness and go from there.

But as someone else had done, I removed the battery from my fob and it immediately stopped. Thankfully I do have two fobs and I've been using the 2nd fob for a few days now and so far I haven't had the first sign of trouble. Just for curiosity's sake, I placed the battery back in the 1st fob and as soon as the battery was in the fob my doors started locking and unlocking again. Something is up with that particular fob, I don't think I'll keep my appointment at the dealership if it's only the fob. I can get one off Amazon and allegedly I can program it myself. We'll see, I found the programming info here, https://www.siddillon.com/service/service-tips-tricks/how-to-program-chevy-key-fob/#:~:text=On your Chevy key fob,in the “On” position.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Vmans

Florida Jason · June 5

This thread was helpful to me, so I created an account to add my experience. I have a 2017 Silverado. I received two fobs from the dealership when I bought it.

Around 2020 or 2021 (hard to remember), I experienced two symptoms: 1) lock doors with fob and they would immediately unlock, and 2) random unlocking behavior while driving or when on retained accessory power. At the time, I did as much troubleshooting as I could and discovered that isolating the key fob out of range solved the issue, so assumed it was a bad fob and hung it inside my home out of range from the truck and began using the other fob.

One week ago, I noticed the same symptoms began. Tonight I spent an hour or so troubleshooting. I gently popped open the fob case (easier than I expected and no damage caused). I observed a clear gel-like substance on some areas of the circuit board and casing.

After some testing, it seemed that this gel was at least somewhat conductive and the source of the aberrant behavior. I cleaned the substance from the board and case with a paper towel and re-assembled. Initial testing indicates this was a successful fix.

Attached is a photo of the fob guts. Gel substance was on the areas marked in red. I did some quick research, and it seems this could be leakage from the battery, although not the typical corrosion style of a AA or AAA cell battery. I can't be 100% sure that's what it was. So, I leave that to the reader's judgment.

I will use the fob and report back in one week whether this was permanently successful or not.