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Hi, dear bricksters and happy holidays!
I just came back from the dealer today. They replaced the keyless entry receiver in my S70 after I complained about a greatly diminished operating range (they first tried giving me new fobs, but that didn't help). The new receiver did the trick and I got the same range I remember when the car was new. The funny thing was that the old receiver did not STOP working, it just started to work VERY poorly. For example, to get it to respond I had to aim the keyfob directly into one of the windows of the car. If I had the keyfob below the glass line the system would not respond even from a point-blank range. Right now it matters not how I hold the fob or how high it is, as long as I am near the car it works, which is the desired behavior.
So, now my big question is: HOW and WHY did the old receiver go "bad"? The part is located directly above the instrument cluster (the dash needed to come off for access) and is out of harm's way. Is it heat? That spot would get pretty hot in the summers. If so, I imagine the problem will re-occur with some regularity.
So, if anyone out there is suffering from the same symptom of keyless entry system going lame for no good reason, pipe in, maybe we have another one of those Volvo design "features" here with ill-selected location of the receiver. The job of replacing it is not that huge, but tedious and I can't imagine that little black box being cheap (mine was done under warranty, so I do not know how much the thing cost, but I was there and do know it took the tech WAY over an hour to complete the job). So, maybe some modification is in order or some pressure on Volvo (kind of like about the AC evaps) to eliminate this particular design feature.
Cheers everyone.
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