I have been having a heck of a time with the FOB on my SRT-8 2009 Challenger. For the past two weeks almost every other day every time I get in to my SRT-8 and I try to start the car, I get the message on the dash "FOB" not recognized or not detected. I have tried this with both the original key and the spare key. I have tried waiting twenty minutes and get the same message. The key unlocks the door but I still get the same message. When I try to start the car by removing the push button start mechanism, I get a bad key message. So I have had the dealer come out and start the car and taken it to the dealership TWICE. They have made new keys, tested it, and given it back to me. Today, it did the same thing.

This time, however, i took the cover off the start button, and put the new keys in and the car started.

Interesting twist, I tired REMOTE START, and the car started, but when I got in and tried to push the start button with BOTH keys (brand new from yesterday's repair) in my hand, it told me FOB not recognized. So I had to remove the cover, put the key in and then it let me change gears and drive.

Now, a further twist, when I got home, stopped the car in the garage, put the cover back on the start mechanism and held the key right up to the start button and pushed the start button, the car started right away. But when I put the key in my pocket (there was no metal or credit cards or other objects in my pocket) it said FOB NOT RECOGNIZED.

So something crazy is going on. This will be the fourth time this has happened. I spoke to the dealer who is a member of my Church and he told me that there must be something odd going on because they have had one other car (SRT-8) with this problem. So I am going to bring it back in on Monday. Has anyone else heard of this weird problem?

 

We went to the baseball game in Cincinnati on Sat. and when we came out it was very warm, so I started the car bt remote while we were walking up to start the cool down. When I got in and pushed the button I got the same "key FOB not detected". The car then shut down and wouldn't start, after pulling out the start button it started fine and later I reinstalled the button and has been fine since.

Someone in a different model car said that happened to him when his car got too hot on the inside and screwed up his electronics, and it was extremely warm inside my car, so I'm gonna keep that in mind and see when/if it happens again I will see if this trend continues.

 

The same thing happened to me in my SRT last Sunday. The only difference was that I has the A/C on, so heat wasn't a factor. I had to use the FOB as a key to start my car. After I got home, I replaced the start button and the key worked fine.

I am thinking that it may be a bad FOB battery or the FOB's in-dash receiver.

 

Well after 4 visits to the dealer, and keeping the car there, a week, we finally got the problem fixed I THINK! They had to keep the car three times. The solution was to order a whole new assembly for the ignition and the computer that starts the car BUT THEN the keys wouldn't recognize the new computer or the computer wouldn't recognize the keys. So they had to order new keys. But then they couldn't figure out how to get the two to talk to each other so they spent a whole day on the phone with Chrysler trying to figure it out. This led to a reprogramming of the car's electronics. I picked the car up last night and it seems to start OK and run OK but NOW I am having a bit of a problem with the CD Player/Entertainment system in that when I insert a new CD Disk it doesn't say "COPY" immediately like it should so that I can store CDs on the Hard Drive. Instead it goes into a play mode only. But then the next time, it will say COPY and copy to the hard drive as it normally should. It has never done this before. I will see what happens 'down the road' but they told me that the re-programming they did would not have affected the electronics in the entertainment system. Oh well!