Car in driveway is source of garage door opener interference

Question

It has been determined that the car parked in my shared driveway is interfering with 2 other condos. The garage door company is sure it is coming from my car which has been parked there for years. When I remove my car from the area everyone is able to use their remote. Hynundai has never heard of this and doesn’t know what to tell me. Anyone have a solution?

Answer 1

This may be caused by the air pressure sensors in your tires (TPMS). They operate at 315 MHz. Some garage door opener remotes operate at 315 MHz. If that's the case the troubleshooting procedures outlined above will not work because the sensors have their own internal battery. Although I would try disconnecting the battery first just because it's so easy to do and will rule out anything involved with the car electronics. If that doesn't do it then you can try removing the tires from the vehicle and get them far enough away from the garage door and see if that solves it. One tire might have a rogue sensor causing the problem.

I would also ask you neighbors to try new batteries in their remote so it sends out a stronger signal.

Answer 2

You could check if there is a local amateur radio club or a hackerspace nearby. This sounds like an interesting problem, and those places usually have the equipment to check for radio interference and people that could be interested to help.

To find a local club, check these sites:

• List of amateur radio organizations, find your country and then check list of clubs on the organization's web page.
• List of Hacker Spaces

Answer 3

If you are able to generate a consistent test sequence, you should be able to narrow down the problem, making it easier to solve.

Have a neighbor use the remote and with your car in place, it should fail to work. Confirm by moving the car away that it returns the remote to operation, then return the car and confirm failure.

Locate your fuse box and remove one fuse. With the car turned off, this should generally affect nothing in the vehicle. If the fuse you remove is connected to a clock-type component, it may show incorrect time when replaced. With the fuse removed, have the neighbor test the remote. Replace the removed fuse and move to the next one.

Repeat the above until the removed fuse allows the neighbor's remote to operate properly.

The fuse box will have a label with fuse designations. You can then present this information to the repair facility for an easier solution.

Today's automobiles (what year is yours?) have plenty of sophisticated electronics within. It is likely there are FCC regulations regarding interference with other devices that cover a problem with your vehicle. If one of these components has had a failure in shielding or otherwise is transmitting a broad spectrum radio frequency, it would certainly violate the FCC regulations. This applies only to USA motor vehicles and FCC references.

Stretching the concept a bit, if you disconnect all the available fuses and the problem remains, consider to disconnect the main battery cable (ground wire) from the battery. This should definitely allow the remote to operate. If not, there is a remote possibility that you have a concealed transmitter on your vehicle, perhaps a tracking device that is generating excessive radio frequencies, causing this problem.

Answer 4

Had and still have the same problem where the remotes refuse to work unless directly underneath the opener. Sears refuses to fix, but acknowledged that the problem is caused by rf interference with their 315 mhz frequency use by motion sensors, etc... They insist that the frequncy change was mandated by the FCC.

They will not post the possibility of rf interference with their openers on a web site or any advertisement. They will not post it in their stores, and they do not advise their sales people. Both Sears and Chamberlain also will not and have not put this information in any instruction manual, nor do they have any fix.

I took off and threw out a motion sensor on my light and initially fixed the problem. This past month I recently installed a water fountain bird bath with six small LED lights in a front garden, which I found again shut down my remotes AND my home links in my cars. I was able to isolate the problem directly to the LED lights (NOT the transformer for the fountain, and not the water pump)! After refusing to assist, Sears advised that Chamberlain makes their garage door openers.

I contacted Chamberlain, and they also said the interference is caused by RF interference, with no explanation as to why they do not advise the consumer in any publication with their openers. Chamberlain blamed the water fountain manufacturer, and suggested that I call them and have them fix their manufatcturing defect! . Both Sears and Chamberlain refused to fix, refused top assist, and suggested that I throw out the birdbath. I have spoken to several techs about LED lighting, including Sears' own technician, all whom who have never heard of any interference caused by LED lights.

You can find out what is interfering with your remotes by either disconnecting anything with a remote or motion sensor, or by turning off a circuit breaker one at a time until you find which circuit has the problem. You would then find anything on the circuit which causes the problem. OR... you can take it back to Sears or wherever you bought the Chamberlain, and buy a different brand.

According to Genie, they only have rf interference with openers installed close to major airports, and they in fact manufacture DUAL FREQUENCY equipment to defeat this problem, on the rare occasion that it occurs.

I am ripping out my Craftsman and switching to a Genie which operates at 390 mhz.

– www.diyforums.net

I'd assume the condo association doesn't have the power to demand you park elsewhere or relinquish your vehicle. They need to install different openers at the association's expense.

Answer 5

Garage door openers can be finicky things. Our garage door opener works usually pretty well. But every so often, it will refuse to open when you hit the car transmitter from outside and even the outside mounted wireless keypad. And sometimes it will even refuse to close from outside. The only thing I've found is that it seems to happen most often when its a bit colder and humid/damp/rain.

The car in the shared driveway is a big hunk of metal and glass that could easily interfere with a RF signal, especially one like a garage remote. Does your car by any chance have a heated front window (the type which is a heating element deposited all over your windshield). That could easily block the signal.

As for the suggestion that your car is continuously sending remote signals....those in car remote learning systems typically have lights that blink when the remote is transmitting.

Honestly, I think the best solution is to make sure the batteries in the remote are fresh, and swap out the garage door opener with another brand.

Answer 6

It's theoretically possible (but pretty unlikely) that your car is reflecting the signal in such a way that it could cancel out the original signal.

315MHz has a wavelength of about 1 meter (3 foot). If the distance from opener to the sensor is (for example) a whole number of wave lengths, and the distance from the opener to your car and then to the sensor is half a wave length more than a whole number, then the echo will arrive out of phase with the original signal and cancel it.

The test for this would be to move the opener a foot or so closer to your car or the sensor, but not both. Really, it's only likely to be noticed if your neighbour always stands in the same place.