I have searched all the threads and have not found any answers or similar situations to this bizarre problem.

We were headed to the store and my daughter was already in the truck, so being a hot day I decided to remote start the vehicle with the factory FOB so she could cool down. The vehicle started but before I could unlock the doors remotely, she opened the rear passenger door and the alarm went off and the engine shut off. I hit the unlock key on the FOB which stopped the alarm, so I jumped in the truck to start it manually with no success. I hit the power button and the engine wont start, just one click is heard. The truck battery is good, both key FOB batteries are new, but the vehicle message center now says "Key FOB remote disabled start vehicle to reset". The problem is the truck wont start to reset anything.

So here is what I have tried so far.
- Changed batteries (truck and key FOBS)
- Tried jumping the truck
- Tried manual and remote starting from both key FOBS
- Touched key FOB directly to start button
- Unlocked drivers door with metal backup key in hopes the arm would reset
- Disconnected battery for 10 minutes and reconnected
- Checked all fuses
- Checked all forums
- Beat head against wall

Any ideas, suggestions, or prayers gladly accepted.

 

What year and model is your Ram? Did you try locking via the fob, unlocking, opening the door and attempt to start the engine? Also, have you tried just pressing the start button without your foot on the brake like you would to start it?

-Rod

 

Could try unlocking the passenger door with the key, twice.

 

Great suggests and I tried them with no success. And the truck is a 2016 Ram 1500 Crew Cab Laramie with 5.7L.

 

Yep tried that too but it didn't work.

 

OK I was able to diagnose the cause and found a fix.

So apparently when I hit the door unlock button on the key FOB at the same time as the alarm sounded and the engine shutting down, it sent a conflicting code through the Wireless Remote Module at the same time as the alarm controller was sending and receiving codes. This in turn told the vehicle that it was being stollen and locked the ignition module. The key FOBs were then disabled and could only be activate if the engine started manually. Hence the catch 22 situation.

I was able to find a similar situation on another thread but for a pre 2010 Ram 2500 Diesel. Their solution was to unplug the battery, touch the positive and negative cables together for 10 seconds, which apparently drains excess power in the system, and then leave the battery unhooked for 30 minutes. I followed this procedure and plugged the battery back in, hit the power start button, and to my amazement the truck started and both key FOBs were enabled. As it turns out this is a rare event and happens only under ideal conditions with competing modules and apparently requires a small child to initiate.

Thanks again for all the other suggestions. Hopefully no one else will have this happen to them.

 

Wow, that's quite interesting. I'm glad to hear you found a solution, and thank you for following up to help the rest of us out if it happens to us!

-Rod

 

Great! Glad it's fixed and thanks for following up.