[MMAD849]

2019 Insight EX:

Walk-away door locks worked perfectly for 3 months. Wife took the car on a road-trip, and it would not "walk-away" lock for her (with her remote). Now it doesn't work for mine either.
All buttons/functions on the key fob work fine (lock, unlock). If locked "manually", it still senses the remote at walk-up and unlocks at the handle touch and also locks at the handle with touch.


I went to dealer and they "haven't heard of this ..."
The Service Manager wants me to bring it in (of course) but suggested the "System Reset" (Factory Data Reset, if I remember correctly) and/or pulling the battery cables.
It appears from what I've read so far that the battery cable "fix" is not a true solution (but get's you out of their hair for a while)

Research shows that this is an issue with other Honda models and years.
So ... am I in for a hassle, or what ?


Other than this issue ... I love this car! It took the place of a 2010 Insight, which I bought new also (and handed down to college-bound son with 145k).
This Gen 3 is a serious upgrade !!

 

[iflylo01]

Since it will work again once the car gets reset, does this mean it is a software and not a hardware problem?


Does it warrant a recall from Honda if others report this problem? Seems like fixing the codes on the car's computer will fix this problem if it's a software error.


They did it for the back-up camera.

 

[iflylo01]

Other than this issue ... I love this car! It took the place of a 2010 Insight, which I bought new also (and handed down to college-bound son with 145k).

Any repairs to the powertrain of your 2010?

 

[MMAD849]

Nope. Had an Air Conditioning Compressor Clutch take a dump, and the Assist Battery doesn't seem to have the same 'capacity' as new, but that's all for problems. (lucky ??)
I too, wondered about the longevity of this powertrain, but I haven't had problems (knock on wood).

I've done all the maintenance myself, so I KNOW what condition it's in.

 

[hasarad]

You've probably done this, btu I thought I'd ask just in case. Have you gone into the settings and verified that walk-away auto-lock is still enabled.

I had issues with settings following the rear camera recall and needed to go back and reset everything again.

Good luck! Please post back with what fixed the issue once you have it sorted out.

 

[MMAD849]

umm... yes (intelligence not offended) hehe. Actually, I turned it OFF / ON multiple times, just to see if it would "pay attention" NOPE. See follow-up post ... This just got weird..

 

[MMAD849]

UPDATE - and Things Got WEIRDer ...

How about this for a head-scratcher:
If the last door closed is ANY door BUT the driver's door, I get the immediate "beep" (which is correct) AND it locks fine when I walk-away.
It will NOT beep nor will it lock AT ALL on walk-away if the Driver's door is the last one closed.

Oh, but it gets better ...
With key fob IN the car; Walked away - approx 10 seconds ... it LOCKED! Yep, the key fob's inside.
Even better ...
Key fob IN HAND; walked away with the Driver door OPEN - 10 seconds ... it LOCKED! :^O Yep, with the door OPEN!


Also found something else yesterday ...

If I leave the headlights ON, power down, and open the driver's door - there should be a warning chime. Well, that doesn't work either!

So, I tried this combination tonight ... Lights on, fob in the car, closed the driver's door ... 10 sec ... Locked, WITH headlights ON. I'd be screwed.

So, it appears that something about the Driver's Door position is the culprit: a switch or sensor (don't know what is used - but I suspect a SENSOR)


So for now, either I turn the Walk-Away Lock feature off (which I did) or keep the key fob with me at all times.
Going to Dealer with new info - and I took videos.


BTW, I'm an aircraft mechanic ... and we see 'gremins' on aircraft too. :wink:

 

[Aware]

Could very well be a sensor somewhere inside the door panel or maybe even something software related. I doubt that many owners have gone into as much depth exploring the cars built in safety/security systems as you have lol.

 

[hasarad]

I don't know how you'd do it, but it sounds like you need to reboot your car. Seriously - that's messed up.

 

[MMAD849]

THE SOLUTION !!!
The Driver's Door SWITCH on the pillar had come out of the clips that attach it to the plastic housing on the door frame.

Pressed on the "button" (with the flexible rubber cover), and there was 'nothing there'.

Service Manager says "The assembly guys sometimes don't get them firmly seated in the clip, and they'll pop out."
So, he popped out an access plug to get at an 8mm bolt that holds the housing to the door frame, fished the switch back out - it was inside the door frame (wasn't hard).
FIRMLY snap it back in the retaining clips, and VIOLA ... everything works.
It took only a matter of minutes (and the Service Manager is the person who actually did it !!, right in the check-in line.)
I think he was happy to get me out of there, because I wasn't happy that I was balking at them charging me $40 a day for a rental while they try to figure it out.
I brought (written out) all that troubleshooting I did (I did most of their job for them).
They guy at the check-in counter was only interested in opening the ticket, and "going to see if we have a rental available".
I sent him to the Manager - I wanted a free loaner while they fix my brand new vehicle.
When the Svc. Mgr. read my print-out (it took him a few minutes to digest it - and he saw how much it had already put into it), he came right out with the solution.
Funny, last week they "hadn't heard of any problems" :^| Yeah, sure ...
And in hindsight ... I guess that if I had taken the time to check (push on) the switch, and compare to the other doors, I probably would have spotted it right away.
Naaah, that would have been to easy. :^}