Don't use your 4 ways all day

[oldngray]

My center kept the keys in the lockbox and wouldn't tell drivers the combination. If a driver needed the key he had to call in and ask the shop, wasting at least 20 minutes. Then the combination would be changed so the whole procedure would need to be repeated the next time. UPS did it that way to force the drivers to use fobs because otherwise many would have used the key if possible.

 

[toonertoo]

Automotive director for New England tried telling a bunch of guys to turn off their headlights at each stop at night. We laughed.

Our head of auto was in the building one night a while back, and he yelled to shut off all those damn lights and flashers, it looks like Christmas out here.
We just told him. Have your people talk to our people. Our people told us to do this.

 

[oldngray]

Our head of auto was in the building one night a while back, and he yelled to shut off all those damn lights and flashers, it looks like Christmas out here.
We just told him. Have your people talk to our people. Our people told us to do this.

My auto dept tried to tell drivers to stop using lights but we just ignored it. Its a safety issue. What do you think would happen if someone hit you because they didn't see you?

 

[Richard Harrow]

We never had these problems with the old 1970's and 1980's GMC's.

Sounds like UPS was sold a bad bill of goods... again.

 

[PT Car Washer]

My center kept the keys in the lockbox and wouldn't tell drivers the combination. If a driver needed the key he had to call in and ask the shop, wasting at least 20 minutes. Then the combination would be changed so the whole procedure would need to be repeated the next time. UPS did it that way to force the drivers to use fobs because otherwise many would have used the key if possible.

All of our lock boxes have the same combination. 1 2 3 4 5 and sometimes 1 2 3 4. That way when the drivers take the FOB home with them we can still move the trucks to park for preload.

 

[TooTechie]

All of our lock boxes have the same combination.

Not a good idea to post that on a public website

 

[PT Car Washer]

Not a good idea to post that on a public website

I don't think the public even has a clue about what we are talking about.

 

[dragracer66]

It can happen. Thought I was broke down. Was told to pull the keys out of the box and it fired right up. That being said, knowing how an ignition system works I don't get why it would need more power for keyless than keys. You click your fob, it sends a signal to the truck that it is safe to arm the switch, and in theory, the switch works the same as turning the key. It completes the circuit for the starter and current is sent to it. And the weird thing is the receiver that gets its signal from the fob still functions with a low battery. It will arm the switch. Green light flashing and all. It just wont crank. Only thing I can think of is some odd failsafe built into the system so it doesn't function with a low voltage battery. Something along the lines that it would be better for the truck not to start with a gimped battery to only have it fail later on down the road? I really can't figure why they behave this way.

Yes if the fob is weak it wont work. But Sober was talking about the truck battery. The truck uses the same voltage to start if was going through the keyless or not. There is no difference.....

 

[soberups]

Yes if the fob is weak it wont work. But Sober was talking about the truck battery. The truck uses the same voltage to start if was going through the keyless or not. There is no difference.....

Not true.

On more than one occasion I have had a low-battery situation (winter morning, cold, preloader had dome lights on all night) where the keyless system was not getting enough voltage from the package car batteries to activate the necessary relays, and the car wouldn't start. I used the key, and it fired right up. After the engine ran for a few minutes, the keyless system worked fine. Our mechanic confirmed that it was indeed a low voltage issue so you can take his word for it and not mine.

 

[Tough Guy]

Man that's scary. There's one place in particular I deliver to, a large medical campus where in park out front and leave my flashers on for obvious reasons. Sometimes I'm on the campus for 45 minutes if I have to keep going back to load up.

I guess that's a long time for the truck to be sitting there with the flashers on. But as a previous poster said, I can't imagine not having them on and god forbid someone did hit the vehicle.

 

[joeboodog]

Again, a no win situation. Leave your flashers on and the battery runs down resulting in a road call, it's your fault. Don't use your flashers and you get hit while parked, it's your fault.

 

[ZQXC]

My center kept the keys in the lockbox and wouldn't tell drivers the combination. If a driver needed the key he had to call in and ask the shop, wasting at least 20 minutes. Then the combination would be changed so the whole procedure would need to be repeated the next time. UPS did it that way to force the drivers to use fobs because otherwise many would have used the key if possible.

When we finally went to the fobs, they never even removed the keys from the split ring. Key and fob together everyday.

 

[soberups]

When we finally went to the fobs, they never even removed the keys from the split ring. Key and fob together everyday.

Which is how it should be. Why go to the trouble and expense of installing lock boxes? Leave a key on the ring, and if something happens to the fob or keyless system the driver can revert back to key ignition for the day and write the car up that night.

 

[BrownArmy]

Yesterday I got in the truck, ready to go, hit the fob, all I got was click-click-click.

Lame-o: battery dead enough to not start the truck, I need a new battery.

Someone drove it over the weekend, so who knows.

Took the mechanics twenty-six minutes to get to the building and change the battery.

Double lame-o.

Barely got my air off...

 

[dragracer66]

Not true.

On more than one occasion I have had a low-battery situation (winter morning, cold, preloader had dome lights on all night) where the keyless system was not getting enough voltage from the package car batteries to activate the necessary relays, and the car wouldn't start. I used the key, and it fired right up. After the engine ran for a few minutes, the keyless system worked fine. Our mechanic confirmed that it was indeed a low voltage issue so you can take his word for it and not mine.

Nothing against your mechanic. But he is dead wrong. The voltage signal going from the keyless to the starter is the same as if you were turning the key to start it. All your doing by using the keyless is bypassing the key switch through a relay. There is no added voltage supplied by the keyless. The keyless doesn't have its own battery pack to start it. The only extra battery is in the fob. Think of it this way. If you have a remote start on your personal car and you try to remotely start it and all you get is a dead battery click. You are still going to get the same click when you put in the key to start it. There is no difference and its basically the same setup, but instead when you hit the button it lights up the rocker switch on the dash instead of going to the starter....

 

[UPSmechanicinblue]

Nothing against your mechanic. But he is dead wrong. The voltage signal going from the keyless to the starter is the same as if you were turning the key to start it. All your doing by using the keyless is bypassing the key switch through a relay. There is no added voltage supplied by the keyless. The keyless doesn't have its own battery pack to start it. The only extra battery is in the fob. Think of it this way. If you have a remote start on your personal car and you try to remotely start it and all you get is a dead battery click. You are still going to get the same click when you put in the key to start it. There is no difference and its basically the same setup, but instead when you hit the button it lights up the rocker switch on the dash instead of going to the starter....

dragracer66 is correct, when car battery is low enough the keyless systems goes inactive.(The box inside the cargo area on the bulk head wall with the green flashing light) Also when you use the start button on the dash extra relays are used to activate the starter. When you use the ignition key on to crank the engine you bypass the extra relays. This has been seen at our center just the extra power used to start an engine the starter will just do a constant clicking, but when key used it will just barely roll the engine over enough to start.

 

[soberups]

dragracer66 is correct, when car battery is low enough the keyless systems goes inactive.(The box inside the cargo area on the bulk head wall with the green flashing light) Also when you use the start button on the dash extra relays are used to activate the starter. When you use the ignition key on to crank the engine you bypass the extra relays. This has been seen at our center just the extra power used to start an engine the starter will just do a constant clicking, but when key used it will just barely roll the engine over enough to start.

This was the point I was trying to make that dragracer66 disagreed with. Weak batteries in the package car can disable the keyless start while still having enough juice left to turn the starter over if the key is used.

 

[UPSmechanicinblue]

This was the point I was trying to make that dragracer66 disagreed with. Weak batteries in the package car can disable the keyless start while still having enough juice left to turn the starter over if the key is used.

if you ever get to this point you are for sure on the border line of a start or no start

 

[soberups]

Nothing against your mechanic. But he is dead wrong. The voltage signal going from the keyless to the starter is the same as if you were turning the key to start it. All your doing by using the keyless is bypassing the key switch through a relay. There is no added voltage supplied by the keyless. The keyless doesn't have its own battery pack to start it. The only extra battery is in the fob. Think of it this way. If you have a remote start on your personal car and you try to remotely start it and all you get is a dead battery click. You are still going to get the same click when you put in the key to start it. There is no difference and its basically the same setup, but instead when you hit the button it lights up the rocker switch on the dash instead of going to the starter....

If this is the case, then why is it that the keyless wont work but the key will? And why is keyless operation then restored once the battery has been recharged by running the engine for a couple of minutes? This happened to me 3 different times in a 2 week period during the winter, and it was resolved once the mechanic replaced both batteries in my package car.

 

[Indecisi0n]

I'd rather kill the battery on a daily basis then chance not using them and getting hit by a car.