2021 Rogue SL Keep Having to Touch the Fob to the Start Button

Nissan Rogue forum - Includes Nissan Qashqai and Nissan Dualis as well.
User avatar
Frzninvt
Posts: 99
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:18 am
Car: 2021 AWD Rogue SL w/Premium Package
Champagne Silver
Location: Vermont

Post

Anyone else with a 2021 Rogue getting the touch the fob to the start button message with regularity? It is getting to be annoying. I usually keep the fob in the cup holder which in close proximity to the button. Randomly when I go to start it a message on the dash will say to touch the fob to the start button, what the hell? Any chance it could be due to the fact that I also have the fob to my wife's 2021 Nissan Sentra in the vehicle with me. Just wonder if anyone else happens to be experiencing this. I have an appointment with the dealer on the 14th for the VDC recall so I will mention then but would like to know if anyone else has the issue.


User avatar
Rogue One
Administrator
Posts: 8789
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2011 10:15 pm
Car: 2011 Nissan Rogue SL
2012 Nissan Rogue SL
2012 Honda CR-V LX
2022 Honda Pilot Special Edition
Location: Florida, USA

Post

Frzninvt wrote:
Mon May 03, 2021 2:17 am
Randomly when I go to start it a message on the dash will say to touch the fob to the start button, what the hell? Any chance it could be due to the fact that I also have the fob to my wife's 2021 Nissan Sentra in the vehicle with me.
:welcome:

Just spit ballin' here, but have you tried leaving the wife's key fob in the house to see if that is in fact the cause of your problem?

User avatar
VStar650CL
Technical Expert
Posts: 8291
Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:25 pm
Car: 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL
2004 Nissan Altima 2.5 S

Post

Frzninvt wrote:
Mon May 03, 2021 2:17 am
Anyone else with a 2021 Rogue getting the touch the fob to the start button message with regularity? It is getting to be annoying. I usually keep the fob in the cup holder which in close proximity to the button. Randomly when I go to start it a message on the dash will say to touch the fob to the start button, what the hell? Any chance it could be due to the fact that I also have the fob to my wife's 2021 Nissan Sentra in the vehicle with me. Just wonder if anyone else happens to be experiencing this. I have an appointment with the dealer on the 14th for the VDC recall so I will mention then but would like to know if anyone else has the issue.
If you haven't changed fob batteries yet, try that first. The ones that came with the car have been alive since it left the assembly plant, so you can't know how run-down they may be. When the car asks you to touch the button, it means the inside antennas aren't getting a clean signal from a fob and the BCM needs to use the RFID Reader built into the button. The RFID system will work even if the fob battery is missing. It's there specifically for emergency startup and will usually work even if the fob has been drowned.

There were some instances with early I-keys of crosstalk between keys confusing the BCM, but we really haven't seen any of that since about 2010. I'll keep my eyes open for bulletins since the gen3 Rogues are a brand new design, but I doubt that's the issue. The vast majority of instances which can't be attributed to low batteries turn out to be interference from something either plugged into the car or carried on the persons of the driver or passengers. Some smartphones seem to be much more prone than others to interfere, and that's really a crapshoot with no good answers. It seems to be a matter of individual phones and not particular brands or models. Also, I believe the center antenna on the gen3's is in the same location as the gen2's, directly under the radio. The gen2's were particularly susceptible to interference from plug-in hardware because of that, and it may apply equally to gen3's.

User avatar
Frzninvt
Posts: 99
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:18 am
Car: 2021 AWD Rogue SL w/Premium Package
Champagne Silver
Location: Vermont

Post

I put a fresh 2032 battery in it. You would think they would make them easier to change rather than having to mar up the plastic even with precision mini screwdrivers. We will see how that goes. Never had a single isssue in my 2018. That and I will try just the single fob in the vehicle even though I really don't think that should matter. Thanks for the tips. Still wondering if anyone else with a 2021 has had the issue.

Joeshome2
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Mar 02, 2021 10:35 am
Car: 2021 Nissan Rogue Platinum

Post

I have only had my Rogue since Feb. 26 no FOB problems. What is the VDC recall?

User avatar
VStar650CL
Technical Expert
Posts: 8291
Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:25 pm
Car: 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL
2004 Nissan Altima 2.5 S

Post

Frzninvt wrote:
Mon May 03, 2021 1:39 pm
I put a fresh 2032 battery in it. You would think they would make them easier to change rather than having to mar up the plastic even with precision mini screwdrivers. We will see how that goes. Never had a single issue in my 2018. That and I will try just the single fob in the vehicle even though I really don't think that should matter. Thanks for the tips.
You're most welcome. The fobs are easier to split if you remove the hard key first, then there are two pry-slots underneath that don't show any dents when the hard key is back in. I can't prove it, but my feeling about the phones is that it has something to do with the seed codes built into the BCM, because I've had several customers with interference issues whose BCM was replaced for other reasons and the problem either improved or vanished. Since those codes are unique to each BCM, I suspect it has something to do with a particular phone transmitting something close enough to that particular BCM's expected frames to confuse the BCM. Changing antennas never seems to affect things.

User avatar
Frzninvt
Posts: 99
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:18 am
Car: 2021 AWD Rogue SL w/Premium Package
Champagne Silver
Location: Vermont

Post

Joeshome2 wrote:
Mon May 03, 2021 1:50 pm
I have only had my Rogue since Feb. 26 no FOB problems. What is the VDC recall?
P1A01 Recall check with your dealer it is not highly advertised.

User avatar
Frzninvt
Posts: 99
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:18 am
Car: 2021 AWD Rogue SL w/Premium Package
Champagne Silver
Location: Vermont

Post

Replaced the battery in the fob and have come to the conclusion that the phone is causing the issue. If I place my phone on the charging pad prior to trying to start the Rogue I intermittently get the error. Then if I remove the phone it works fine. So I have to wait and place my phone on the charging pad after I start it up. I wonder if any Platinum Rogue owner's have that issue?

User avatar
VStar650CL
Technical Expert
Posts: 8291
Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:25 pm
Car: 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL
2004 Nissan Altima 2.5 S

Post

Frzninvt wrote:
Tue May 18, 2021 1:25 pm
Replaced the battery in the fob and have come to the conclusion that the phone is causing the issue. If I place my phone on the charging pad prior to trying to start the Rogue I intermittently get the error. Then if I remove the phone it works fine. So I have to wait and place my phone on the charging pad after I start it up. I wonder if any Platinum Rogue owner's have that issue?
Interesting, I'll have to look into that. There's a lot of "how do you do" communication between the phone and pad when the car first powers up. With the in-car I-key antenna less than a foot away, it's certainly plausible that the burst of "boot up" communication might be interfering with fob transmissions. I doubt it's the actual "charging broadcast" causing problems or you'd be getting "no key" messages popping up all the time. If you want to try an experiment, shape a piece of tinfoil to cover all but the back of your phone that contacts the pad. That won't block the howdies but it will reflect them and force them to travel a different path off the floor of the car, away from the I-key antenna. If the problem disappears it will validate the cause, and then we can see if a well-placed tinfoil reflector near the I-key antenna can eliminate it.

firebirdude
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2021 11:27 am
Car: 2021 Rogue Platinum Blue/Black

Post

I've never had that alert..... though my wireless charger hasn't worked since day 1 in my Platinum. And yes, it's listed as being equipped.

That is the type of alert that happens when the fob battery is low though.


Return to “Rogue Forum”