Our 300M's "HomeLink" (garage-door control) feeatures worked fine for a
long time but now seems to be losing its "oomph": even with the front of
the car almost touching the garage door we can't open the door with the
button in the car, but it still works with the remote that came with the
opener at a considerable distance. When the car is *in* the garage, the
buttons work OK.

Any history of the HomeLink modules' output power declining?

Perce

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Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

Our 300M's "HomeLink" (garage-door control) feeatures worked fine for a
long time but now seems to be losing its "oomph": even with the front of
the car almost touching the garage door we can't open the door with the button in the car, but it still works with the remote that came with the opener at a considerable distance. When the car is *in* the garage, the buttons work OK.

Any history of the HomeLink modules' output power declining?

The homelink buttons in my '00 300m still working on the same overhead
garage door opener, no change in working distance.

I posted your issue over at allpar, a few responses but nothing
specific. I assume you haven't changed the door opener unit.

No TSB's noted for it.

Do you have sunroof? Any possibility of leaks?

You should be able to drop the overhead console down and have a look at
the homelink unit. Might be able to identify the antenna, see if
there's a bad connection, bad solder joint, etc. Maybe even lengthen
the antenna?

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On 12/26/2017 09:11 PM, MoPar Man wrote:

Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

Our 300M's "HomeLink" (garage-door control) feeatures worked fine for
a long time but now seems to be losing its "oomph": even with the
front of the car almost touching the garage door we can't open the
door with the button in the car, but it still works with the remote
that came with the opener at a considerable distance. When the car is
*in* the garage, the buttons work OK.

Any history of the HomeLink modules' output power declining?

The homelink buttons in my '00 300m still working on the same overhead
garage door opener, no change in working distance.

I posted your issue over at allpar, a few responses but nothing
specific.  I assume you haven't changed the door opener unit.

No TSB's noted for it.

Do you have sunroof?  Any possibility of leaks?

You should be able to drop the overhead console down and have a look at
the homelink unit.  Might be able to identify the antenna, see if
there's a bad connection, bad solder joint, etc.  Maybe even lengthen
the antenna?

No, I haven't changed the door opener.

No sunroof -- that's why our 300M was custom built: I couldn't get one
from stock with side airbags without a sunroof that I didn't want and a
more expensive sound system.

I've dropped the overhead console and see no sign of an antenna at all,
so I assume that it's totally internal. I did see that there was a TSB
for some 300Ms (not sure which year), the fix for which was to install a separate -- or maybe just longer -- antenna, but I don't know the
details, and I can't see any connection points. IAC, it *used to* work
just fine.

I didn't manage to unplug the connector from the wiring harness to the
EVIC module, but I think I managed to jiggle it enough to have improved
any flaky electrical connections. (I also found that the map-light bulbs
are very dark, so I'll replace them while I'm about it; the only place
nearby that has them is NAPA: I can't find them at AutoZone or Advance
Auto.)

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

I've dropped the overhead console and see no sign of an antenna at all,
so I assume that it's totally internal. I did see that there was a TSB
for some 300Ms (not sure which year), the fix for which was to install a separate -- or maybe just longer -- antenna, but I don't know the
details, and I can't see any connection points. IAC, it *used to* work
just fine.

I have a fuzzy recollection that there was a keyfob range issue with
some 300m's. The keyfob (lock/unlock, trunk) function is, I assume,
handled by a separate radio system, and maybe there was a TSB for that.

I didn't manage to unplug the connector from the wiring harness to the
EVIC module, but I think I managed to jiggle it enough to have improved
any flaky electrical connections. (I also found that the map-light bulbs
are very dark, so I'll replace them while I'm about it; the only place
nearby that has them is NAPA: I can't find them at AutoZone or Advance
Auto.)

Did the re-seating of the electrical connectors give any improvement to
the homelink range?

Here is the latest, best suggestion from allpar so far:

=================
The EVIC may be going bad. You can pick them up for like $20-30 shipped
from the Facebook group 300M Intrepid Concorde LHS LH Parts For Sale -
Wanted - Trade (at https://www.facebook.com/groups/156286451246784/ ) so
if it's bad it's cheap and if not you can re-sell it for only the cost
of shipping and the 5 mins it takes to swap it.
==================

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 12/27/2017 08:46 PM, MoPar Man wrote:

Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

I've dropped the overhead console and see no sign of an antenna at
all, so I assume that it's totally internal. I did see that there was
a TSB for some 300Ms (not sure which year), the fix for which was to
install a separate -- or maybe just longer -- antenna, but I don't
know the details, and I can't see any connection points. IAC, it *used
to* work just fine.

I have a fuzzy recollection that there was a keyfob range issue with
some 300m's.  The keyfob (lock/unlock, trunk) function is, I assume,
handled by a separate radio system, and maybe there was a TSB for that.

I didn't manage to unplug the connector from the wiring harness to the
EVIC module, but I think I managed to jiggle it enough to have
improved any flaky electrical connections. (I also found that the
map-light bulbs are very dark, so I'll replace them while I'm about
it; the only place nearby that has them is NAPA: I can't find them at
AutoZone or Advance Auto.)

Did the re-seating of the electrical connectors give any improvement to
the homelink range?

Here is the latest, best suggestion from allpar so far:

=================
The EVIC may be going bad. You can pick them up for like $20-30 shipped
from the Facebook group 300M Intrepid Concorde LHS LH Parts For Sale -
Wanted - Trade (at https://www.facebook.com/groups/156286451246784/ ) so
if it's bad it's cheap and if not you can re-sell it for only the cost
of shipping and the 5 mins it takes to swap it.
==================

I ran the car back about 20ft. from the garage door and was able to
close the door using the HomeLink button but then could not open it
again even when the car was almost touching the garage door. I did power
down the opener and powered it up again, but that didn't make any
difference.


I don't see any EVIC modules listed on that FB group. Is it just a
matter of asking?

There's a pull-your-own-part place a couple of miles away, but (a) they
don't have any '02 models, and I think earlier (and later?) were
different; and (b) I don't see such items on their price list, so I have
no idea what they would charge.

Perce

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

=================
The EVIC may be going bad. You can pick them up for like $20-30
shipped from the Facebook group 300M Intrepid Concorde LHS LH Parts
For Sale - Wanted - Trade (at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/156286451246784/ ) so if it's bad it's
cheap and if not you can re-sell it for only the cost of shipping and
the 5 mins it takes to swap it.
==================

I ran the car back about 20ft. from the garage door and was able to
close the door using the HomeLink button but then could not open it
again even when the car was almost touching the garage door. I did power
down the opener and powered it up again, but that didn't make any
difference.

I don't see any EVIC modules listed on that FB group. Is it just a
matter of asking?

I don't ever go to Fecebook (I have all fecebook hosts/domains blocked
in my HOSTS file) so I can't say what they're all about.

But if you go to ebay and search for EVIC 300m you'll see a few dozen
for sale. Apparently they were the same units for some Jeeps too?

Prices are from $30 to $100. I'd pick one up from ebay if I were you -
the cheapest that looks like the right one.

Also -> Note this.

Some have suggested that the type of lights you have installed in the
garage door motor unit will affect reception - although I would think it
would affect the unit's remote button as well as the Homelink radio.

Try removing the lights and see if you get your range back. The idea is
that incandecsent bulbs cause little or no interference, but CFL's and
LED's can (or do).

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 12/29/2017 09:18 AM, MoPar Man wrote:

Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

=================
The EVIC may be going bad. You can pick them up for like $20-30
shipped from the Facebook group 300M Intrepid Concorde LHS LH Parts
For Sale - Wanted - Trade (at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/156286451246784/ ) so if it's bad
it's cheap and if not you can re-sell it for only the cost of
shipping and the 5 mins it takes to swap it.
==================

I ran the car back about 20ft. from the garage door and was able to
close the door using the HomeLink button but then could not open it
again even when the car was almost touching the garage door. I did
power down the opener and powered it up again, but that didn't make
any difference.

I don't see any EVIC modules listed on that FB group. Is it just a
matter of asking?

I don't ever go to Fecebook (I have all fecebook hosts/domains blocked
in my HOSTS file) so I can't say what they're all about.

But if you go to ebay and search for EVIC 300m you'll see a few dozen
for sale.  Apparently they were the same units for some Jeeps too?

Prices are from $30 to $100.  I'd pick one up from ebay if I were you -
the cheapest that looks like the right one.

Also ->  Note this.

Some have suggested that the type of lights you have installed in the
garage door motor unit will affect reception - although I would think it would affect the unit's remote button as well as the Homelink radio.

Try removing the lights and see if you get your range back.  The idea is
 that incandecsent bulbs cause little or no interference, but CFL's and LED's can (or do).

I've got regular incandescent bulbs in the garage door opener.

But now it seems as though the problem might be temperature related: a
couple of days ago we had much higher temperatures, and the HomeLink
thing seemed to work much better.

Perce

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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