Allpar Forums banner

Known issues with Home-Link (garage door) transmitter?

6K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  ImperialCrown 
#1 ·
Any known issues with the overhead console home-link transmitter unit that would cause a reduced range? Electronics going bad? Antenna connection? (where is the antenna for the home-link, and how long is it, can it be enhanced?) This is for a 2002 300m.
 
#2 ·
Looking in the service manual, the Universal transmitter (Homelink) is serviced as part of the OTIS (overhead travel information system).
No TSBs. Nothing is serviced outside of replacement, except erasing and reprogramming garage door opener codes. There may be bad solder joints if you could get to them. The antenna should be a short piece of conductor.
You could drop down the overhead console for a look to see if you can see anything wrong?
 
#3 ·
If you have a newer garage door opener, the older homelink might not be compatible with it. My neighbor runs a garage door company and I was complaining to him that the homelink in our '07 Commander doesn't work with the openers in the new(ish) garage but works with the old garage. He explained the electronics in newer openers are not compatible with older Homelink. I don't know anything about opener models and years affected though.
 
#4 ·
I thought about that as well, but I figured that it would either work or not work at all. The diagnostics in the service manual are only for an inoperative opener, not a reduced transmitter range.
Does the opener supplied with the door open it from a greater distance than the Homelink does? That might help rule out a door receiver sensitivity issue.
Can the receiver antenna be lengthened or repositioned?
 
#5 ·
I'm asking about this here on behalf of someone else. From what he says, and I don't know if this was an abrupt change or gradual, but even when the car is practically touching the garage door on the outside, the homelink button doesn't work. Meanwhile the garage-door opener remote unit still works at a considerable distance. The homelink button apparently *does* work when the car is inside the garage. So this does seem like a reduced transmit power issue. I've told him to see if he can open the overhead console and get at the homelink electronics and look for a connector problem.
 
#7 ·
Maybe the antenna on the door opener motor is bad. It could easily pick up a signal inside, but if the antenna on the motor is bad, the door and structure could be shielding the motor from the signal from the transmitter.
I have found with my wife's car that the Homelink button has to be pressed longer, by nearly a second, than the transmitter that came with our garage door opener.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tomit
#6 ·
#8 ·
The story so far:

- Garage door opener unit has not been changed.

- 300m no sun roof (so no issue with leaks?)

- Overhead console has been dropped, no sign of antenna. He thinks there was a TSB for some 300m's for an antenna fix, but he doesn't see any connection points for one. I think maybe he is thinking about a key-fob range issue - was there a TSB for that?

- He says he unplugged the wire harness from the EVIC module, and in doing so probably improved any flaky connections. I don't know if any of that made any difference with homelink transmit range.

(I'll tell him about the evic modules for sale as mentioned above)

The hand-held remote unit that came with the garage door opener still works fine from a distance, so it's hard to see how there could be a problem with the receiver / antenna at the opener gearbox.
 
#9 ·
The story so far:

- Garage door opener unit has not been changed.

- 300m no sun roof (so no issue with leaks?)

- Overhead console has been dropped, no sign of antenna. He thinks there was a TSB for some 300m's for an antenna fix, but he doesn't see any connection points for one. I think maybe he is thinking about a key-fob range issue - was there a TSB for that?

- He says he unplugged the wire harness from the EVIC module, and in doing so probably improved any flaky connections. I don't know if any of that made any difference with homelink transmit range.

(I'll tell him about the evic modules for sale as mentioned above)

The hand-held remote unit that came with the garage door opener still works fine from a distance, so it's hard to see how there could be a problem with the receiver / antenna at the opener gearbox.
The transmitter that came with my garage door opener triggers the garage door as soon as I have a line of sight 300 feet away. The Homelink in my wife's car has to be within 150 feet, and even then, sometimes it's more directional. Has always been this way.

And again, I can press my transmitter and before I can lift my finger off the button, it has triggered the motor. With the Homelink, I have to hold it down at least a second, before the LED even flashes and it triggers the motor, even inside the garage. Try having your friend press the button for a longer period of time and watch the LED, and not let up on the button until it flashes the LED a few times. Sometimes people expect instant response when pressing a button, but our experience is that it takes a little longer with the built-in transmitter. And it doesn't have the range of the OEM.
 
#10 ·
The transmitter that came with my LiftMaster door opener has a range about 250' and not line of sight. Will open door before i come around my corner.
Homelink in the '16 Charger is probably 100' max and not consistently.
Oh, and don't use LED bulbs in a LiftMaster. When lights are on they interfere with reception.
 
#11 ·
Really. I have two LED lights in each motor, no issues at all, one year since installation.
 
#12 ·
Some LEDs and CFLs can create intense RFI. It can be from the 'switching' power supply. The FCC doesn't care. I had to hunt them down in my house in order to listen to my AM/SW radios.
Old-fashioned linear power supplies and incandescent bulbs are much quieter.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top