Dear Car Talk: My 2017 Jeep Cherokee has remote entry using a key fob. After locking my Jeep with the remote, it unlocks by itself, and the headlights turn on. After a few weeks of this, the lock button on my remote no longer worked.

Any idea what could be wrong? There are no service lights on. Thank you. — Javier

I don’t know what’s wrong, but I would suggest you investigate the simplest thing first, Javier. And that would be your keyless remote, or key fob.

You say when it unlocks by itself, the headlights come on. That is normal unlocking behavior. If everything were working correctly and you came back to your car the next morning and found it still locked, when you pressed the unlock button on the remote, the doors would unlock and the headlights would come on. So something is signaling it to “unlock.”

I’m wondering if the remote control itself is malfunctioning. If the metal contacts of the unlock button have been damaged, and the remote is unlocking the car, even when you don’t press the unlock button, that could explain both the behavior and the fact that the remote stopped working.

If it’s continually sending an unlock signal, the battery in the key fob would wear down after a few weeks and would stop working entirely.

How could the remote get damaged? Let me count the ways. You dropped it, stepped on it, sat on it, ran it over, closed it in the door. Who knows?

If you’re certain you’ve done none of these things but have teenage kids who drive, see the list above again.

The easiest way to test this theory is to go excavating in your kitchen junk drawer and find the second remote that came with the vehicle. Take the battery out of the main remote (just to be sure it’s not emitting a signal during this test), and put a new battery in your second remote to make sure it’s at full power.

If the locks work normally with the second remote, the car is fine, and all you need is a replacement remote. If the problem continues with a second remote, then there’s an electronic issue with the car itself, and the first thing I’d look at is the TIPM. That stands for Total Integrated Power Module. Or Take an Infinite Pile of my Money.

A TIPM, if that’s the problem, can cost over $1,000 to replace. But there are shops online that will sell you a rebuilt one and take yours in a trade in, for a quarter of that price.

But take it a step at a time, Javier. Good luck.

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