I am following this thread closely and I hope as you guys resolve this problem you keep us informed. As an electronics design engineer, I designed several commercial products which used IR controllers. I just spec'ed a pre-built module from a company that specialized in them. A receiver module cost us about $3. It was the entire "front end". That is, it was the photo transistor, the amplifier, the filter and the decoder all in one little package about the size of a sugar cube. In any case, I've a lot of experiene with IR and I've never seen a situation where the receiver became intermittent or de-sensitized by ambient light. They do fail, but that's it, they fail. They stop working completely. In the case of our cars, I'm thinking the problem is something like corroded connectors, cracked solder joints, or salt water damage. The receivers live in a very harsh environment. Water gets in the doors and the IR modules take a hard shock when the door is "slammed" close. I don't have this problem on my car (yet), but I would pull the receiver module and have a real close look at the circuit board and wiring. Auto electronics has to work under the roughest and most extreme conditions. Time will take it's toll.

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