Problem with the range for controlling Sunset Cruiser 8676 Does anyone know why the Sunset Cruiser 8676 only works when the antennas are about 12" or closer together? Any farther apart and it doesn't run.

It has fresh batteries. Any help would be appreciated.
I had a 8378-1: Red Beast RC (which is practically the same hardware aside from running on a different frequency) that developed a similar problem shortly after I got it. One day the receiver only worked if the remote's antenna was about 2 inches away from the receiver's antenna.

I got it replaced, and it was indeed the receiver and not the remote with the problem. I later tried taking the busted one apart to see if it was something obvious I could re-connect, but nothing stood out as being broken.

Unfortunately, I think your problem is hardware failure. I don't know of any easy fixes, but would love to be proven wrong on that.