Fob in pocket or 'ignition'?

[slmcdonald7]

Hi all,
My wife and I recently received our new Prius (package 7) and I have a question I thought you all could help with.
The dealership where we bought our Prius was staffed with some of the dumbest people I have ever met, and as such, the only correct information they told us about our car was that it was a Prius, all other verbal specifications were wrong.
Would anyone know:
We were told that with the package 7 you had to insert your key into the "ignition" in order to drive the car, and we did so until we figured that we would try it without, just to see what happened. To our surprise, the package 7 didn't need the key in the ignition, just in the car.
Now I am curious... why even have the ignition? Does putting your fob in the ignition have any benefits? Does it decrease your fob battery life to drive with it in your pocket?

Any and all help is apprecieated,
Stephen

[efusco]

The fob slot is a back-up for the SKS (smart Key system). Should the battery in your fob die you can still drive the car with the fob in the slot. Also, it's often easier to use the valet instruction cars and tell the valet or car wash guy or whoever to just put the key in the slot rather than go through the intricacies of the SKS.

I don't think it extends battery life to use the slot, but maybe it would a little over a long period of time. Still, the convenience of the SKS makes it worth replacing a battery a little earlier worth it. Take that from someone who's been without his smart system in his Prius for a week now and abhors it!! BTW, you do know you don't need to unlock or lock the car with the fob--right?

[paprius4030]

Just remember when you take your car in for service to put the fob in the slot instead of walking away with the fob in your pocket like i did LOL.

[Batavier]

Too bad the battery doesn't get charged when it's in the slot. Certain BMWs have that feature.

[bookrats]

Also, just to be clear (and pedantic): Prius models without the Smart Key system do need to put the fob in the ignition.

BTW -- I'm renting a non-smart key Prius this weekend, and it appears (though I need to research this better) that approaching the car and pressing the "unlock" button on the fob does not unlock the trunk. I have to open the driver door, do "unlock all", and then go back and open the trunk.

I am probably missing something, but if I'm not -- that makes the SKS system worth its price right there! (My on-order AM #7 (or #4, whatever) Prius has SKS.)

[jimofdg]

You guys are great! I had just posted this issue on another board.

My first Prius demo (to non-relatives) was Wednesday night, to an engineer. He immediately stumped me with the issue of whether I would prolong the smart key's battery if I put it in the slot.

I wanted to say the car and key stop communicating once the car starts. We know this from the people who have waved goodbye to a spouse with the key in their pocket (not the spouse's). The car continues to run until the marooned spouse shuts it off.

But when does the smart key's battery go to sleep?

[Marg]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bookrats\";p=\"41438)</div>

Also, just to be clear (and pedantic): Prius models without the Smart Key system do need to put the fob in the ignition.

BTW -- I'm renting a non-smart key Prius this weekend, and it appears (though I need to research this better) that approaching the car and pressing the \"unlock\" button on the fob does not unlock the trunk.  I have to open the driver door, do \"unlock all\", and then go back and open the trunk.

I am probably missing something, but if I'm not -- that makes the SKS system worth its price right there!  (My on-order AM #7 (or #4, whatever) Prius has SKS.)[/b]

In our car (Canadian basic model) pressing on the "unlock" picture once gets the driver's door open. Pressing it twice quickly opens all doors, including the hatch.

[efusco]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jimofdg\";p=\"41442)</div>

You guys are great! I had just posted this issue on another board.

My first Prius demo (to non-relatives) was Wednesday night, to an engineer. He immediately stumped me with the issue of whether I would prolong the smart key's battery if I put it in the slot.

I wanted to say the car and key stop communicating once the car starts. We know this from the people who have waved goodbye to a spouse with the key in their pocket (not the spouse's). The car continues to run until the marooned spouse shuts it off.

But when does the smart key's battery go to sleep?[/b]

AFAIK, the smart key's battery emits a continuous signal...it never 'sleeps'. When it is inside the car the Prius internal oscillator will stop sensing for it after about 10 minutes.

What I'm not certain about is if there is increased drain on the fob while it is 'communicating' or not...I suspect that it does not...rather it emits continuous signal regardless.

[bookrats]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marg\";p=\"41444)</div>

In our car (Canadian basic model) pressing on the \"unlock\" picture once gets the driver's door open.  Pressing it twice quickly opens all doors, including the hatch.
[/b]

I'm sure that'll do it, Marg -- thank you for the information! (Doesn't make sense to not be able to unlock it without SKS.)

[efusco]

I'd like to correct/update my response:

Ok, I looked this up in the technical manuals.

When you press the "POWER" button in the Prius the 'room oscillator' turns on seeking the transmitter (your fob). Once the signal hits the transmitter the transmitter/fob transmits it's security code back to the Prius.

This is a one time transmission and thus only one brief drain on the transmitter/fob.

If a transmitter/fob is within range of the 'door oscillators it's a different scenario. Where the 'room oscillator' shuts off once it recieves the code from the fob, the 'door oscillators' remain on continuously while the doors are locked. Once unlocked it'll stop sensing. Thus, if the fob is in range of the active door oscillator and remains there it will continuously transmit the security code data until the battery drains or the door is unlocked and thus can drain the fob battery much more quickly than otherwise.

A small aside. The door oscillator sensing frequency can be changed from the default 300hz to 150 or 900. That's the number of times per minute it sends out a code looking for your smart key fob. The higher the rate the faster it drains you 12v battery. Thus, again, why you should turn off the SKS when you'll be away from your car....now, however, I wonder if it matters if you're leaving your car unlocked if it makes any difference since the door oscillators should be off if the doors are unlocked.

Another aside. The hatch oscillator is only activated by depressing the button in the handle on the hatch.