SKS 2006 blinks the signal lights four (4) times when opening door - seems like an overkill?

Hi Bisco and Sam Spade, thanks for the reply.

I measured this morning:
Car on and ready, engine not running,no accessories on: 13.89 V

Car on , engine not running, accessories on: 12.16 V

Accessory mode on (i.e. two presses on the power switch, not ready mode): 11.70 - 11.61 V, stereo at loud volume, headlights on, hazard on. Note headlights are in on, not auto as this turns it off at daylight.

I plugged in my backup battery in parallel, leaving it with the car. Now it seems to work for now.

After this I closed the car and operated the sks to open. Again 4 flashes (at one point it think it may have been five), went back in, close again, went back in, same number of flashes. Left the car for 2 hrs, expecting that should work. Nope, same SKS not working. I checked the backup battery and it's reading full. Unfortunately, I did not measure the voltage as I was in a rush.

It does seem like it needs a certain amount of voltage to work, i.e. higher than, 12.6V? But just doesn't seems to be normal to be that picky.

Do you guys know what runs this SKS system, e.g. ECU, or is there a separate module for it and WHERE might that exactly be. I am inclined to think maybe the supply to that has a big drop in voltage compared to the battery voltage, i.e. high wire resistance, faulty electronics that drops the voltage. If I can locate it, maybe I can find the issue, or I am tempted to just put a boost converter at it's input, they're cheap and widely available these days, I wouldn't imagine it drawing more than a few hundred milliamps on standby?

 

Hey Sam

Will try this again, but I have to set it up, as the car won't open the back hatch without first turning on the car, one of the quirks with this SKS acting up. So I have to open the door manually, turn on the car briefly to open the doors via the door button, turn off the car and measure the voltage. This is what I did last time to measure the voltage with the car off.

The other choice I have is plug in my battery minder overnight via under the hood battery terminals, take it out in the morning, measure the battery to make sure it's over 12.6V, and see if the sks works.

So you see my delimma here. I need patience and time to set it up.

Here's what I haven't told you yet:

The day after I got this car, the only key fob I had was left inside, with the metal key attached to it. It let me close it from the door button. I was pretty relaxed as my other Priuses would never let me close it when the fob is inside. Lo and behold, I realized when I went back inside the house, that I left the key in the cup holder. I had to call CAA the next day, as I didn't had a choice, good thing my brother still has his membership (cancelled mine years ago, testament to Prius reliability ).

I also tried leaving all doors open, just to avoid the hassles of this SKS issue. I come back a few hours later or the next day, all doors are locked. Done it a couple of times

Now I cannot say to people for certain anymore that you can never lock out a Prius

And the troubleshooting continues on...

 

Nope, still doesn't work even with the additional battery hooked up (additional battery showing full charge with its led indicator, though I did not measure the actual voltage...

Any ideas where I can get a service manual, or if someone shared it here, would appreciate a link...tia

That's what I've read somewhere here that there's something under the center console. What I need to know is where's the actual transceiver and / or any controller for the sks.

Has anyone tried opening the center console area and how challenging that might be?

 

So I plugged in my trickle charger, at 1:30 am this morning, left the meter on the battery. It charged the battery. Went to the car, no response whatsoever with the fob blinking when I am close to the doors. So the usual dance of using the metal key, and the long beep when the car is turned on.



The reading above is with the car off, I manually opened the car with the metal key, went around and opened the other doors manually (using the door locks, except the back hatch, can't open that)-and woke up the meter so see what the battery charge is. And there it is.

Pretty sure it's not the battery from the beginning but we need a 100% confirmation.

Now I have to looked elsewhere. I'm still waiting for the other new key fob I bought. But this is also 50/50 chance it's the key.

I really think it's the car losing its memory of the fob or programmed fob. Is there a battery there somewhere that stores the information of the fobs inside the car, ECU, transceiver, etc?

Someone sure knows this more than what little knowledge I have. Anyone?

 

Hey Sam, I think we're splitting hairs here. I am 99% the voltage is not the problem. Electronics used for the SKS should be able to ran at a range of voltage(s). I can understand if there's cut-off level which should be lower, but that would be totally insane if at a few tenths of a volt, say at voltage below 12.6V for example, and suddenly I cannot open my doors (unless the battery cannot deliver enough current / depleted - not the case here for sure). I've ran my 2004 at voltages well below the levels we are measuring, never had any issue once with SKS.

Trying to drain the battery/getting rid of surface charge first (or removing the charger) and trying it out again I think would get us nowhere. And why with the charger connected would make a difference to how the SKS functions - if we suspect that voltage is low, the charger connected should aid in that issue. The power required to run the transceiver is likely a few hundred milliamps - maybe a few amps to unlock the door - but to initiate the response from the fob, and send that command to open the door should be just a few milliamps - but that initiation never happens. I am guessing it will probably ran on a 9Volt battery as well, if everything is in order. I have to move somewhere else to find the issue. I just wish the fob I ordered would come sooner, so I can see for sure if it's the programming, or the fob or whatever. This issue literally comes back a few seconds, maybe a couple of minutes, after the car is turned off after a long drive - which should charge the battery well. Why is that happening/i.e. losing it's memory of the fob is the root cause of all this.

Thanks for your inputs. Will update when there's progress.

 

Hey Bisco, the charger is on almost overnight. If we suspect the voltage is low, having the charger there should aid in that issue, not impede it. I can see your point that running the headlights on for 5 mins to test if the battery is holding up it's end. But I think that's not the issue here. The issue is the car doesn't recognize the fob after as few seconds or a couple of minutes maybe of turning it off. I have to try out another fob, maybe that's the problem. I can't reprogram this only one I have in case it goes awry and I can't start the car anymore, or worse, have nothing to duplicate.

Thanks, see also my response to Sam_Spade.

 

Will try this and will get back when I have the results...

 

Hi I did this tonight, again without success. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Yes! Button is up, not pushed in. Easy to tell since there is a set button for the tpms, which is a momentary switch that's always on the 'up' position.

Nevertheless, whether you use the sks system or not, the car would not open regardless of which system I use. If I leave it on non-sks switch position, it won't open the door with the fob, red led blinks when fob is pressed. And I can lock the doors with the fob inside. Same with SKS, it won't recognize the fob on entry.

This happens about a minute of turning off the car. If you operate it within seconds of turning it off, it works fine, hence my 'losing memory' mentioned in previous posts. And off course, the title of this post, the blinks are in steroids. It blinks and unlocks the doors 4 times plus two more light blinks.

 

???