Techstream Key Fob Programming – Step by Step with pics

I didn't buy any but that's what several locksmiths locally have said they buy their parts through some dealer network of the car they're working on usually they don't usually mess with too much of the aftermarket stuff unless it's known to really work

 

I took the fob from our old gs450h that didn't get included when it was traded in, and coded it to my car without issues.

you know when you take a sick animal to the vet and next thing you know you've spent thousands on medicines and tests? I feel all of those locksmiths are worst than the vet trying to get folks to pay new OEM prices...

 

I haven't tried the programming steps in tech to fit any new remotes I got two with my car One has died still works if you plug it into the key slot It starts the car but the green board is failed and won't unlock or do anything else no SKS My other remote was in perfect condition for the same car and was never used and was in the drawer I'm using it now and it should hold up to 600K I hope.. it's like new

 

well, next time I'm in NC.. will let you know. I carry a mongoose, open port and now trying to find a Bluetooth techstream compatible device. If you come across a used key, get it. hold it and ill add it for you.

 

Will do I generally have a few here and pick up more all the time when I'm at LKQ various jobs what have you I used to have practically a yard full of these things I've got ones that open the van door side door four buttons on them etc etc I just throw them all in a drawer but luckily now all three of my prii I'll have perfectly working remotes if people just leave them out of the wash and whatnot they should last till all these cars are going One would think.

 

Is it possible to use Techstream on Gen2 to add a new fob, using similar steps?

 

i plan to find out!

 

I was able to get the new fob configured using Techstream v12!

 

newer versions didnt work?

 

That was the version I found online, I didn't try any others because it did what I needed.

 

ah. curious if you ever get to it, if it works to bleed the brakes. I've yet to find anyone using higher than that 12.3 I believe version and it was with a minivci... ill be doing that song and dance in a week or so after swapping a used part thinking it would work when all says just go new... just go new and do both is what I'll tell folks.

other advice for folks reading... just get a USB 3.0 or newer 128gb flash drive, install windows 7 or whatever you want to it to run only techstream, and you can boot to it like a normal computer on your current computer... no need for all the VM stuff.

 

I also ran into this problem yesterday. I had issues getting a Virtual Machine with guest access to the host computer's USB port to work on my regular 64 bit computer (HyperV made enabling USB guest access very difficult without making potentially dangerous changes to the registry; VirtualBox kept freezing up during installation) so my backup solution was to try a 32-bit junker laptop with a cracked screen (still running Windows Vista in 2024!).

I can't prove it, but my hunch is that many of the more recent bootleg versions of Techstream out there (specifically those bundled with a Mini VCI cable and sold on eBay) have been modified to play nicer with a 64-bit OS than previous versions; this may cause issues in a 32-bit OS. I infer this because after installing Techstream 18.00.008 on the 32-bit Vista laptop from an obviously-bootlegged eBay disc, I had the exact same experience where neither "Health Check" nor "Utility" buttons would show up. Techstream must have successfully connected to my Prius, as I could see a log of past troublecodes when I double-clicked on one of the various yellow car system buttons. But the two buttons I needed to clone my key just never materialized.

I just wanted to share my own solution - in the end, I wound up uninstalling Techstream V 18.00.008 from the 32-bit Vista laptop, and then reinstalling a much older version, namely V 9.10.037 (sourced from torrents). I then copied and pasted the same "TSLoader" file that had come packaged with V 18.00.008 into the /bin subfolder of the Techstream installation files for V 9.10.037 and ran TSLoader instead of directly opening the actual Techstream executable file. Somehow, this worked - suddenly the Health Check and Utility buttons appeared, and I was able to clone two key fobs pretty quickly.

I can't say for certain that the OS architecture was the deciding factor, but at the very least it paid to try starting over with a substantially older version of the software. I think at least some, if not all of the YouTube videos where people get garden-variety bootleg Techstream V. 18 to function properly are working with a 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 virtual machine. The fact that it worked for them but not for me when using my 32-bit Vista leads me to believe that if you're using a 32-bit clunker, older versions of software are the way to go.

 

They have that makes really good sense I have the dealer version of tech on the dealer's computer and still haven't cloned any keys Don't know where to get the special keys or the numbers or all that nonsense from luckily thank God I haven't needed any of that I'm generally very lucky I get a good fob with every car and it pretty much just stays in the car forever once in a blue moon I have to go to an area where I have to lock the car and it goes in my pocket and SKS is activated then I have to remember to take it out of my pocket put it back in the car and turn the SKS off because where I live in the town I live in car stealing is really not a thing borrowing stealing whatever just really doesn't happen

 

The OP in this thread has a link to buy tokens for reseeding, I think. But I'm also grateful I didn't have to resort to these. It sounds like they work, but I think that if I absolutely had to virginize an old fob, I would use an unlocking service (assuming all original keys aren't lost). Depends on how urgently you need new keys made, I suppose.

 

So far we haven't then we're going to try and keep it that way If I get too fobs one gets marked and put in the drawer with no battery in it just sits there The ones I get a single fob with batteries are in them SKS is off and they're generally in the car and not to be taken out unless you're going into a high crime area or you can't see the car from where you're getting your coffee or whatever but all the crazy stories make me not want to have to deal with it I wish the car had a real key slot credit card slot something that could bypass all the wirelessness of everything I guess that's what the slot is for but you're not careful in your fob doesn't match the transponder chip or what have you then you're in a mess

 

Thanks for this writeup, very helpful!

To solve my problem I am trying to figure out one specific question...

Say you have an SKS Gen 2... But your SKS fob has somehow lost the proximity features. Buttons still work, start/stop works when inserted -- but the approach unlock and keyless ignition do not work. (My fob got screwed up somehow and lost proximity features while doing the chicken dance to add a second fob. The second fob can only do start/stop, no remote controls at all.)

Is a fob in this state, lacking only proximity features, working well enough to add a new OEM fob with full SKS features, including proximity?

 

I don't know. Have you looked at your car in the software how many keys does it have or has had etc ? I know in the Toyota software you can turn some of that security stuff on and off I'm not sure all of the button pushing needed and what not for each model and each type of security you have or whatever but I do notice when I'm looking through the software and see the security man you and look in it there's a bunch of settings to turn stuff on and off. There's also a black box just ahead of and below your CM monitor display under the dash pad apparently that is the SKS computer part of the system I guess it could go bad Not sure I would think if you got another car and you had the remotes and it's SKS computer from under the dash and put that into another car I wonder if that would just automatically be detected and act like nothing happened? Also there are companies that make these remote or fobs that replace the Toyota part have a different board in it and all of this stuff apparently they can work I don't know whether you have to have a working key or what have you to make it all happen but there's a bunch of them out there and they're not very expensive so there must be something to this and if you want real Toyota fobs just go around the car lots in your area and show them your fob they'll look in them Big container that they have full of old remotes and they'll find four or five of them probably or somebody else has already beat you there and done the same thing

 

Good question. I've never had a Gen 2, and I know cloning the SKS is a different procedure vs Gen 3. It may be more worth your while to ask Gen 2 owners instead of Gen 3 owners.

For what it's worth, when I cloned the only key that my Gen 3 came with (OEM; also somehow the only key *ever* associated with the car before I cloned more, according to Techstream) I recall enabling the proximity sensor option for the new clone keys. There was definitely an option to enable that within Techstream.

But despite that, it's never unlocked automatically when I approach it. It could be because I used aftermarket virgin fobs for the new ones. Perhaps corners were cut somewhere to make them so much cheaper than OEM. According to the vendor, these fobs weren't even supposed to be compatible with Techstream in the first place.

I honestly have no idea why it even worked...just pure trial-and-error. But I'm fine with spending significantly less at the cost of that very minor convenience of not having to pull out the key and hit a button. Frankly it seems almost unnecessary as features go. But I'm also a luddite at heart, and miss the simplicity and clarity of having basic analog keys.

 

soon as i get another fob.. ill figure it out on the Gen 2. I did get a non virgin lexus fob working and it didnt even have matching fcc ids, and it worked fine.

 

Fantastic.

Took a piece of plastic and it started to open the car.

Jimmy, think carefully why the Lexus key fob fit the Toyota?

Maybe because the key fob already had a chip with the FCC data used for America.

If it had been a European Lexus key fob, it would have remained a piece of plastic.