Key w/Exclamation

It's the symbol that says your anti-theft protection is working - that if someone broke into the car and attempted to start it without the key, it will not start.

I wondered about that icon, also, and finally found it in the manual.

 

I feel pretty confidant in saying that if you are sitting in the vehicle and the the key/exclamation point warning lights, then it is a low fob battery. If you exit the vehicle while it is READY with the smart key in your pocket and close the door, the key/exclamation point warning will light and the car will beep a number of times. Get back in the car and the light will go away.

Fob batteries are basically good for about 2 or possibly 3 years with average use before they start going south. Because the fob in Smart Key equipped vehicles is much more active than fobs for non-smart key cars, battery life is significantly diminished. Fob batteries in regular fobs are good for at least 5 years, or better.

 

Once the yellow smart-key warning light came on while I was dropping off my kids at school. I was in the Prius. The fob was in my pocket. While I was checking it, the light went away. It does happen, but to me, only once.

 

I've also had it happen when the fob and my cell phone ended up in the same pocket. The phone interferes with the SKS signal to the car.

 

I think it can also happen if the Smart Key is too far away from the dash. (Such as if it is in your bag and you put your bag in the hatch.)

 

We had this light come on this morning after Megan gave me a ride to the bus stop. After I got out of the car, the yellow key exclamation point light came on. She called me over. As the bus was pulling up and there wasn't lots of time to sort it out, she just turned the car on and off and the light went away.

So I guess what I'm wondering is, if there's two of you in the car with smartkeys and one of you gets out, will this light always come on? Of course, we could test this ourselves, but why wait (to test it tonight or check the manual) when I can post here on Priuschat?

 

This happened to me yesterday and when I turned the car off, and tried to turn it back on it just wouldnt do anything! I was kind of busy so I went in the house to take in the groceries,,, came back out tried using the fob to lock and unlock the doors, then climbed in and tried starting the car and it started fine. I just wondered what the heck??? Now what if this happens while I am far from home? Is it trying to tell me something?
I am wondering if it is the cell phone or my tablet confusing the fob? I looked in the manual for the prius and it mentions keeping electronic devices 3' away from the fob? Hmmm, how do I do that? I would need a 3' wide body!

 

Rest assured, your Prius is not infected with a devil or anything like that. Since the fob interacts with the Prius via a radio signal, that signal can and will be affected by outside sources at various times. With technology the way it is, there really is no way to keep this from happening. To make a long story short, the easiest way to avoid this problem is to do the following.

• Make certain that your keyfob batteries are not old (old batteries get weak, reducing the range of the signal)
• Keep your keyfob away from anything that might block it's signal. Examples are carrying the fob in your pocket with change, or a cell phone, or any other device or object that emits or blocks radio waves.

There will be times when this light illuminates on the dash. What it is telling you is that the receiver has lost communication with the transmitter. The transmitter is your keyfob. The receiver is your Prius. Once the signal has been restored, the light should go off and things should return to normal.

 

Your 12V battery may be getting weak as well.

 

You would plug the fob into the dash and carry on undaunted.

 

Thanks for the replies, guess I need to try the key plugged in, feel stupid to admit that I don't know which way to plug it in! Buttons up or down?

 

Buttons up. There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers. Don't feel stupid, just learning about your car as all of us did when it was new to us!

Also, if I haven't said it by now, "Welcome" to Prius Chat!