Hey Yall, I recently got a 2008 prius that was imported from Japan. And finding out the main key fob drains the battery after like 3 days and the 'spare' doesnt work at all. And so I'm looking to get a new fob and use the chicken dance method to program it. The issue is that I cannot find my exact key model. My fob is a black logo with two buttons, so no panic button. It is basically impossible to find the exact model (B21TA). I've found after market B23TAs and was wondering if anyone knows would these work? Or would a normal 2nd gen fob with the panic button work on my model. Apologies if there was already a thread on this I could not find it. Thank you.
I'm assuming the battery to which you are referring is the 12 V battery, not the battery in the fob. Can you confirm? If that is the correct assumption, what makes you think the fob is draining it?
It is the battery in the fob. 3 days after just changing the fob battery it will no longer lock or unlock doors, but the car will still start.
Did you check the battery voltage with a voltmeter to confirm it was 3.2 V? It wouldn't be the first time a freshly bought battery was flat.
It may or may not apply in the OP's case, but some newer coin batteries, especially Duracell, Rayovac, and probably some others, are now coated with a "bitterant." This is an unpleasant-tasting material intended to keep small children from swallowing them. In some cases, this material is thick enough or non-conductive enough to cause a device to believe a newly installed battery is weak or not present at all. We discovered this when our Apple Air Tags failed to recognized brand new, fresh batteries. The solution is to give the battery a few swipes with an alcohol prep pad to remove the coating. Depending on the brand, bitterant might be applied to one or both sides of the battery. Hope this helps.
