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Smartkey is ignored when vehicle is powered on.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by partipilo, Oct 22, 2007.

  1. partipilo

    partipilo Weirdo

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    I found this interesting. I wanted to see if the system would monitor the smartkey being in range, after the vehicle was powered up. So I was with a buddy of mine, and at a gas station, I walked away, and had him try and drive the car away. Alas, it did. The car made no attempt to shut off or beep or alarm or anything. Just thought that was interesting.

    Do you suppose this behaviour can be configured thru software?
     
    #1 partipilo, Oct 22, 2007
  2. Betelgeuse

    Betelgeuse Active Member

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    I'm not sure whether this can be changed via software, but I suspect not.

    You may not know it yet, but you do not want the car to turn off when the smart key gets out of range. There are several scenarios where you could imagine the car losing contact with the smart key and you wouldn't want the car to turn off. Say, for example, that you're driving down the highway doing 80 in the fast lane and the battery in your smart key finally gives up the ghost. You do not want the car to shut off on you in the middle of the highway. Another one: you have your key in your pocket and you're driving down the highway. You put a metal clipboard on your lap, thus shielding the key from the sensor. Same result; you don't want the car to shut off.

    The car should beep like crazy at you if you try to walk away from the car with the fob, but there are good safety reasons for it not to shut off.
     
    #2 Betelgeuse, Oct 22, 2007
  3. Arts137

    Arts137 New Member

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    It does one long beep and a yellow "key" lights up on the top display...
     
    #3 Arts137, Oct 22, 2007
  4. firepa63

    firepa63 Former Prius Owner

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    What you experienced is normal. The car should have beep 3 times as you walked away with it running to let you know it's still in the READY mode. Anyone can drive the car at that point without the Smart Key. However, if they shut it off, they cannot restart it.

    This is a good reason to shut the car off when leaving it, even if to just quickly run into a store.
     
    #4 firepa63, Oct 22, 2007
  5. Toyotally04

    Toyotally04 Member

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    Second day of my owning a 2 Gen, and I realized this today.

    My brother (prev. owner) told me that some smartkeys has remote engine ignition function, which can be turned off under the wheel.
     
    #5 Toyotally04, Jan 10, 2020
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