New Prius Owner__Random Beeping

I was confused by the title. I thought it was the owner who was randomly beeping.:eyebrows:

 

Do you have the Smart Key System?
If so, avoid putting it in the same pocket with other metallic/electronic objects (lots of keys, cell phone, etc). The car might be losing signal to your electronic key intermittently.

 

The cup holder should be fine. It could be the fob battery... They are supposed to last a few years, so yours might be reaching old age.

 

I have reciently experienced what appears to be the double beep you refer to in my 05; it will happen several times and then not reoccur for several weeks. I, like you, think that it may be a low battery warning on the SKS fob. It then goes away before I get around to testing it by replacing the battery. It is nnot a problem so I am waiting for a complete battery failure to confirm.

BTW, the best place to keep your fob while driving is in your pocket/purse. The SKS is at its best if the fob is always left on your person. I put mine in a back pocket (opposite my wallet) when I dress in the morning, remove it at night, and don't otherwise handle it. Since the car unlocks, starts and shuts-off, and locks without need to touch the fob, why would you?

 

Do you have a cell phone with a low battery charge switched on while driving? I had strange beeps till I realized it was my phone battery warning.

 

If you never have a beep with the fob in the slot, then you'll know it's the fob causing the beeps. Either fob low battery, defective fob or defective "SKS antenna" in the car.

Anyway, putting the fob in the slot is a good way to check.

My previous car had a similar system. For a while I had a "key" indicator on the dash. Troubleshooting at the dealer revealed a defective "antenna" in the car (antenna for the electronic key system).

 

Be sure to look at the MFD as soon as you hear the beeps -- I know you say there are no warning lights, but any message displayed on the MFD won't last long. You get two-beep warnings for low fuel and low temperature for instance, but if you look late you won't know what it was about. See if there are any messages displayed at the top of the MFD right after you hear the sound.

 

Greetings,

I have a one month old dark blue prius that was maliciously rear-ended at a traffic light. (Actually, the damage was only some dents and scratches). I took the vehicle to a dealer who replaced the bumper and hatchback panel. When I went to pick the vehicle up, the smart key system would not lock or unlock the car. When I pressed the black lock button on the door handle, the car made a long beeeeeep and that's all. I am very worried that the dealer screwed up my smart key system. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? Thank you.

 

No, they just disabled it. Just push the button under the steering-wheel to re-enable.

Odds are really good that the FOB battery simply wore out. It won't fail entirely and replacement cost is less than $4. So, there's no sense in waiting. Photos of the change process are available in the User-Guide.

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Your sks is working properly. The long beep when the black button is pressed is telling you that either a door is not fully closed or there is a fob still inside the car.

Assuming both your fobs are accounted for, most likely the switch which senses that the hatch is fully closed needs adjustment or it got disconnected during the repair.

 

homerjsmpsn, welcome to Priuschat! Just a quick note -- you really should start a new thread for a new question -- posting your question in someone else's thread is known as 'hijacking the thread'. It also makes your post mostly invisible, except to people like me who happen to be tracking the thread you posted in. With only 1 post in, I doubt you knew all that, so just wanted to let you know.

Anyway, to get to your question, the Prius will not allow you to lock the car if you leave your keys in the car. Instead, it will sound one long beep when you press the black button. Also, holding the Fob in the same hand that is pushing the black button is often enough to confuse the car into thinking the Fob is still in the car. Hope one of those explains your situation.

I never take my smartkey out for anything -- it's always in my pocket.

John, if you disable the smartkey system, I don't believe you get any beep. Instead I think nothing at all happens when you press the button...

 

Wow, Harry we posted at the same time! And you came up with a good thought about the hatch, too... They may have forgotten to plug that sensor back in after the repair!

 

Hey, homerjsmpsn,

Edit : [Well I guess both of you guys beat me to the punch. I've got to learn to type faster & not be so wordy. I never even thought about the FOB being in the car (because I have never left mine in it & tried to lock up) as another reason for a single long beep. Well, here is what I was still typing while you 2 did your posts.]

I don't think your SKS is disabled as John suggested. Its pushbutton under the dash to the left of the steer'g column should be in to disable it & out for the SKS to work. If it's in (& I suspect it is NOT), you don't get any sound when push'g on the square black button on the door handle. You do however get the long beep if you try to lock the car while it's still powered up [but you would get 3 short beeps 1st when you close the door (tell'g you that you forgot to turn the power off)].

The other time you get a single long beep when try'g to lock the car is when (& I think that THIS is your problem) one of your doors is not closed all the way (you may even see the little door ajar symbol on the dash to the left of the speedometer). Go ahead & check that all 4 doors are completely closed (reopen each one & reclose them all) & try to re-lock with the little black SKS button on the door handle. I suspect you will still get the single long beep because you said the dealer replaced the hatchback panel (I don't know exactly what you mean here), & either the hatch isn't closing properly/all the way or the switch that reports the hatch ajar to the door ajar light on the dash is either out of adjustment or for some other reason not making proper contact with the new hatch panel. After re-closing the 4 car doors are you still getting the door ajar light on the dash? If so, then its either the switch adjustment or the hatch latch adjustment isn't hold'g the new hatch closed tight enough.

But before going back to the dealer, open the hatch & re-close it with a good solid slam. Then look for the door ajar dash light & if it's no longer there, try to re-lock your car with the square black SKS pushbutton. Your dealer may have simply not slammed the hatch down hard enough & this is probably the most common reason for most Prius drivers find'g their little 12 V battery dead & having to jump start their cars. That little not-so-obvious hatch light (under the pull shade cargo cover) stays on all the while the hatch isn't closed all the way & drains the little 12 V till it's dead. That's why we recommend to all the new owners (& some of the long time owners too) to ALWAYS lock your car (even if in your own garage), because if your hear a single long beep, either #1 : your car is still powered up or #2 : one of the 5 doors is still open, mean'g either [#1 : your car's engine will restart (when the high voltage battery runs down) to recharge the HV battery & waste gas doing so as well as making poisonous carbon monoxide] or #2 : your little 12 V battery may get too discharged to save it (replacement is in the neighborhood of $170-$200).

If it's still an issue for you after you re-slam the hatch closed, then the dealer should be able to fix it quickly & easily & they shouldn't charge you any extra for your return trip to them to fix it because they should have checked for that when they did the original repair/replacement. Please check back in here & tell us what you find out.

Edit #2 : By the way, does anybody know where the switch is for the hatch? I've looked all over around the hatch open'g & on the hatch itself, but I don't see one. I'm think'g that it may be hidden UNDER the plastic trim right beside the actual hidden latch mechanism.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Hi. I drive a new 2008 Package 2 Prius and I can report the same random double beep.

None of the other posts have specifically addressed why a brand new car with owner's fob in pocket - never in slot - double beeps... since day one, by the way. Completely at random - second fob in safety deposit box at a bank downtown.

Doors all secured. Hatch too. Seatbelts in place. Half or three-quarters of a tank of gas. Radio on. Radio not on. Happens day or night - then doesn't happen at all for a month. Not my cell phone. I promise.

If I've noticed any pattern at all....? It "seems like" it happens at low speeds or even stopped at a red light. But I'm sure I've heard it at 45mph or higher as well.

No dash symbol can be seen. I find no reference to the quick double beep in the Users Manual.

Could it be...? OMG - Is my Prius talking to me ?

oooh WEEEEOOOHH ooohhh

It's quite chilling - isn't it ?

More to the point, what should I say back :mod: ?

 

The double beep is most probably the low fob battery warning. Even though your car/fab is relatively new you should replace the fob battery if the random beeping bothers you. Fob batteries are cheap and easy to replace.

 

I get the same thing in my 09 Prius. It seems related to passing radio towers for county maintenance departments or GPS monuments. Seems harmless - another endearing eccentricity.