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Dead remote!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by aminorjourney, Aug 30, 2008.

  1. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Hi folks,

    After a very fun Band rehearsal this afternoon I went down to the parking lot and got in Velma before making a short trip to stop at my partner's office block. When I arrived Velma refused to lock using the remote fob. The little red LED lit up but no locking :(

    I checked that all the doors were properly closed and tried again. Nothing.

    I ended up locking with the emergency key and then when I arrived home checked out the battery in the keyfob. It was 3.08V. I even tried another battery to make doubly sure. Nothing.

    Velma continues to refuse to lock using the remote. Any suggestions? I'll double-check that Velma locks (or doesn't) with the other keyfob, which is with my partner at the moment.

    Obviously, being a UK spec model there is no SKS, so I'm talking about a failure in the standard remote locking - not the Smart Key. Any assistance would be greatly received as the dealer I purchased Velma from is an hour's drive away and I don't trust our local dealer to fix her correctly.

    Nikki.
     
    #1 aminorjourney, Aug 30, 2008
  2. rigormortis

    rigormortis Active Member

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    i think all non sks prius car keys can be duplicated by the car with no scantool or a trip to the dealer. so if your partner's key works, you could buy a black emblemed (non sks) key anywhere and program it yourself using your partner's key.

    you might have to purchase the black emblem keyfob from the same model year as yours.

    http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...lly-how-program-non-sks-key-fob-detailed.html

    if your partner's key does not work either, then you will have to go to the dealer
     
    #2 rigormortis, Aug 30, 2008
  3. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    It's very strange, as I'll tell you all now.

    Kate, my partner, came home from work and immediately tried locking and unlocking Velma with her keys.

    Complete success! Not a single issue at all!
    We then tried my keys again and to my surprise they worked!

    I wonder if there was an error in the car's entry system which cleared when we used the other remote. Perhaps some form of latch which then sorted itself?

    Velma came with a one year warranty so I'll take her back to the original dealer for a replacement fob if it happens again!


    Nikki.
     
    #3 aminorjourney, Aug 31, 2008
  4. Ogo

    Ogo Prius Owner since 2008

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    Those remotes use radio signals to send commands to the car. I do not know which frequencies are being used in USA, but in Europe, frequencies around 435 MHz are being used for car remotes. And the problem is, that radio frequency band around 435 MHz is getting quite crowded with users ranging from amateur radio to industrial and scientific, including of course remote locking for cars. And it is possible that at the time you tried locking the car, there were severe radio interferences present at or near the radio frequency being used by your remote.
    So basically, it is a feature and not a bug, as weak radio signal from the remote could not "get through" due to interferrence. Of course bad radio receivers for remote signals built in the cars do not make things better. They usually have quite wide band filter built in and if a very strong signal is present close to the receiver, even though not on the same frequency as the remote is working, they effectively get jammed by strong unwanted signal.


    Ogo
     
    #4 Ogo, Aug 31, 2008
  5. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Interesting.

    I did try the remote in several places though over the space of five hours or so. I wonder if it was just a really lucky coincidence in each location or perhaps just something else - more likely.

    I've just checked this morning and the key is back to normal. I did also forget to mention that I checked for DTCs last night using the Can-View and nothing popped up on the system. I admit a pretty long shot, but I figured it was worth checking.

    I'll keep my eyes out for it happening again. I do know a fellow UK resident had issues a few weeks ago with his Tspirit, so perhaps I'll email him to see what his resolution was.

    Nikki.
     
    #5 aminorjourney, Aug 31, 2008
  6. Ray Moore

    Ray Moore Active Member

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    If you had your keys and your cell phone in the same pocket, that could have caused the problem. It is a known issue. I keep mine in opposite pockets.
     
    #6 Ray Moore, Aug 31, 2008
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