Keyless entry/ignition problem

Hi. i have a 2007 Prius, package 6. It's always worked great, can't complain. i bought it in 2009 with 27,000 miles on it from the original owner. i got the extended Platinum warranty from Troy, it expires next month.

I have always started the car by pressing the start button with my foot on the gas pedal. My key fob is in my pocket, i don't put it in the ignition key slot. I lock the car by pushing the button in the door handle from the outside. I unlock it by putting my hand on the door handle and pulling on it. My keys are always in my front pocket with nothing else in the pocket.

Yesterday, when i got in the car and pushed the ignition button, i got the symbol of a red key flashing with a line through it, seeming to be telling me i was trying to start the car without the key. I got my key out of my pocket and waved it around, and then the car started in the normal way, by pushing the ignition button, i put my keys back in my pocket. i went out, came back, everything seemed normal.

Today when i got in the car and pushed the ignition button, i got the flashing red key symbol (and beeping sound) again. I got my keys out of my pocket and waved them in front of the dashboard but it was no help. The car would not start. I put the fob in the ignition slot and the car then started. I went to my location, turned the car off, tried to turn it back on without the key in it but it still had the flashing beeping key picture on the otherwise dark dashboard. I tried to lock the car by pushing on the door handle button but there was no response. I opened the door and used the button on the inside of the door to lock the car and closed the door. i used the valet key, taking it out of the fob and using it to reopen the door. Pushing on the lock/unlock buttons on the fob had no effect.

When i got home, the car still would not respond wirelessly to the key fob. I got my spare key fob from the house and tried using it to start the car wirelessly. It had no effect.

I searched this forum and read about the button under the steering wheel. I went back to the car to search for the button. I saw the button, labeled with the word 'Key.' But before touching it, i tried starting the car keylessly again, pushing the ignition button. It started normally. Everything worked normally, lock/unlock, ignition. Key fob not inserted into the slot. I decided not to do anything with the under steering wheel button.

I would like to ask whether this sounds like there is nothing wrong with the key fobs but there is some problem with the car internally. I will need to take it in to the dealer to have it diagnosed and repaired, but i want to be prepared for that, with knowledge about possible causes of this problem, and what the car might need. i read on other posts on this subject that there could be a problem with the car battery. Are there ways i can test that, by trying other things that would be affected by the battery, if the symptom comes back again? If there's an internal defect causing the problem rather than problem with the fob/s, would any of the causes be warranty repairs? The car currently has about 67,000 miles on it.

thanks

 

Thanks. i hope that will solve it. I will get batteries tomorrow. i searched how to install the batteries but didn't find instructions. i found some useful information posted by people who discovered tricks for getting the cover off which apparently can be difficult, needing to use force and a small screwdriver, and a link was posted to instructions to install the battery, but the link just took me to the prius chat discussion forum menu (menu of all the forums). I found numerous you tube videos demonstrating the operation. I am thinking that i will go to the dealer and talk to my service manager and ask if they can install the batteries and make sure the SKS is synced up or whatever, some people reported problems with the car not responding to the new battery. Anyway, i have had nothing but good experiences with this dealer and with this service advisor in particular, good guy, i hope he can take care of it. i know i'll pay a lot more for the batteries but i need to get it taken care of before Friday so it's a little too late for Amazon. I'll stock up for next time. i don't think they will charge me for anything but the batteries.

haha, putting the fob against the power button worked great. yeah.

 

good news and bad news, i went to the dealer service department today. When i went to my car to start it up to go over there, it started normally, keyless ignition. It was not working for two days. During that two days, it did work briefly once. Then it was gone again, it was gone for most of the last two days. Today it pulled the old "no symptom when you go to the mechanic" trick.

The service guy looked at my two fobs and said the batteries were not low because the little red lights didn't come on. If i did need batteries, the parts department guy would install them, but he said i didn't need them. He was skeptical that there was anything wrong with the car, since it was acting normal. He said if you have two fobs together when you're in the car, they can cancel each other out. i had to emphasize that when the problem started, i only had one fob with me. i only had two after i went to test the second one. So he said "maybe it was a fluke."

The bad news for me is that there is reason to fear the car has a problem with the keyless communication with the fobs and it's something intermittent and he said those repairs could be expensive. He said they are covered by my warranty, but my warranty expires on 12/14/13. I fear the car won't do the symptom until after that. Hopefully not, hopefully it will keep happening before the warranty expires. I am just sorry that replacing the batteries wasn't the clearly obvious solution.

He said it was unlikely that both batteries would go out at the same time, even though they're old. He wasn't saying it couldn't happen but that as an explanation of the symptom, it wasn't as plausible as something wrong with the keyless system. But he thought the most plausible explanation was "fluke." He said if it does the symptom again, to bring it to him right away, "even if it's only one time." i think i should bring it back before the warranty expires regardless because it's already done it more than one time in the past couple of days.

I do realize that if the batteries are getting low, that could cause intermittent failure and i am going to have them replaced anyway, but i am nervous about this issue and my expiring warranty. i would have felt better if the car was still doing the symptom when i started it up to go to the mechanic and the little red lights showed that the batteries were low, and i replaced the batteries and the car acted fine again. Instead it's ambiguous on the precipice of the warranty expiration.

 

no way. you're kidding right?

 

where exactly is the little red light on the fob that lights up briefly when the battery has life in it?