locked out

Maybe there was RF interference of some type that was overpowering the low-power transmitter in the remote?

Dave

 

When that happened to me, I had accidentally pushed the SE disable button under the steering wheel. So glad I didn't take it to the dealer to figure it out.

 

I had the same sort of problem with my Camry where I usually shopped. One of the stores had gone through a major upgrade. I mentioned this to the manager and he has gotten other similar complaints.

I never found out what was the cause, but several months later there was no more problem.

 

In their upgrade, did they install automatic door openers? The RF from one of those sensors broadcasting out into the parking lot might interfere with your signal.

 

They had automatic door openers since they opened. Any upgrade with the doors was not obvious. They did upgrade their computer/POS system, which may have included some sort of wireless network for the inventory/ordering system.

 

Kenmac,

Does it happen in all locations of the car park

I would try to park in 4 areas.... N, E, S and W and see if you can get a sense of direction of signal when this occurs.

 

This happened to me at my gym. The car wouldn't lock or unlock with the remote while I was there, but all functionality returned when I left. It's not happened again at that location, nor has it occurred elsewhere. Does anyone know what types of signals tend to cause these sorts of problems? It would seem that RF on the same or sympathetic frequencies would cause the most problems.

 

Ive had similar problems with other cars. Also it became a problem for the RAC (auto club) in the UK. They also got locked out of their rescue cars!

The cause was traced to a local police or fire station which had resited their antenna. Where I live now, the post is nextdoor to the fire station and I have been locked out several times. Opening my MR2 with the key causes the alarm to go off but on pressing the key unlock the car started and drove of as normal. However, the alarm was still armed and when I stopped it went off again

One tip I have found useful is to locate the antenna of the key sensor and hold the key as close as possible to the antenna when you press the button. It often helps. On the EU Prius the antenna is located in the Rear left side window support (C column) just abouve the fuel filler.

See http://www.prius-forum.org/Tech_Ref/ncf/nc...m/m_be_0122.pdf and look for "Drahtloser Turschloss Fernbetatigungsemfanger" Umlauts omitted!

 

Hmmm... I'm wondering whether the increasing number of Wi-Fi "hotspots", i.e., access points -- in restaurants, banks, etc. (we're getting them on the ferries in Washington State) -- could cause problems similar to the one you're experiencing, Kenmac.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kenmac @ May 24 2004, 02:25 AM) [snapback]18141[/snapback]</div>

This is an old subject but this happened to me last week. The metal key opened the door but set the alarm off - I called the AA and according to their key fob database, holding the open and close buttons down together for 15s (till the red light on the fob turns off) resets the fob. He did this and all worked well after that. Bit like cntrl-alt-delete on a PC I reckon. What caused the mal-sync between fob and car I couldn't say - the car was parked in the middle of nowhere (in a motorway service station). My dealer is investigating.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(htmlspinnr @ Jun 14 2004, 11:15 AM) [snapback]21915[/snapback]</div>

This will also run down your FOB battery, so you don't want to leave it like that for a long time.

Tom

 

there are warnings in the manual about NOT having your celphone ON near the smartkey, etc,etc....