Smartkey and Keyless entry not working

Hi Cesli and welcome to PriusChat.

The first thing is to make sure your 12 V battery is in good order. This will involve getting it load tested and replaced if it is showing any signs of being bad. The dealer should have done this when they were having problems, but who knows? You can get your 12 V checked by an auto parts store, if you can't or don't know how to do this yourself, or you don't have anyone you can call on to help do this for you.

Second:

appears to be contradictory, but I am picking that the key fob is not working properly, in some way. If you can detail how it is not working in a bit more detail, that would be helpful. Does the little red LED light light up when you press each key individually?

If you disconnected the 12 V battery and then checked for codes, you will have cleared any codes by disconnecting the power, so you would have lost any codes that were there. If any light come up on the dash in the future, check again for codes. If there are lights on the dash, there are codes stored in one or more of the card computers. Don't pull the power before doing the scan.

The fuel gauge blinking could be a symptom of loosing 12 V power intermittently, so again that's why it would be good to check the 12 V battery's condition.

 

Just to make sure your car has SKS (Smart Key System), the front door handles (driver and passengar) has a small, square shaped, black rubberish button on the exterior door handle, and the rear trunk has this same button to the right of the Toyota emblem? Assuming YES, then you truly have SKS.

Read Post#12 to gain insights into the Prius SKS Fob; quick easy read, and you'll learn a lot.
SKS Fobs only work wirelessly | PriusChat

Dealership = Toyota dealership?
Order new SKS FOB = 100% new virgin, never used, never programmed before, SKS fob?

Assuming it was a Toyota dealership and a NEW (100%View them? virgin) SKS fob, the dealership screwed-up. A reset/reseed procedure should have been performed from the beginning. RESET=clears the Prius ECUs of all Fobs; this is a good thing to do b/c the original working SKS Fobs are out there somewhere. The Fob that came w/ your car was NEVER working properly which indicates it was a used SKS fob or a malfunctioning SKS Fob. RESEED=programming SKS Fobs to work w/ your Prius. The Reset/Reseed procedure is a time consuming process (1hr-2hr) and dealer labor charge of $200+ (low side) is NOT unheard of. The dealership should have refunded your money for a failed Reset/Reseed procedure. You will have to find a competent person at this same dealership or a different dealership. Used SKS fobs, supposedly can be added to SKS Prius via dealer Rest/Reseed procedure.

Most independent vehicle locksmiths and chain vehicle lock smiths (ie Pop-A-Lock) can NOT perform a Reset/Reseed procedure. They lack a genuine working copy of Techstream ($1095/year software license cost) and NASTF Vehicle Security Professional Registration. Thus the dealer is the only place to do this for the Gen2 (2004-2009) Prius

Part number of a NEW SKS Fob might be 89994-47061; verify w/ your dealership or an online Toyota dealership.
Camelback Toyota sells a NEW SKS Fob for $164.21; free grounds shipping ($150 minimum) and no sales tax.

 

Well that makes sense, what has happened is the previous owner lost/damaged one key then decided to make a new spare. They cheaped out and decided on buying a second-hand used (as in not virgin new) key which they programmed (maybe by using the "Chicken Dance") to the car. Unfortunately, you can only program a used key fob to start the car – it can't be programmed to remote lock/unlock or keyless entry and start (SKS). Maybe that's all they wanted as they did care for remote lock/unlock or SKS. They then lost/damaged the last remaining key fob that was fully functioning.

In order to get a second key cheaper ($150) you need to have a working fully functional key to use as model to clone. As you don't have this, this unfortunately leaves you with few options, as you need to buy at least one brand new virgin key fob (and I'd recommend 2) and have a dealer seed and then add the new key to you car. This process should also remove all other keys from the car, and it wouldn't hurt to specify that you want them to do this. This is very costly process. Don't expect much change from $800.

Not sure what they need to investigate. They seem pretty clueless. If you can't find another dealer at least go in and tel you want:

• 1 (or 2) new key fobs;
• all existing keys deleted from the car;
• the car reseeded so it can accept your new key fob(s);
• the key (or 2) added to the car.

Look at it this way, just add cost to the purchase price and call it part of purchasing the new car.

Hope that helps and sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

I hate to be the guy asking the stupid question, but is the smart key button under the steering wheel 'on'?

 

Deactivation of SKS, via the button below steering wheel, would NOT impact remote unlock/lock of doors by depressing unlock/lock button on the SKS fob.

OP reports NEVER being able to have that convenience, but actually has to go old school and use the physical key to unlock the car door. This is indicative of a used SKS Fob that was attempted to be programmed to an SKS Prius. This is IMPOSSIBLE, b/c the used SKS Fob has incorrect KEY ID and VEHICLE ID. Remember, the SKS Prius' CERTIFICATION ECU burns the KEY ID and VEHICLE ID onto a virgin SKS Fob; this SKS Fob is to be only used w/ the originating Prius. IF you want to retain SKS functionality. A used SKS fob can be used on another SKS Prius, but only as a dumb fob (insert to start car) and NO remote lock/unlock capability, as OP is experiencing.

OP needs to have a dealer perform a RESET (clears all existing SKS fobs from memory) and RESEED (programs new SKS fobs to be used with this Prius) procedure with TWO NEW SKS Fobs.

 

Did the dealership sell her a Smart Key fob or just a regular fob. Cesli, is the Toyota emblem o the back of your fob silver or chrome?

 

You need to find a more capable person in that or another dealership. It is not that hard to add new key fobs from scratch.

Let us know how you get on.

 

Call various dealerships about cost to have a RESET (all allowed SKS fobs removed from vehicle memory), and RESEED (New SKS fobs programmed to make your Prius function correctly). The dealership you went too is not competent, as this is what they should have done from the very beginning.

Look at dealership websites, as some have discount labor coupons on their sites. Dealers will accept other dealer coupons too. If you are a Costco/AAA/AMerican Express member, you have access to discount parts/labor coupons for certain dealerships.

Once you get the SKS fobs working you will be a happy camper.

Be sure to get TWO NEW SKS fobs programmed at the time RESET/RESEED. As long as you posses one full functioning SKS fob for the car, you can buy a new SKS fob and program it yourself. So, DON’T LOOSE that last functioning SKS fob.

 

It’s good to hear they did not charge you. You need to go to another dealer. There is absolutely no reason the dealer could not program a new key without a reasonable explanation.

 

Just to remove all doubt, when you say "yes", you mean the button is in the out position.

The purpose of the button under the steering wheel is to deactivate the SKS, so when the button is out the SKS is not deactivated; when the button is pressed in it IS deactivated. See the owner's manual excerpt below:

 

If you check your engine oil level regularly, disregard this post,

Sadly, it seems many people do not. There are many postings from owners wondering about intermittent lights showing-up when they brake hard or take a turn hard. This happens b/c of insufficient oil level. If you check it with some regularity (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, every gas fill-up), the more frequent the better, this won't be a problem. Member Edthefox has a good habit of checking every Satruday before leaving the house.

You will find it easiest to check after the car has sat overnight. Checking immediately or shortly after it has just been driven, will not be as accurate and its hard to read the dip stick. Ideally, check the oil level when the car is on flat level ground; a large enough tilt (driveway/street) will give an incorrect reading.

Try to keep the oil level near the top dimple mark at all times. NEVER let the oil level fall below the bottom dimple mark. DON'T overfill the oil. This is a worse case outcome of an overfill: Another Walmart oil overfill, Toyota is hinting at new ICE | PriusChat

 

FALSE! Used key fobs, SKS or not, can be programmed to different Prii all day long with the correct equipment, which the dealership happens to have.

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