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Unusual entry behavior?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by spiff72, Feb 23, 2011.

  1. spiff72

    spiff72 Member

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    Hey everyone - I checked the manual for this message, but found nothing...

    I got in my car the other morning (with the key in my pocket), I closed the door, and got a warning chime (inluding the yellow triangle exclamation point light) and a warning on the MFD that stated "Key detected in vehicle".

    I understand that "Key Not Detected" message, but this one seemed unusual. I haven't seen it happen since then, but I am curious what would cause this.

    Has anyone else seen this before? Or at least have any ideas?

    Thanks
    Jeff
     
  2. Paul58

    Paul58 Mileage Miser

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    Did you accidentally knock the door lock button? It's designed to not let you lock the keys in the vehicle, but has no way of knowing if you are in the vehicle or not, it just detects the key. So, if you accidentally knocked the door lock button it might have recognized that as someone trying to lock the car while the key was still inside.
     
  3. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    One other thing to possibly check is if you have any of the doors not fully closed, especially the hatch. I got this warning messge one time when I went over a bump and found the hatch door was not tightly closed.
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Something doesn't sound right with that: If you get in the vehicle, and then push the button to lock the doors, it's going to start giving warnings? I know typically the doors auto-lock, but this seems wierd.
     
  5. kbeck

    kbeck Active Member

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    Yep. That's what the car does when a door's open. What you should get is a little voice saying, "The door is ajar", when, of course, a door and a jar are two different things. :)

    With me, it was the hatch. Open it, slam it down, and the problem usually goes away.

    KBeck.
     
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  6. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    The SKS very much knows whether the fob is inside or outside of the vehicle. Separate LF coils are used to localize the fob position. This is the same method used by the three-door SKS to restrict operation to the nearest door.

    Tom
     
  7. spiff72

    spiff72 Member

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    Now that I thing about it, I it is possible that I may have bumped the door lock button as I closed my drivers door. Keep in mind that this happened prior to my pushing the Power button.

    Next time I get in the car I will try to lock the doors before hitting power and see if the same thing happens.

    I guess that it knows that the fob is in the car, but doesn't know that a PERSON is in the car.

    So does this mean that you can't lock your doors while sitting in the car without the ignition is on?

    EDIT: Or are you guys talking about touching the lock area on the outside door handle prior to closing the door?
     
  8. spiff72

    spiff72 Member

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    Well - it wasn't the lock button. I just tried to lock the door while I was sitting in the car, and it locked normally. (The key was in my pocket).

    Still not sure what it was. I don't think it was the hatch being open, or even my door being open - it seems like it happened immediately after I closed the door.
     
  9. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    My wife has tried numerous times to leave her pocketbook in the car, with the other fob. As soon as I hit the door lock, I get an alarm and the Key Detected in Vehicle pops up on the dash.
     
  10. rpeeples

    rpeeples Experienced Toyota Owner

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    I read somewhere that cell phones too close to the remote can cause problems. I am not sure if this is true, but I did have the same thing happen to me once. I had the remote hanging on a belt loop right next to my phone and got the key not detected message. It has not done that since and I still have the remote and phone in close proximity. So, who knows?
     
  11. spiff72

    spiff72 Member

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    Just to be totally clear - the message that was displayed was that the "Key WAS detected in vehicle", not that it wasn't detected. However, the key was in my coat pocket, about 4 inches or so from my cell phone. Maybe the message was prompted because the key wasn't detected for a split second, and then it was??

    This all seems odd, since I don't think I even put my foot on the brake pedal yet in preparation to start the car. (I am fuzzy on this detail though).
     
  12. rpeeples

    rpeeples Experienced Toyota Owner

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    Looks like I misread the post. Is it possible you might have tried to lock the door while inside the car? Mine will not lock with the remote in the car if it is not powered up.
     
  13. spiff72

    spiff72 Member

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    I had the same thing happen again today after returning to the car from a hardware store (I had locked the doors with the "button" on the door handle).

    When I got in the car, I closed the door as I pulled my legs in. This time I am about 95% sure I bumped the cruise control stalk as I moved my legs under the steering wheel. The same message came up "Key Detected in the Vehicle", with a continuing beep and blinking yellow exclamation triangle. This beep and message stayed on until I did something (maybe pressed the power button, maybe opened the door - my memory fails me!).

    I got back out of the car and tried to duplicate the issue by moving the cruise stalk/pressing the on/off stalk button as I entered, but I couldn't get it to happen again.

    If I am sitting in the car with the key in my pocket, and I press the power lock button, the car definitely locks normally for me. I thought that the outside lock touch button would be the only one that shouldn't work if the fob is in the car. I am wondering if there is a loose connection in the lock switch in the door panel? I thought I had seen a couple of posts about loose connections in the door switches in other threads here at PC.
     
  14. RodJo

    RodJo Member

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    I have had the same thing happen a handfull of times. And no I never pressed the door lock button....

    I have just ignored it, afterall the message is accurate -- my key is in the vehicle. I assume it's just some glitch or timing issue. I don't think it hurts anything.
     
  15. Harold Bien

    Harold Bien Member

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    The message "Key in vehicle" usually comes up for me when I actually _forget_ the key in the vehicle and try to leave the car, i.e. I leave key in jacket, jacket in car, stop car, power OFF, open door, and then try to lock the car.

    I suspect you may have tried to "lock" the car while the door is open and your fob is "inside" the car (right-side pocket?) and engine is OFF. It just got a bit confused, probably, but as others wrote, should be harmless.

    I must say, it has saved me quite a few times from forgetting the keys inside the car.
     
  16. Brad Roberts

    Brad Roberts New Member

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    I have experienced a similiar situation.
    While driving to work, over a variety of roads/hwys, the warning triangle flashed, a tone sounded, and the display said "Key detected in vehicle." This happened 3-4 times for about a minute, then turned off. Fob was fine, (car was only 3 weeks old), only one fob in the car.
    When we left the house, I put stuff in the back, noticed a backpack strap close to where the lift back closes, thought nothing of it cause the hatch seemed to close. Once I got dropped off taking my bag with me from the back, my wife drove home and it did not happen again.
    Considering a few other accounts of a similiar experience with the lift back ajar, I figure that is what happened in my case.