Hi all, I just bought a 2008 Prius and I cannot get the Smart Entry (touch the inside door handle to unlock doors) to work. I've replaced the FOB battery and the Smart key button is pushed out. Smart entry does work on the trunk but will not work on the driver or passenger handles. Also,I've put 50 miles on the car and the real-time mpg shows anywhere from 20 mpg to 100 mpg which is normal. However, the AVERAGE MPG shows about 8.1mpg. Any ideas what the problem is? I'm not using much gas because my tank level displays FULL. Thanks!
If you just bought it, then do a reset for the MFD. Press the "reset" touch button on the screen. As for the smart key system, do you have a little black square by each door and by the trunk?
Thanks, I'll try the MFD reset. Yes, I have a black rubber square on the driver and front passenger door handles and on the trunk.
If the smart key works on the trunk, then it should work on the doors also, since the whole system is linked. When you approach the car with the FOB in your pocket do the interior lights go on? If they do touch the back of the door handles only (not the black button on the outside of the handle) the door should unlock. If the interior lights do not go on when you approach the car then the car is not recognizing your FOB. Was this a private sale or from a Toyota dealer? In either case take the car to Toyota if you purchased it from a dealer then the fix should come under the 30 day warantee, if not you will probably have to pay. If you feel gutsy, you could disconnect the negative cable of the 12V battery, wait about 5 minutes and reconnect the terminal. This will reset all the electronics in the car including the radio presets, auto power windows (up/down), and all the computers in the car. Hopefully, this will solve your problem.
Yes, the interior lights come on when I approach the car. I'm not touching the black rubber button near the handle. I grab the handle (and the inside of the handle) and nothing happens. I own another Prius and smart entry works fine on it. I bought the car from a Toyota dealership and it is Certified and also has a 60 day warranty. I might disconnect the battery just for fun or just take it up to the dealership. This is an interesting problem. Thanks!
http://priuschat.com/forums/newbie-forum/73400-weird-stuff-happening-mpgs-dropping-test-battery.html I'd try this out after the car has sat turned off overnight or at least 8 hours...
First, thanks to those who replied trying to help. What a great community! PROBLEM: To recap, "Smart Entry" did not work on the driver or front passenger door but it did work on the hatch. In other words, the doors would not auto-unlock when I approached the car and grasp the door handle (touching the inside of the handle specifically). When I approached the car, the interior lights did turn on. SOLUTION: My local Toyota dealership found the problem. There is a "Door Oscillator" (Part #89991-47031 @ $192.94 each) that went bad - in each door. So the labor and parts came to about $950.00. Luckily, I purchased the car as a Certified Toyota Vehicle and this was indeed covered. So all I had to do was pay a $50.00 deductible. I ran a diagnostic on my battery and the no load voltage came back 11.7V and the load was in the 10.0V range. The dealership said my battery would need replacing in about a year but this did not cause the problem. They didn't know what caused this to happen. Just glad it's fixed. Thanks again.
Your 12V battery is bad, and should be replaced as soon as possible. That is much more likely the source of the problem than having both oscillators go bad at the same time. At least you are only out $50. I think your dealer found some low-hanging fruit...rather than the solution. Your battery will not last a year, it may not even last until tomorrow, with the numbers that you have posted. If you have a charger, put it on overnight at 4 amps or less.
Just did another test after coming home from the dealership. Vehicle Signal Check - 12.0V Load - 11.8V Ready mode - 14.0V I know that the Load voltage was in the 10v range when it was delivered. Perhaps the vehicle sat at the dealership.
My guess as to what happened is that they left the car in Ready long enough while doing diagnostics for the 12V to be minimally recharged, such that after changing out the oscillators, everything works. If you have a charger, put it on over night. There's still some hope for your battery if it is holding 12.0V right now.
I don't have a charger. But I think I'll run the diagnostic again several times this week. If I get a 10V load again then I'll replace the battery.
Your battery is beyond dead. A 12v battery only shows 12v or less when it is DEAD. It should read 12.6 to 12.8v when nothing is connected, and not dip below 12v under load. Your dealer is misinformed and no doubt the "problem" will come back once the 12v decays a bit more. Replace it now.
Wow - you guys are kind of freaking me out. I think I can repalce the battery myself (I've always done it on other cars). What battery do you recommend? How's the 12V battery w/smartkey from https://www.toyotapartscenter.net/2008toyotaPriusparts.html for $110.96?
The other popular option is an Optima deep cycle conversion kit from elearnaid.com. More expensive, but far more robust.
that's a good price for the toyota battery and will fit perfectly and be an easy swap. the optima is a longer lasting alternative but comes with adapters and is a bit more of a challenge to install.
