Keyless entry doesn't work..non sks

What happens when you use the other fob?

Do the electric locks work when you press the interior lock button?

Where did you get the battery for your fob? It wouldn't be the first bad replacement battery.

Tom

 

It's either the fob or something in the car. You have three possible courses of action:

1) Look for bad fuses. I don't know which one runs the key system, but a blown fuse would keep it from working.

2) Try another fob battery from a different store. Make sure the battery contacts are clean.

3) Try the fob at a different location. Local RF interference could keep it from working.

4) Dealer.

I would start with another fob battery. It's surprising how often this will work. A marginal battery will have enough juice to light the LED without really working.

Tom

 

From what I've read here, 12v or less showing on the 12v battery. with no load, is a"fail"...
It may not be the cause, but it may be worth looking at. Lots of odd things can happen, apparently.

 

i agree with RikM on the battery.

you should notice things though... like the car takes a few seconds to hit ready mode. everything starting out dim-ish but then gets bright when the car hits ready. you should also be able to hear the doors trying to unlock but failing.

you're car is an 05... it's simply too old to have a good 12v battery if you don't maintain it yourself. (there are a few on here that do that)

 

Good point about the 12V battery. With the Prius, all bets are off if the 12V battery is weak.

Tom

 

I once had a problem with the fob for a BMW 530i. As it turns out, the fob battery was fine but a chip inside the fob got unplugged from its port. I slid it back into the port and it worked fine. (I don't know if the Prius fob has a plug-in chip like that.)

 

Afternoon,
My first chat room, so here it goes... I have two fobe's and neither are workeding. The first one is a day to day and the second I keep as a spare. The first one finally stopped working mid last week, (meaning it would work one day, not the next) so went to see if the seond would get me going and neither will do anything, other than start the car when I use the fobe as a key to start the car. I see two buttons under the steering wheel, one for "Key" and the other for "Reset".

Have searched the web for something about these two buttons without much help, other than putting in a battery or reprograming the fobe.
I have a 2006 model. I like conversation your having and sounds like some knowledge between the chatters, so point me in a direction.

Thank you.

 

The "Key" button under the steering wheel disables the SKS. Most likely this is your problem. Try it in the other position.

As for information, this topic has been covered in multiple threads on PriusChat, so you might want to brush up a bit on your search skills. I like using Google from outside of PriusChat. Form the search string like this:

Take the spaces out before and after the ":". I had to add them to keep PC from turning it into a smiley face like this:

Tom

 

50something,

When you say "it would work one day, not the next", do you mean it alternates back & forth between working & not working, or only that it was fine the day before it stopped working & it hasn't worked since?

If you DON'T mean it alternates back & forth, then take gbee42's suggestion about trying the "Key" button in the "other" position (meaning "out"---although the difference between "in" & "out" is so slight, I suggest you get down on your knees to carefully observe which is "out" as you switch back & forth between the two positions). And let us know if that cured your problem.

The other button labeled "Reset" is to reset your tire pressure monitoring system to the pressure range you prefer to use (if you choose to change it from the pressures recommended on the sticker on your door pillar). You may find that running with 42 lbs in front & 40 lbs in the rear (instead of the specified 35 & 33 lbs) will extend your tire life. It helped in my case as well as for many others.

By the way, the fob doesn't get programmed. The car gets programmed to accept your fobs (or any new ones up to the quantity of 4 total), so I doubt your car lost its memory regarding either of your 2 present ones. (If you add any more fobs, they must have the silver Toyota logo & have the part number for a fob from a 2006 thru 2009 Prius---something is different from the part number for a 2004-2005 fob. Did pushing or changing the position of your "Key" button underneath the dash cure your problem?

I'm going to say now what I will suggest to the original poster also. Have you tried opening (by the fob only) from the passenger side as well? If it opens from that side but not the driver's side, then the driver's door antenna may have failed.

Since your car is now 5 years old, it's possible that your fob batteries need to be replaced. When you press your fob button to unlock or lock, does a little red light come on about a half inch to the right of the "lock" symbol? My day-to-day fob was requiring multiple tries from really close range to the door to get it to unlock at around 4 years of age, so I tried a new fob battery & that cured MY problem (I had forgotten about the light since I always have my fob inside a protective leather cover that doesn't have a cutout to make the light visible). I never tried the spare fob, but it's possible that yours (& mine) have dead batteries (even though unused) just because of their age. Batteries don't last forever, including your 12v that is in the rear hatch area under the floorboard on the right/passenger side.

If the passenger side try didn't work & changing the "Key" push-button didn't help, or new fob batteries either, then probably a new 12v battery will do the trick. See either your dealer for a new Toyota one or get the Optima Yellow Top one [WITH the PENCIL POSTS (smaller), or you will have to buy extra an adapter kit (since the cable clamps are smaller than standard size)]. Good luck.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

urasboss,

Did you try using the fob (after you replaced its' battery) at some different location (as gbee42 said in his post #5, option #3) away from your home (or wherever it didn't work), because radio/tv towers or high tension electric lines nearby (or even your own cellphone held too close) can interfere with your fob's signal? Did you also try unlocking from the passenger side? If it worked on the passenger side but not the driver's side , then I would say your driver's side antenna has failed---see your dealer.

Regarding your 12v replacement (since you said it's a 6 year old original) : the voltage for a healthy battery should be 12.4-12.6v with NO load, maybe dropping down to 11.8-12.1 depending on how many accessories you turn for the load. I'd say your 12v is toast. Considering how old your car is (& how much longer you may want to keep it), either go with the slightly cheaper Toyota battery, or spend a little more on the Optima Yellow Top [but WITH the smaller PENCIL POSTS (since your battery clamps are smaller than standard size & without the pencil post one, you will have to pay extra for an adapter kit to downsize to the smaller cable clamps)].

Now, what really scares me is in your post #4, you say that you have only one fob. Do you realize how much it will cost you if you lose that one & only? You need one working fob to access the car's system for programming (although in your case "working' at the present time is questionable---probably just needs a new 12v battery in the car). It's cheaper to buy one new fob & get your car programmed to accept it by going to the dealer or a really good locksmith with the correct equipment to do it [& either one can cut the new hidden metal key to fit your door lock (even if you no longer have the metal key code on the little metal tag that came on one of the original fobs---the dealer can look up that code from Toyota's data base using your VIN#)]. While either one is programming your car for the new fob, you should have them delete the fob ID of the missing one so whoever possesses it can't unlock your car & start it & drive off.

However, if your "one & only" fob goes missing, you will be forced to pay for an expensive "seed" code from Toyota that is the only other way that allows them to get into your car's system to delete the old fobs & program the new ones (you should always own 2). Buying one new one now & getting your car programmed for it is way cheaper than paying for the seed code first then buying 2 fobs & the associated programming.

When you buy fob(s), you need to get ones with the black Toyota logo (since you say you car is non-SKS) & the part number must be for a 2004-2005 because something internal was changed with the part number for the 2006-2009 fobs.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Deleted duplicate post

 

Hi there, sorry to bring this thread up again.

right now i'm having the same problem with you.just wondering if you have found out the problem with yours.

mine is 2007 Prius with non SKS key. the remote key works fine when the car is in front of my house, but it sometimes stop working when i park it somewhere else (Mall,etc). so sometimes it works and the other time it doesnt. my 12V battery is pretty new, so i eliminate that as the cause. i also changed the FOB battery recently, so it shouldnt be dead battery.

please inform if you have find the solution for this matter. thanks a lot.

 

Malls are a problem. Lots of anti theft RFID that goes way out to the parking lot that interferes with the rf from the remote. The rf that system transmits is huge and very close to the freq of the remote. It swamps the rf from the remote/sks system. So all bets are off in a mall parking lot. You would have to grab the door handle. That and sometimes if you keep the FOB in the same pocket as a cell phone too.

 

I don't fnd a lot of problems when inside a mall or inside a building area but sometimes it hard when its outdoor.. I think it got something to do with the GSM antenna in the area..