Hi folks, I've had the car for 2 months. Yesterday it locked me out - the remote wouldn't open the doors! Minor panic - thoughts of walking home many kms! Then remembered the small key provided for this situation. Got in OK and everything still worked - much relief! Hasn't happened again so far, so must be a computer glitch. Has anyone else been locked out? (non smart entry) regards, kenmac
Maybe there was RF interference of some type that was overpowering the low-power transmitter in the remote? Dave
Wouldn't think so - it would need to be fairly powerfull - I was parked in a shopping centre carpark in an area where I have been many times before. Not worrying about it unless it reoccurs frequently. kenmac
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.
Oh! It's happened again!! Same car park. There is an auto door nearby but I've been there many times before. The car locked OK as normal. When I returned, it did not respond at all to the remote, so entered with the metal key. What a good idea - I didn't expect to ever need it! Maybe Toyota knows there can be a problem with the remote? I turned on the power, then switched off, and locked the car again. This time it unlocked OK - and I couldn't fault it with several cycles lock/unlock! There is no obvious source of interference - no power lines or microwave antennae nearby. Just a gaggle of small shops. I don't know if there are underground power cables in the vicinity. Anyway, the metal key is always there as an immediate solution. One question though - why doesn't it also prevent the "locking" action? You would think that it (whatever) would corrupt both the lock and unlock signals? Life goes on. kenmac
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!
Thanks for the info re the antenna. I have revisited the same site/position twice since and there has been no further problem! Also, it hasn't occurred at any other place (so far). There doesn't appear to be any obvious form of transmitter nearby, but I suppose it could be an intermittent source from one of the stores in the centre. There is an ATM nearby - can they generate RFI? kenmac
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.
I saw something on TV the other day referring to the use cell phones to deliberately interfere with remote locking of cars. Apparently the persons locking their cars weren't aware that they didn't actually lock, they assumed without physically checking! This must be the latest means of illegally getting into cars in shopping centres, etc. I watched the demo on how they do it, but I wasn't really concentrating at the time so I don't remember the details. kenmac
On a different note - if my bluetooth phone is in the same pocket as my FOB, my smart entry will fail to work. Move the phone to the other pocket, and all is fine again. Only other experience is in AZ heat, the Smart Entry lock button seems to take 2-3 tries before it engages.
<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
