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Smart Entry ???

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Papagena, Apr 24, 2004.

  1. Papagena

    Papagena New Member

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    Who has advice about the SS-SE? Here's the story:

    I took everyone's advice and decided to get the Prius from the mean dealer instead of wait months to get it from the dream dealer. Ah, at last, after 6 months my salsa-red Prius finally arrived! Salesman gave me lessons with the SS-SE and all worked that Monday night.

    Tuesday the Smart Entry no longer worked, and I hadn't disabled it. I could open the car "manually" from the key fob. It would not lock by pressing the small button, but would only give the "long beep." I was told that this means an open door, and so I checked and slammed all doors and hood and hatch. Still only the long beep. I took it in, and the salesman couldn't make it work. By then the service dept. was closed.

    Wednesday I returned to the service department. The Prius expert said the SE worked perfectly and demonstrated that it did. He read the famous sentence from the manual about the long beep and the open door. He was spending an inordinate amount of time reading the manual. Has he been properly trained? He did NOT believe me that it hadn't worked, until I told him the salesman had seen the problem. Only then did he believe me, and surely because the salesMAN had seen it.

    So: he had done nothing and the SS-SE worked properly. It had NOT worked when I left home that morning! I left, stopped to do an errand, and lo and behold, the SS-SE didn't work; the long beep prevented the doors from being locked.

    I'm not going back to have this fixed for awhile :guns: until this "expert" will learn to do more than read the manual, and make the SS-SE work!

    Has anyone experienced this erratic behaviour of the SS-SE?

    Is there a way to get it to work? I'd like to be able to walk up to the car and have it unlock, and then lock upon command when I exit the car. Can I do anything other than consult this "trained expert" who can only read the manual?

    Do you have ideas and/or suggestions about the SS-SE?
    Meanwhile, my Prius rides like silk and is a dream to drive.
     
    #1 Papagena, Apr 24, 2004
  2. benbethel

    benbethel Junior Member

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    Check to see that your spare keyfob isn't hidden in the lower glove box. If it is (this happened to me - we couldn't find it) then the car will give a long beep as it knows that there's a valid key somewhere in the car.
     
    #2 benbethel, Apr 24, 2004
  3. hedwig

    hedwig New Member

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    It can be really frustrating when you have a problem and people keep pointing out obvious stuff that you'lve already tried...so here's another one! :lol:

    You checked all the doors again, right? Okay, next time you have to do that, really whale on the hatch door. That one only kinda closes sometimes - sounds like a close, feels like a close, not a close. It's possible the hatch was only closed-ish and that kept your SE from working. We've all had our turns griping about the touchy hatch door.
     
    #3 hedwig, Apr 24, 2004
  4. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    one possible thing you could try is to cycle the disabler switch a couple of times just in the off chance that it's just on the edge of making contact and causing the intermittent operation you describe.
     
    #4 Frank Hudon, Apr 24, 2004
  5. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    #1 - check for spare keyfob inside vehicle as mentioned - yes, obvious, but just to be sure.

    #2 when trying to lock the door, have someone else try to lock it with you and your keyfob far away from the car - sometimes (though not too likely) the car will be too close to the keyfob and will think it's inside the car, hence giving you the long beeps.

    #3 - perhaps try shutting off the SS/SE system, then bringing it back on? You know, the old 'if somethings wrong with electronics, power it off and back on' trick.

    #4 - the car is completely off too, right? again, an obvious, but just double check that IG-ON mode isn't on.

    #5 - I'm not sure on this at all, but perhaps you can take it to another dealer - the dream dealer, and any toyota place *should* honor the warranty, I'd think. Just tell them the other dealer refuses to work with you.

    hope some of these help.

    -m.
     
    #5 rflagg, Apr 24, 2004
  6. Papagena

    Papagena New Member

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    :D :lol: :mrgreen:

    Thanks so much, everyone! All those suggestions are great. The problem was the spare keyfob. It was in with my manual, and I had been told to keep everything in the car. The salesman didn't put the manual in the car until I was ready to drive away, hence the SS-SE worked during his demo. The next day it didn't work because I kept everything in the car (except when reading the manual, in the house). The SS-SE did work for the Prius expert, because he took the manual and pack of stuff out of the car so he could read the manual. (This is very suspicious; he is supposed to be trained well!) And it did not work the instant I left the dealership because... you guessed it... the manual packet with the spare keyfob was back in the car.

    Hurrah for all these simple low-tech solutions! I've printed them out for future reference :D
     
    #6 Papagena, Apr 24, 2004
  7. whatshisname

    whatshisname New Member

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    My '04 came with two keys. My wife and I decided that she would carry one in her purse for her use and I would carry the other for my use. Then we decided we should have a third for a spare in case one of us lost one. We called our dealer to order one and learned an additonal key would cost $274. Now, one of our keys is in our safe and the other hangs on a hook available to either of us when we decide to use the car. Whatshisname. :wink:
     
    #7 whatshisname, Apr 26, 2004
  8. lizmariecat

    lizmariecat New Member

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    Hi guys--new to my Prius--2005, purchased two weeks ago and quite new to keyless entry. What is the secret? I feel like I'm held hostage by alarms if we don't do the right thing within the specified number of seconds? The salesman mentioned smart entry but I literally have to be very close and click the 'unlock icon' to get in....don't mean to be a dumb bunny but..........................thanks
     
    #8 lizmariecat, Oct 2, 2010
  9. Springtime

    Springtime Member

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    Liz,
    Smart key means that you don't even have to take the key fob out of your purse to open the door! Just have it on you or in your purse and simply touch the door handle and the car will unlock for you. The fob can be set to unlock all doors or just the driver's door - see your owners manual on how to do this. No need to put the key fob in the dash, just leave it in you purse . Just push the start button ( making sure you have your foot firmly on the brake). This car will not start unless your foot is on the brake.

    If you leave the key fob in the car , exit and try to lock the door by pressing the black button on the door - it will not let you lock the door because you left the key in the car!

    DO make sure you have a fresh battery in each of your Key fobs. If the battery is bad, you can open the driver's door with the little manual key hidden in the key fob. If the battery in the fob is dead you will need to insert the key fob in the dash to be able to start the car. No key fob - you can not start the car.

    Hope you received 2 key fobs for your car, because if you only got one you could have a real problem (expense to replace) if you ever loose the key fob. The manual key is only for opening the driver's door when your battery in the key fob is dead - you must have a key fob to start your car which is why you should insist on receiving two key fobs when you buy a used Prius.

    Springtime
     
    #9 Springtime, Oct 2, 2010
  10. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Hello and welcome to PriusChat!

    With SKS, you don't have to "click" any button. The fob remains in your pocket or purse and you simply walk up to the car and grab the door handle as if it wasn't locked. The car will unlock the car then.

    If you're using the fob to lock/unlock like a regular remote keyless entry function on other cars and you can't get good range on it, replace the battery. Chances are, the battery is 5-6 years old (i.e. it's the original) and it's near the end of its life.
     
    #10 Tideland Prius, Oct 2, 2010
    1 person likes this.
  11. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    This is how a smart key should work.

    [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu7GSV-6XSM]YouTube - Smart Key in Prius (How it works)[/ame]
     
    #11 usbseawolf2000, Oct 2, 2010
    1 person likes this.
  12. wesg

    wesg Junior Member

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    After reading 100 pages of "SKS" posts, this thread solved my problem. Long beep when trying to lock with the button on the door = my supposedly "lost" key was found way under the driver's seat! Saved me a bunch of money and having to learn the Chicken Dance!
     
    #12 wesg, Feb 12, 2015
    Tideland Prius likes this.
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