Rav Wouldn't Recognise Smart Key So Wouldn't Start

[blue monster]

Dear agony aunts,

I seem to have one problem after another - tonight I took one of my dogs to the vets, parked up outside, came back out and pressed the 'unlock' button on my remote to open the rear door and nothing happened. I pressed the button again & could see the little red light flashing on the remote but no reaction from the car. I pressed the 'lock' button, again no reaction, so I took the small key out of the remote to open the drivers door hoping that I could override the system and drive the car home. Apart from being deafened by the alarm as soon as I opened the door I was unsure as to exactly how I was going to get it started, so gave up fairly quickly and phoned my wife asking her to come down to the vets with the spare remote/smart key, not really sure what to expect as I knew the remote I had still had Battery life (I only replaced both batteries about 3 months ago). So we all walked home and I dug out the owners manual and returned back down to the vets planning to follow the idiots guide - foot on clutch pedal and smart key against the start/stop button according to the manual to get it to start.

Anyway, got there, thought I would give it one more go and pressed the 'unlock' button on the remote and to my surprise the hazards flashed and I heard the doors unlock. So I started it, stopped it, got out, locked it, unlocked it, started it again, drove home and have gone through the unlock/start/lock process about 5 times since I got home and all has been fine. I wouldn't mind but I have taken the RAV to work today, nipped in to Chester at lunch time, got fuel on the way home and all with no issues.

Has any one idea what the hell happened tonight as it had left me scratching my head completely confused as all appears to be fine now?

Cheers

Martin

[CharlieFarlie]

Could this be the start of a flat Battery ?? Give them a change and see if that cures it .... These fancy dan electrics sometimes throw a wobbly and then it never happens again ...

Wee Charlie

[blue monster]

Changed the batteries in both remotes about 3 months ago mate, both remotes had the little red lights flashing as I pressed the buttons tonight but to no avail.

I am guessing that some thing has reset in the 30 minutes or so that it took us to walk home with our poor Rotty who has really bad arthritis, hence driving to the vets in the 1st place.

Have I been a fcukwit here and done some thing stupid or can any one shed any light as to why this happened?

[abraxas]

My RAV has also done that a few times. I was told it is interfernce that can cause this. Makes sense seeing how it does use radio waves to unlock. It only ever happens near my home and only occasionally. Once it persisted for about a week but only in front of the house... I am sure shcm confirmed it could have been inteference and that is usually good enough for me.

Personally, i blame one of the neighbours and their xbox Singstar or whatever it is called. I once caught someone murdering Ozzie's "Paranoid" on my wireless headphones :) funny ...

[blue monster]

I did have the remote/smart key in my pocket next to my smartphone for the 30 minutes or so that I was in the vets but that does not explain why the 2nd remote that my wife took down to me would not work either and I have done this (as in phone & remote in same pocket) multiple times since having the car without any issues.

[Chris_Halford]

I've had this happen to me several times on a 2004 RAV. It transpired, as someone has mentioned already, that it was to do with interference. It only happened when the car was parked outside the garage, any other time it was fine. Very random also......

[abraxas]

I don't claim any expertise on the matter, Blue. The way I understood it is that it is the wave between the key and the car that is getting "interfered with" :). That explains why neither key would work. SAme thing was happening to my one. Neither key would work.

I don'think that the smartphone did anything to your key. It is just tx/rx that was not happening as it was supposed to.

[blue monster]

Its all very weird & interesting that a few people have experienced this given how long remote control access has been around for - can't say I've ever experienced this on any other car. As long as it stays sporadic & I'll park some where else next time I go to the vets then I will have to live will this

[anchorman]

The remotes can be scrambled by external radio waves. It can happen for all sorts of reasons like close proximity to phone masts, substations or even something as daft as a wireless shed alarm. If you cannot gain entry you have to place the remote close to the receiver which on the RAV is close to the rear door on the C pillar. Have a look on the attached pdf and read the first page plus the location page for the RAV.

4.3 interferance of door lock due to radio signals.pdf

[blue monster]

Anchorman - thank you!

I was going to ask what do people do to overcome this as you cant just abandon your car somewhere :-)

[pgp001]

I used to get that problem on a fairly regular basis with my Audi A6.

When it happened you had to open a door with the actual key, and then turn the ignition on with about 20 seconds or the alarm would go off.

Once you had done that it worked fine.

I thing the RAV is different and you cannot disarm the immediate alarm without the remote.

Phil

[ninjakev]

I get this same problem regularly at our local shops.

It also used to happen with the Discovery I had before in excactly the same place !!

[Parts-King]

I saw the very same thing on the TV news a while back, somewhere in the Lake District, owners would park up and be unable to lock / unlock their cars, after all sorts of nonsense about spooks and ghosts, turned out it was a Cafe that had a new wireless ordering system for their waitresses, a sort of wireless palm that takes your order in the Cafe and sends the order to the kitchen

Kingo

[blue monster]

Interestingly the service bulletin that Anchs has posted states the following:

This phenomenon could occur:

When carrying a portable radio, cellular phone, cordless phone or other wireless communication device.

Also, our vets has just joined the 21st century and gone high-tec with computers, servers, wireless network, etc, so it's probably them who have screwed with our motor :censor:

Will print this bulletin off and keep in the glovebox for future reference!!

[Manxrav]

As I posted on a similar thread on TOC forums, my previous X3 was a sod for doing this in Tesco,s carpark in Douglas. Even the main dealer on the island knew about it.It was the surrounding radio waves in that area that caused the problem. Has never happened in the U/C believe it or not. Just one of those weird sinarios!!!!!!!

Regards Clare

[LiamsDad@hotmail.com]

If your Rav4 (mine is a 2015) stops recognizing the key fob that came with the car and won't start, try the following:
1.  Use the key fob end to push the start button (do NOT put your foot on the brake as if to start the car).  The dash should light up.
2.  Push the start button with the key fob again but this time continue to hold the start button in with the key fob (still no foot on the brake). Your control screen should show a progress line progressively moving from left to right as the vehicle reacquaints itself with the key fob.
3.  When the process has completely cycled, take the key fob away, step on the brake, push the start button, and hopefully the car will now start.
NOTE:  I don't think this would work to program a new fob that did not come with the car when it was purchased.  Only to reacquaint an existing fob.
Hope this helps!