Wireless Remote Locking

[llith]

Had a problem locking my RAV tonight.Pressed the button on the fob nothing happened.Went closer to the car again nothing ,the red led on the fob came on every time I pressed.Got the spare fob - same thing would not lock the car.

Decided to drive down to Tesco Extra to buy a new fob Battery CR1616 , nowhere else open . Parked up , tried the fob , hey presto it worked.Went in , no batteries of this type.Back to the car the fob worked to open from over 5m away.Drove home , parked ,fob worked and locked the car.Tried the second fob again , worked fine!

Why did it not work previously , are these radio waves affected by other sources , broadband wireless routers for example ? Are the batteries coming to the end of their life ,18 months old ?

Any ideas ?

[Steve@Aberdeen]

Had a problem locking my RAV tonight.Pressed the button on the fob nothing happened.Went closer to the car again nothing ,the red led on the fob came on every time I pressed.Got the spare fob - same thing would not lock the car.

Decided to drive down to Tesco Extra to buy a new fob battery CR1616 , nowhere else open . Parked up , tried the fob , hey presto it worked.Went in , no batteries of this type.Back to the car the fob worked to open from over 5m away.Drove home , parked ,fob worked and locked the car.Tried the second fob again , worked fine!

Why did it not work previously , are these radio waves affected by other sources , broadband wireless routers for example ? Are the batteries coming to the end of their life ,18 months old ?

Any ideas ?

It could be the fob Battery but were your doors all shut? On my '06 XT4, this happens if a door hasn't been closed properly. On my previous Freelander, the horn would beep to indicate a problem - on the Rav4 there's no warning - you have to listen for the locks or look for the indicator flash to know the doors have locked.

[matman]

Not that is going to be of any help, but I have exactly the same problem. I only changed the Battery 6 months ago so there is plenty of life in it.

I found that it happned last week when the weather was really warm, I don't know whether this is a factor on not.

[Scouser]

I have the same problem on my 2002 RAV4. Happens both with unlocking and locking. I normally stick the key in the lock and do it manualy and after that it normaly works ok.

[Moffmo]

just be careful, thieves use signal jammers in the hope that you will walk away fr4om the car without realising it hasn't locked.

[Zathras]

Again, not going to help much here.. but strangely I had something along these lines today.

I couldn't open the car however rather than lock it, I have XT5 and the door wouldn't open on the usual walk up to it and pulling the handle, so after a few attempts and check I did actually have the keys on me I started to use the button on the fob with no effect either.

After pressing the button a whole bunch of times and nearly walking away to think about solutions to my sudden predicament it unlocked, and every attempt from then on to use the fob button or proximity works flawlessly. Odd!

I vaguely remember this happening once after a I first got it and switching the fob I carry for my spare as a result guessing low Battery, although I didn't think it could be. I'm also sure the Battery is ok in this fob.

Now it could be weather as it was especially good suddenly of late, but also I'm currently in Manchester so that could be it also given the mention of signal jammers here. ;)

[Moffmo]

ChrisCanavan from manchester had the same problem with his yaris a few months back!

[llith]

It could be the fob Battery but were your doors all shut? On my '06 XT4, this happens if a door hasn't been closed properly. On my previous Freelander, the horn would beep to indicate a problem - on the Rav4 there's no warning - you have to listen for the locks or look for the indicator flash to know the doors have locked.

Steve , the older RAV (2000-2005)has a buzzer that sounds when you try to lock it and a door is not closed properly .All the doors were closed when I failed to lock it.

Anyhow it seems that I am not the only one that has experienced this .

Just in case I need new batteries I have ordered a strip of 5 on eBay for £1.50 +£1.30p+p.Details obtained from a previous thread on this forum

No problems at work today , locked and unlocked ok.

I am still thinking on the lines of interference from wireless broadband routers , I have one in the house and my daughter's laptop is picking a signal off two others in the vicinity .

Thanks to all who replied.

A really helpful forum

[02skn]

We have had the same problem with both our cars. Very confused i mentioned it to a neighbour who is also having problems with a brand new Saab 9-3 estate. Speaking to other neighbours most of them have had this problem over the last twelve months and only when parked in our close. We have all come to the conclusion that as it is a new estate and most of the people in our street run wireless broadband, that must be the problem. To many waves interfering with the key fobs.

[tufty9]

This is EXACTLY the same thing that happened to mine on Good Friday - See post http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=64906 only my car was alarmed and locked and couldn't get into it, or turn off the alarm once opened door with key!

The RAC man managed to override the alarm for an hour, we drove the car out to Toyota garage where we tried it again, and it worked, and has worked fine ever since, so we didn't bother speaking to anyone at Toyota as just sales staff were there as a bank holiday! It is extremely worrying to know it could be wireless broadband as more people are getting it, meaning this could start happening a lot more frequently. Trouble is what to do when it happens and how to get the fobs to work if don't work where the car is parked!

[RAV4Girl]

Had a problem locking my RAV tonight.Pressed the button on the fob nothing happened.Went closer to the car again nothing ,the red led on the fob came on every time I pressed.Got the spare fob - same thing would not lock the car.

Decided to drive down to Tesco Extra to buy a new fob battery CR1616 , nowhere else open . Parked up , tried the fob , hey presto it worked.Went in , no batteries of this type.Back to the car the fob worked to open from over 5m away.Drove home , parked ,fob worked and locked the car.Tried the second fob again , worked fine!

Why did it not work previously , are these radio waves affected by other sources , broadband wireless routers for example ? Are the batteries coming to the end of their life ,18 months old ?

Any ideas ?

Hi,

Unfortunately no idea's but I have had the same problem with my 02 D4D - the first time it happened we were on a caravan site in Wales miles from anywhere so I'm not sure about the wireless broadband thing - but like you, came to it later and worked perfectly at distance too.

[llith]

Same again tonight . It would not lock when parked on my drive.

Drove down to the garage to buy some fuel . No problem locked fine when I went in to pay .Unlocked from over 5m away on the way out.

Arrived home , parked on the drive , guess what - it would not lock !!!

Went into the house switched my wireless broadband router off .

Tried locking again with the fob - still would not work , then I had to lock each door manually .

I suppose my next plan of action will be to ask all my neighbours to find who has wireless broadband as I know that there are at least two nearby as I have been picking the signals up on my daughter's laptop.Then ask them to switch off for a few minutes so that I can try my fob then.

[matman]

Just to update you on my own 'fob' problems, I spoke with my dad last night and told him I was having problems with the RAV key. He said he and my sisters boyfriend were also having problems outside my dad's house activating their keys!!!! Dad - Rover, Sister's BF - Vauxhall

I know for definite that there is a number of wireless router because my son picks them up on his PSP when we go round there.

I don't think that this is a resolvable problem unless people start protecting their signal.

[eanjohn]

have a look around your nebours for any long cb & ham radio arials that is what was playing mine up,

not only my car but my garage door kept opening on its own :(

[llith]

Did a bit of research on google today and found this :

SBD Investigates! Radio Frequency Interference

Have you or your colleagues experienced problems with RF interference? If so, SBD would like to hear about it! Please e-mail your stories to: feedback@sbd.co.uk A proliferation of radio frequency controlled devices in both the domestic and commercial marketplace has led to reports of systems malfunctioning due to interference from other frequency sources. The automotive sector specifically has reported door locking, alarm and immobiliser systems not working under some circumstances or in some geographical areas.

SBD is undertaking independent investigation into the cause of these malfunctions and is building a knowledge base with which to support their clients in this difficult area. This investigation encompasses

pending legislation, technical solutions, field measurements and analysis of specific problems reported by car owners and industry sources.

Eg: “My car won’t start with the new smart key push button system when I park it next to the automatic car wash at my local supermarket. This has happened twice now at the same location, but never anywhere else!”

Eg: “My neighbour complained to me that his wireless doorbell ringswhen I use the remote key fob to

lock or unlock my car on the driveway!”

SBD are automotive technology consultants in vehicle security .

I have sent them some feedback to the above email address , hopefully other people on this forum might do the same .This is a growing problem in my opinion as more and more people are using wifi devices.

[bitman]

@ llith,

you hit the nail on it's head!

more and more wireless stuff is comming in our lives. this is causing most of the problems. they interference with eatch other hence not working. in the oldy days having a ham (cb) on am or ssb was a crime but these days so many wireless gear is around that it will cause problems.

SBD is a good way to make a official complain about this.