A bit of an odd problem this one. My Yaris is gradually getting worse at responding to the keyfob remote locking. When I first got it (about 2 months back) it worked fine. Now, it is very patchy. Oddly enough, it tends to work better the further you are from the car (to a limit!) and from certain angles. I checked the battery which was a bit low (3V) but have tried two different new batteries (GP and Rayovac) with no real improvement.
Any ideas? Does the car have a separate aerial for the remote, or does it use the radio aerial? Might it just be the cold weather? Does it need a 'special' battery? The original battery reads about 3.05V, but only drops to 2.8V when I press a button. Both of the new ones read 3.3V no load, but drop to about 2.7V when a button is pressed. Are they just not up to the job?
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Try putting the keyfob under your chin. Something to do with using your skull to boost the signal.
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try using the spare key to see if its the same. try pointing the
key at windows, the signal will traval through glass better
than metal. there's no aerial as such for the remote as its a high frequency signal.
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The spare is just a normal key. It does seem to work better if I hold the key up a bit, but it is still not as consistent as it was just a few weeks back. I suspect the cold is a factor as I could just touch the button with the key in my pocket before and it locked no trouble.
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Are you picking up interference from a nearby radio mast, are the problems only in one area?
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That's what I thought at first, but it seems to happen all the time. The odd thing is that as I say it usually works fine once you have got more than 5 or 10 yards from the car, but is very picky close to...
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Steve
My wife runs a 1.3 CDX Auto Yaris.
The remote central locking works fine at any (reasonable)distance.
My advice (worth about £0.02) is get the dealer to sort out - 3 year warranty and all that.
You could compare performance with one of the forecourt/showroom vehicles.
As to diagnosis - their problem!
Good Luck
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As I've just had to write to the dealer, cc the MD of the group, to try and get some other issues with the car resolved, I can't see I'm going to have a lot of luck that way...
Would any Toyota dealer do a warranty repair, or only the one I bought it from?
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Might be the contacts inside the fob which can become coated with a thin layer of oxidation. Take the battery out and lightly clean the tiny metal contacts, using some abrasive cleaner on a cotton wool plug or similar. Then wipe clean with IMS (meths) and re-assemble using new batteries Also give the batteries a good rub with the same.. It's worked for me previously, worth a go before the dreaded trek to the dealer.
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The Toyota warranty is a 3 year pan european warranty and is not tied to the supplying dealer. Have you contacted Toyota UK or cc'd them on your letter?
Good Luck - do not give up!
NormanB
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