Remote Control Replacement/Reprogram

[mopiko]

Hey guys just wondering if anyone has had the battery in their remote go flat and had to replace it. Toyota are telling me I have to replace the whole unit which will cost around $35 for the unit itself and $18 for programming it.

Now I think thats ridiculous.... So I know on some cars you can just replace the battery and theres a procedure to reprogram it. Can this be done?

[neK]

Hey guys just wondering if anyone has had the battery in their remote go flat and had to replace it. Toyota are telling me I have to replace the whole unit which will cost around $35 for the unit itself and $18 for programming it.

Now I think thats ridiculous.... So I know on some cars you can just replace the battery and theres a procedure to reprogram it. Can this be done?

ive got a Conquest and the key and remote is integrated in one.

I just unscrewed it and replaced it with a battery from Jaycar (cost $3.95).

[SPTIVO_LUVA]

ah, just give it a go and change it, i dunno but with these things i am sure tat when u take the battery out for a certain amount of time it looses all coding so then u gotta get it put back on after a fresh new battery, so that it opens ur car.

[JJCRU23R]

ive got a conquest too..

according to the corolla owners manual which i have in my lap at the moment, it doesnt give any caution or warning about losing any "code".

it just provides instructions on how to replace the battery!

my mums landcruiser keyless entry button stopped working even after changing the battery, and then she brought it to toyota.

dont remember the reason for it not working, but they ended up replacing the whole locking thing inside the car and gave my mum a different shape button on her keyring.(the central locking button is separate to the ignition keys, not like our corolla keyz) so obviously it was something more than just the battery if its still not working.

that kinda sucked coz the original central locking button could unlock the car from REALLY far away, as long as it was in your line of sight. now you gotta be within a few meters of the car to get the thing to work. i guess the logic behind that kinda change is security.. but now my corolla can be unlocked from a further distance than my mums landcruiser

just change the battery! replacing the whole unit would only be an option if you dropped the keys in the toilet or something.

did you fix it already?

Edited November 22, 2006 by JJCRU23R

[mopiko]

Sorry guys, been a bit busy.

Yes I did try replacing the battery originally, and that didn't work which led me to believe that I needed to recode it. I pulled out a multimeter and checked all the circuitry and checked the old battery was indeed flat (it was), but it doesn't work anymore

[Saiya]

Shoulnt the key be covered under warranty if its not working anymore? (excluding the batteries)

[Azza]

Changing the battery will not lose the code and will not void warranty.

The battery is considered a 'user servicable' part and is replacable, as mentioned for bew bux from any electronics store.

The coding of the key itself is hard coded, and does not change. The way it integrates with the car is that the car has a reciever, when programmed, it is set to recieve a signal from a transponder (the key).

You can effectively code numberous keys to one car.

Think of it like fingerprints, and your key being your actual finger and your fingerprint being the code. The fingerprint reader (car's reciever) is programmed to read a fingerprint (code). If you cut your fingernails (change the battery) then the code (fingerprint) is still the same.

It works on the same principle as your garage door remote. The actual opener on the roof of your garage is the bit that gets programmed, the buttons are universal. You tell the opened you weant to program a new remote and press the button and the opener recognises the code from the remote. This is why you reset the opener's codes when you lose one of your button things....

If your battery is dead, change it yourself. You will need a small phillips head (like the ones you get in a set LIKE THIS) and a BATTERY

1 - Undo the screw on the back of the key transponder

2 - Remove transponder componant from key enclosure

3 - Remove the old battery

4 - Insert the new battery

5 - Re-assemble transponder unit and insert back in key enclosure

6 - Re-screw key enclosure back together

7 - Use it...

[mtbrider]

On my old Camry (last of the wide body) I had a seperate remote opener to the key and it was not serviceable. You had to throw it away when the battery was flat.

Only good think about that model was there was a port in the glovebox you put the new remote into and pushed the horn so many times to programme the remote.

Sounds like Bull sh..t but it was true.

So you might have some thing similar except now Toyota programme them for you.

[mopiko]

Changing the battery will not lose the code and will not void warranty.

The battery is considered a 'user servicable' part and is replacable, as mentioned for bew bux from any electronics store.

The coding of the key itself is hard coded, and does not change. The way it integrates with the car is that the car has a reciever, when programmed, it is set to recieve a signal from a transponder (the key).

blah blah

Actually this remote is a little different. For a start theres no screw, or any noticeable way to open it. But I did managed to open it with a small screwdriver and replace the battery.

On my old Camry (last of the wide body) I had a seperate remote opener to the key and it was not serviceable. You had to throw it away when the battery was flat.

Only good think about that model was there was a port in the glovebox you put the new remote into and pushed the horn so many times to programme the remote.

Sounds like Bull sh..t but it was true.

So you might have some thing similar except now Toyota programme them for you.

Yea I think this is the case I am falling under unfortunately. Either that or the unit itself is broken somehow. Its hard to test anything under than connectivity on PCBs without a circuit diagram.

[harry]

On my old Camry (last of the wide body) I had a seperate remote opener to the key and it was not serviceable. You had to throw it away when the battery was flat.

Only good think about that model was there was a port in the glovebox you put the new remote into and pushed the horn so many times to programme the remote.

Sounds like Bull sh..t but it was true.

So you might have some thing similar except now Toyota programme them for you.

Do you know how many time the horn has to be pushed? I have got a 1996 Camry with that port in the glovebox and need to program a new remote but I could not find any information. Thanks.

[buzz]

not sure if this helps but you can give it a go...

in my previous holden, all i needed to do is to stick the key into the ignition and then lock and unlock using the key 3-5 times. this then recoded the key. as i said, not sure if it works with the Toyotas but no harm in trying right?

[Dave89]

have you got a photo of you're key/transponder?

Dave

[saintz01]

hey guys,

similar problem here.

my original key's battery died, so i just used the spare key for a while.

after about a month, i thought the battery of the spare key died as well as i couldn't unlock the car remotely. weird thing was when i pressed the button the red light still comes on on the key itself. so yesterday i got myself some new batts, replaced it and nope remote central locking doesn't work...

so yeh, is this a problem with the unit in the car or something wrong with the keys?