Factory Keyless Entry (Gen4)

[DM616]

I'm just wondering what the distance is supposed to be?

Mine is not even 20 feet <_<. I thought it was supposed to be 50.

I'm fairly sure it's a new battery in the keyfob.

Just curious, but it does get annoying sometimes when I'm walking away and I want to make sure it's locked...but I have to go all the way back and be next to the car.

[Mister_Perkins]

yeah, after a while i think the contacts loose strength so the wireless signal gets weaker. you can try to pull the remote apart and clean it good, but it might not help

[dc_98_cam]

Originally Posted by DM616

Mine is not even 20 feet

My 98 LE is just about the same 10' ... 20' at the most... seems to be by design. I don't think you will achieve any improvement with a new battery, or cleaning procedure. If you could find the receiving antenna element within the car, you might lengthen the wire or whatever it is, and see if that would help.


I also have a Gen 5 Camry, and the remote key distance is noticeably greater. However, I don't know precisely why. ... more transmitter power, more receiving sensitivity.

[DM616]

Ah so it's not just me. Yah I hate seeing other cars and they can buzz it open like 50 feet away lol.

Maybe it's time to fix this .

I also heard if you hold the fob up to your chin...apparently it increases the distance...haven't tried it yet

EDIT: It works LOL. If you hold the fob up to your chin (opposite of the red led light), it will add like 20 or so feet.

You may look ridiculous while doing it...but it's better than nothing.

I'm going to look into a real way to extending this though.

[fenixus]

that's pretty normal on either of Toyotas we have haha! two different systems (factory one on V6 and dealer installed Fujitsu-Ten on i4) and the same problem, short distance of a remote ... I replaced batteries in them some time ago and it never got better

I haven't tried using my own skull as a range extender though

[pmesfun]

Yeah, the range on older Toyotas are not that good. Mine was so bad I could only be standing next to the car for it to work, but after replacing the battery its at least 40 ft.

[fenixus]

yeah, but 40ft is still a joke, come on ... it's like 10 steps away from car and no more reception

[slavie]

Strange... I have an aftermarket Prestiege alarm on my car, and I can turn it on with ease from well over 50ft. My brothers 2002 Mazda MPV, I turned on the alarm from 120-150ft yesterday, no problem.

I say take apart that remote and change the battery/clean it up inside a bit.

[fenixus]

new battery and cleaning of the remote doesn't help much with those older Toyota factory/dealer systems, it's just how they work

I think 50ft is their max range anyways ...