[BoltsFan]

Our '09 Venza will be 1 yr old this month and I was thinking it may be a good idea to replace the smartkey remote batteries before they go. A few questions:

• How long should the smartkey batteries last?
• How long did your smartkey battery last before it died?
• Did you have to perform the emergency starting procedure and if so, did it work?
• What make did you replace it with?

If this is posted somewhere else I could not find it when I searched. The only CR1632 batteries I could find locally were at Radio Shack but were $5 each. I have checked local supermarkets, CVS, Walgreens, etc., but no luck. I may just order off the internet.

Thanks!

 

[samej]

we had our 04 sienna and 03 accord for 6+ years and never changed the batteries...

 

[BoltsFan]

Thanks samej. I was hoping a lithium battery would last at least 2-3 yrs in the remote.

btw - love the color of your Venza! :thumbsup:

 

[JB in AZ]

we had our 04 sienna and 03 accord for 6+ years and never changed the batteries...

Keep in mind that the vehicles referenced here do not have the smart key system. The FOBs in cars with this system can be expected to use the batteries up at a faster rate. With that said, my 2007 Camry Hybrid with the smart key system, used up the battery in one FOB at just over 2 years, but the other FOB for the same car lasted 3 years. There has been much talk on the Camry Hybrid forums about things that can draw the battery down faster. While I can't confirm these, but one thing that constantly gets mentioned as a battery drainer is proximity to cell phones while charging.

I was able to buy replacement batteries very cheaply (IIRC, I paid well under $2 each) at Fry's Electronics. They are not located all over, but the batteries may be available on their website as well.

 

[workerant]

I changed my battery thinking it was weak but actually I didn't know the range of my keyless was so short, like within arm length.

Anyway, buy a pack online is much cheaper than the robbery Radio Shack. Lithium lasts for a long time (10 years I think, google it if U want) unuse and I'm sure U can find other use for the extras.

 

[TOYOPARTSMAN]

We here at our Toyota Store see on average about 2-3 years as a rule. Some will get shorter life, some longer just Depends. If you pay more than $3.00 for one, go somewhere else. We sell them here for $2.49and they are just the panasonic battery. I have had a lot of my customers complain that they can't find them, from reading the posts, I think they are not looking hard enough.

 

[gurneyeagle]

Our 2007 Acura MDX will be four years old in November, and the key fobs are going strong. As one poster mentioned, older cars really don't have "smart" keys.

The fob for my 2008 Infiniti G37S smart key lasted exactly 18 months. I found a replacement at Radio Shack from $3.00.

 

[BoltsFan]

Thanks for all the good input. I am bringing my '09 Venza in for its 10K service so I will see what my dealer sells the batteries for otherwise I will just order off the internet. I wanted to keep a spare one in the glovebox JIC as my wife mainly drives it and I don't want her to have any problems.

I plan to take the battery out of my fob and try the emergency start procedure just to show her what to do if the SK doesn't work for some reason.

 

[wth]

we had our 04 sienna and 03 accord for 6+ years and never changed the batteries...

The smart key FOB is always transmitting a signal, where keyless entry FOB's only use battery power when you press one of the buttons.

 

[BoltsFan]

The smart key FOB is always transmitting a signal, where keyless entry FOB's only use battery power when you press one of the buttons.

Yep. I wasn't sure if those models mentioned had a smart key or not - I thought is was fairly new technology except for maybe BMWs, etc. The keyless entry fobs for our 1997 Explorer never had a battery change in the 13 yrs we had it.

 

[nhcycle]

The smart key FOB is always transmitting a signal, where keyless entry FOB's only use battery power when you press one of the buttons.

Actually the smart Key FOB doesn't always transmit - rather the smart key "wakes up" when "receiving a signal (noise) from electronic devices such as DVDVCR, PC's and notebooks, Cordless/cell phones, Microwave and electronic cooking devices, modems and some lighting fixtures.." (Source: T-SB-0122-08)

This is a non-warranted TSB.

Remedy: "keep smart Key FOB at least one meter form such devices.."

 

[BoltsFan]

Just a fyi - I did try the emergency smartkey starting procedure a few months back and it worked fine with no battery in the smartkey fob.

 

[workerant]

Actually the smart Key FOB doesn't always transmit - rather the smart key "wakes up" when "receiving a signal (noise) from

So you are saying the car is the one that transmit request and the smart key listen and reply with the code?

That is half as bad. Listening require power, might not be as much power as transmitting. Anyway, gotta need power somehow.

Just a fyi - I did try the emergency smartkey starting procedure a few months back and it worked fine with no battery in the smartkey fob.

Another FYI, some Lexus drivers report that Navy ships with high power radar do jam smart key signal. The guy said he had major problems starting his car whenever a Navy ship near by with it's radar spinning. :lol:

The emergency procedure only give power to the smartkey. I wonder where the receiver for the smartkey is located. If it's near by the button, it might over come the jamming signal to start the car.

 

[spacekey]

Normally，it's around 2 years.

 

[AIH]

The battery in my Smartkey finally needed replacement. I bought my Venza in December, 2009, so the battery was about 1.5 years old. The symptoms I noticed were that the door wouldn't unlock when I grabbed the handle, and the interior light wouldn't come on. However, if I pushed the key's "unlock" button, the door unlocked OK. This looks like a good hint that its time to replace the battery!

One thing puzzles me: I only drive the Venza on the weekends, while my wife drives it every day during the week, but her key's battery was still fine. I'm surprised my battery was dead, while her's was still good. Regardless, I replaced both batteries, so we should be good until December 2012.

 

[deanesfield]

The battery in my Smartkey finally needed replacement. I bought my Venza in December, 2009, so the battery was about 1.5 years old. The symptoms I noticed were that the door wouldn't unlock when I grabbed the handle, and the interior light wouldn't come on. However, if I pushed the key's "unlock" button, the door unlocked OK. This looks like a good hint that its time to replace the battery!

Thanks for the heads-up AIH.
Interestingly, my smartkeys (my wife's also) are still working since May21/2009, but we have had the car battery (defective) replaced under warranty last sept. We can expect to have the symptoms for the smartkey batteries running down shortly.
Cheers!