Remote keyless entry

KeyMan represents KeylessRide products. KeylessRide is the leading distributor of original equipment remote keyless entry devices ("remotes").


WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT KEYLESS REMOTES?

First, make sure your car is remote ready. If you have a working remote, that obviously indicates your car is remote ready. But some customers buy a used car and are handed a remote (which doesn't work), and are told by the salesman that the car is remote ready, all they have to do is replace the battery. Some of those remotes come in and when they are opened up don't even have a battery.
Remote ready means the car was manufactured that way--it is wired for a remote. Some Toyotas are equipped with dealer installed remotes.

Dealers can be very helpful when you need to know if the vehicle is remote ready. Call a dealer--any dealer for your car--and have your VIN number in front of you. The VIN number (vehicle identification number) is behind the lower left corner of the windshield, usually on the driver door, and on your registration and title. Ask for the parts department. Ask the parts man if your car is remote ready. He will ask you for all or part of the VIN, and run it through his computer. Every dealer I have made this request to has had an answer within a couple of minutes.

The dealer computer database goes back to the factory invoice on the car. Everything that the car was built with is on that invoice. There is no charge for this service, and the parts man will not even ask you your name. Just ask nicely.

Also, keep your ear open for anything that doesn't sound quite right. Parts people vary in competence, and at least one I dealt with one on this subject wasn't honest--she wanted the customer to think he had an expensive chip key equipped vehicle when he didn't, so she could sell him one, so she told him the car was built chip key equipped when it wasn't. The same thing could happen with a remote. Just listen to the person and you can usually tell. And if in doubt, you can always call another dealer.

REMOTE ACTIVATION

When a new remote is activated its frequency is transmitted into the car. All existing frequencies are erased when this is done. This means other remotes you may own will not work until they are also recorded in the car's electronic module at the same time. So bring all working or possibly working remotes, and the car, when you buy your new remote. There is no charge for activating other existing remotes.

BATTERIES

When a remote stops working, isn't working on one button, or loses range, the first thing to do is check the battery. We offer free battery tests--as long as the customer opens the remote. The reason  is that some remotes have a thin metal holder for the battery which sometimes falls out when the remote halves are opened. This metal bracket is soldered at one point to the circuit board and can break off. That's why the remote is not working. Unless you are good at soldering the remote is not repairable. When this happens we don't want to be the ones who just opened the remote up.

About 90 per cent of the time when we test the battery it is good. These coin batteries are all designed at a nominal 3 volts. New out of the box they measure about 3.25 volts.  All but a few measure over 3 volts when tested after installation and use--meaning the remote is usually the problem, not the battery. A few remotes use a cylindrical 12 volt battery. And a  few use two 3 volt batteries.

What are high security keys?

High security, also known as "laser" and "chip" keys, means two different things:

1. A chip or transponder key is high security because it programs the ignition key into the car’s computer to deter theft;

2. A key which is cut on its side instead of its edge is a high security key. This started with European keys in the late 80's, notably Mercedes, even before there were chip keys. This type of key requires a special machine to duplicate a key, and to originate a key. Originate means to make a key when all keys are lost.

By contrast, a conventional key, which is cut on its edge (like the one on the left in the graphic above), is familiar to all of us, and can be duplicated on any one of the machines we are used to seeing in hardware stores and locksmith shops. But a conventional key also requires a special code machine to originate a key.

A chip or transponder is an electronic device enclosed in the plastic head of a key. The device communicates with the car’s on-board computer by short range radio transmission.

All chip keys must be programmed before they will start a car. Some, mainly in older cars, can be programmed using on-board programming, which uses a series of steps to add or even originate a key that will start the car. But today all cars need a diagnostic device to originate a chip key, and most need the same device to add a key. A diagnostic device is a lap-held portable electronic programmer.

There are also cloning devices (cloners) which can duplicate a chip key without the need to go to the car (in most cases). Cloners operate on the principle that the programming codes which reside in an already working key can be transferred to a new key, making the new key a match or clone of the original key.

Almost all keys today still have a blade, or mechanical part. Making a chip key involves two steps, duplicating or originating the mechanical key, and duplicating or originating the electronic part.