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Help needed. Car wont recognise fob randomly

Belle

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Mar 17, 2019
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australia
Anyone had this problem before?
We have a 2008 200 series sahara turbo diesel. 2 months ago it would not start. the remote key would open door but the start stop switch would not recognise the key. Thought flat battery and tried to jump start but nothing. 2 hours later it started fine.
The next day it stopped again so I put a new battery in the key remote. We had NRMA come out and check batteries and thought the relay. After some time it started again. 0ne week later it did it again
We then had it towed to local toyota dealer who replaced the relay and wanted to replace the batteries. We advised they were tested and still under warranty. They had battery supplier out to replace and they tested and advised all ok. It then started working fine but 4 weeks later the problem has come back.
Have tried new battery on the spare key fob and same problem.
Have it towed again to toyota who apparently checked fuses, relay and battery but it worked fine for them.
Several weeks later, it has done it again and stuck on driveway. Next day it started fine but now today it wont start again and car is stuck at a friends house.
I have tried both keys and both appear to have the problem.
The remote buttons unlock the car every time.
Went to auto electrician also who advised I would need to go to toyota as he did not have specialised scanning equipment.
Thanks in advance.

Belle
 
Hi Belle and Welcome. I’ve no experience of this or 200s and not seen it but do you have anything that could be blocking the signal nearby? Anything that isn’t a factory fit? Unlikely but Worth thinking about.

It sounds like a loose connection to me but of course could be anything and anywhere which doesn’t help at all. At least you’ve traced it to the vehicle rather than the fobs. When it does it next, try wiggling wires under the dash near the steering column. I’ve read on other series there’s a receiver coil around the lock barrel but I’m guessing the 200 doesn’t have a lock, just senses the key. Could it be the actual Start Stop button or do you get an indication that it’s sensed the key?
This is all I have as generic help I’m afraid. This may well be a Toyota only fix. 100series guys use Techstream to scan theirs, no idea if it’s good for 200 series though.

Intermittent faults are always the worst to find.
 
My 90 series handbook suggests press and hold both open/close buttons at the same time for 30 seconds to reset (while stood next to the car) , it works for me , different truck but worth a try .
 
I had an issue with a neighbour's WiFi router blocking my key fob. Mine wouldn't work, as would the Audi across the road...the wife's mini was fine.
 
I had an issue with a neighbour's WiFi router blocking my key fob. Mine wouldn't work, as would the Audi across the road...the wife's mini was fine.
In that case a test would be to log if it does it regularly at the same spots and as an additional test, if another 200 series could be borrowed, from Toyota perhaps or another owner, park it in the same spot and see if it does the same. Tow down the road 100m or more and see if it starts. In short, see if there’s any pattern to it.
 
Anyone had this problem before?
We have a 2008 200 series sahara turbo diesel. 2 months ago it would not start. the remote key would open door but the start stop switch would not recognise the key. Thought flat battery and tried to jump start but nothing. 2 hours later it started fine.
The next day it stopped again so I put a new battery in the key remote. We had NRMA come out and check batteries and thought the relay. After some time it started again. 0ne week later it did it again
We then had it towed to local toyota dealer who replaced the relay and wanted to replace the batteries. We advised they were tested and still under warranty. They had battery supplier out to replace and they tested and advised all ok. It then started working fine but 4 weeks later the problem has come back.
Have tried new battery on the spare key fob and same problem.
Have it towed again to toyota who apparently checked fuses, relay and battery but it worked fine for them.
Several weeks later, it has done it again and stuck on driveway. Next day it started fine but now today it wont start again and car is stuck at a friends house.
I have tried both keys and both appear to have the problem.
The remote buttons unlock the car every time.
Went to auto electrician also who advised I would need to go to toyota as he did not have specialised scanning equipment.
Thanks in advance.

Belle
I have joined this forum specifically to answer your post. Do you have an aftermarket fridge with wifi in your vehicle. My Waeco fridge emits a signal even when off which confuses my smart key. Unplug fridge all works as it should.
 
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I’ve read on other series there’s a receiver coil around the lock barrel but I’m guessing the 200 doesn’t have a lock, just senses the key.
Through another thread I’ve since found that there are many receivers throughout the vehicle. One at each door lock, one at the tailgate and Three along the Centre line at floor level inside the car so chances are it’s not something that wiggling wires is going to solve.
Thanks Koenig for joining and responding. It is looking more likely that there is something jamming the signal.

Do let us know how you are getting on with this @Belle .
 
Through another thread I’ve since found that there are many receivers throughout the vehicle. One at each door lock, one at the tailgate and Three along the Centre line at floor level inside the car so chances are it’s not something that wiggling wires is going to solve.
Thanks Koenig for joining and responding. It is looking more likely that there is something jamming the signal.

Do let us know how you are getting on with this @Belle .
I've been in touch with Dometic (Waeco manufacturers), and they agree. They have had one other case where the smart key is very close in frequency to the wifi signal of their fridge. It too was a 200 series Landcruiser. It is not possible to turn the fridge signal off, so it would need to go to a tech to have the wifi permanently removed. Apparently the 2.4ghz spectrum is getting very crowded, so the chance of interference is getting more likely. I have come across this in my work where a remotely controlled pump would malfunction due to a garage door opener being operated!! Go figure.
 
I've been in touch with Dometic (Waeco manufacturers), and they agree. They have had one other case where the smart key is very close in frequency to the wifi signal of their fridge. It too was a 200 series Landcruiser. It is not possible to turn the fridge signal off, so it would need to go to a tech to have the wifi permanently removed. Apparently the 2.4ghz spectrum is getting very crowded, so the chance of interference is getting more likely. I have come across this in my work where a remotely controlled pump would malfunction due to a garage door opener being operated!! Go figure.
I too have been made aware of such instances. I’ve also had my remote fob for an after market alarm disabled by a mobile crane Emergency stop. The operator was well aware of it as he had had this before. It doesn’t need to be the exact frequency either. One that is close in frequency and strong in signal can ‘bleed over’ to the frequency beside it and interrupt that.

It would be good to know how the OP gets on with this.
 
Makes sense. Possibly the reason my garage door opens itself as a start my 150 sometimes, shame I park outside...
 
Makes sense. Possibly the reason my garage door opens itself as a start my 150 sometimes, shame I park outside...
My first thought was that you have a fob on your keys and the button gets pressed when you turn the key in the ignition :think: They are on a rolling code, so are normally not triggered by other transmissions. But you’ve got transponders so are on keyless ignition and entry so that doesn’t work out.
Only thing I can think of,…do you have a pair of wires to a push button? It could be these are picking up electromagnetic interference and triggering the opener. If you have this feature, try disconnecting them and see if it still does it for a while.
 
Push button Start on the 150 same as 200. Seems to do it if I quickly click into reverse . Really strange :think:
 
The 2.4ghz spectrum is getting very congested, specially now with all these smart home goodies on the market.
Bluetooth is also using the 2.4ghz spectrum and killed my WI-FI here at home, it took me a while to figure that out. I also lost my WI-FI when my zigbee hub was next to my WI-FI AP, I moved them about 6m away from each other and both are much happier.
It doesn't take much these days for devices to block each other, even if they seem totally unrelated.
 
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