Yesterday while at Disneyland it took me about 10 minutes to find my car because I couldn't remember where I parked, turns out I was 3 aisles from it. I kept using the panic button and arming the alarm, but I heard nothing. I finally saw my car and kept doing it, and nothing till i was maybe 20 ft. from it.

I'm wondering if the distance can be altered, if there is a particular unit or piece that can be replaced to increase the frequency, signal, whatever it is...or if anything can be done so I don't have to be within a feet to use the panic or arming button.

 

i bet the battery in the key fob is going out. It's just a watch battery btw.

 

the range for my coupe is greater than for my sedan for some reason, even after I swapped remotes on the sedan.

 

Hmm, I can try swapping the battery. I'm going to check the distance with my other key fob to see if it makes any difference. Just wondering if it can be changed. I doubt it, but ya never know.

 

Wow this is odd... I posted the exact same thing 4 min later...

The only difference for me is the distance is only around 6 feet... it is extremely annoying me...

 

Yeah, sometimes the distance is really short for me as well. I think when I keep trying to do it, it makes it worse

 

just get a thin blade in the crease of the remote and it will split apart. It takes a regular size 3v lithium watch battery.

 

This might sound really strange to some people, and some won't like it due to people's fear of electromagnetic radiation (see cell phone), but if you put the top of the remote right below your chin and then hit a button, you can extend the range. I'm not talking about an increase of 20 feet to 100 feet, but you can add about 10 feet or so to the range. It basically uses your body as a transmitting antenna. I know some people won't believe me, but try it out, it works!

 

Even if this is a joke, i'm trying it...call me silly but it's free and worth a shot, lol.

 

battery might be low. and the whole thing about the using the head as an antenna, True or false, I know it's used at two dealerships i've worked at in MD, 355 toyota and hersons honda.

 

I stand by it not being a joke and actually working. Again, not going to double or triple your range, but will add a couple feet. This isn't like the open your car with a tennis ball BS thing that's floated around.

Easy test, just find the approximate range where your remote stops working, take a couple steps back, stick the remote on your skin right underneath your chin, try the button again. And as DonPisto said, its free, what are you gonna lose? If it works for you, great, I told you so If not, nothing lost, you can call me a liar, I still stand by it.

And the best solution is still replacing an old battery.

 

I will try the chin method, but in my case I stuck a new battery in the remote and soldered a wire to act as an antenna in the FOB and the range was still 6ft or around that.

Chin method sounds interesting so will try it hehe

 

Well I did a little bit of testing.

Turns out that if i point the buttons @ the car the range increases dramatically and it is possible why the chin option works well.

If i point the end of the FOB to the car I get a range of 6 feet and if i turn the FOB around (with the buttons facing the car) i get a nice range of 30-40 feet.

I am not sure why that is but it sure increases the range a little.

 

Don't forget that depending on radio or signal interference the range on the remotes can also drop dramatically. ex. by a radio tower, shopping centers, high voltage poles, etc.

 

Wow, interesting to know. And the chin method worked perfectly for me as well. I may look silly doing it, but I won't look as silly as going to a parking spot and not finding my car there.