odd experience with sks key

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by southjerseycraig, Jan 7, 2015.

  1. southjerseycraig

    southjerseycraig Active Member

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    This morning it was 21 degree here in beautiful South Jersey and there was ice on the car windows. The remote sounded twice and let me into the front drivers seat. I turned on the front and rear defrosters. I then went around to the back of the car to get the scraper. and pressed twice on the "open." Nothing happened. I tried a few more times: nothing happened. I got the spare from the house; same result; nothing happened.

    Frustrated, I then turned off the car, went back into the house and waited for fifteen minutes. I then tried again, and the rear opened without a problem.

    Is there a sign that the batteries are weak? (I haven't gotten the low-key message, and I do see the red light turns on when I press the buttons? Or is there something weird about whatever in the car responds to the key? Or to put it more practically, what should I do to prevent a recurrence?
     
    #1 southjerseycraig, Jan 7, 2015
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would test the 12 volt battery. is it original? 5 years is about average. the cold could make the voltage drop a little and funny things can happen. and test the fob battery or just replace.
     
    #2 bisco, Jan 7, 2015
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  3. FrankB

    FrankB Member

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    Any chance the lock had frozen and the heat from the defrosters thawed it?
     
    #3 FrankB, Jan 7, 2015
  4. southjerseycraig

    southjerseycraig Active Member

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    I guess so, but I would think that if the lock had a freezing problem, we would long have heard from it from our fellow chatters who live north of New Jersey. Beside, the defrosters were off during that fifteen minute pause.
     
    #4 southjerseycraig, Jan 7, 2015
  5. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    It's more likely the door/hatch froze and wouldn't allow you to open it. I've seen people break off their hatch handles pulling to try and open them.

    By you waiting 15 minutes, that area defrosted and allowed the hatch to open.
     
    #5 JC91006, Jan 7, 2015
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    you would think if it was frozen, you would still hear a cicking sound from the hatch lock actuator?
     
    #6 bisco, Jan 7, 2015
  7. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    His ear muffs were keeping his ears warm and blocked out those noises.
     
    #7 JC91006, Jan 7, 2015
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  8. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    I don't think the remote works when the car is on. The SKS button on the hatch does work. It's the larger rectangular one. The small round one locks the car.
     
    #8 David Beale, Jan 7, 2015
  9. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I believe you are right.......
     
    #9 JC91006, Jan 7, 2015
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    good point david, o/p, didn't you try to open with the hatch release button? wait, there's no hatch button on the remote. now i'm really confused."pressed twice on the 'open'." is this one door sks?
     
    #10 bisco, Jan 7, 2015
  11. southjerseycraig

    southjerseycraig Active Member

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    yes, it's a one door sks. I don't think the sks on my 2010 Prius II can be programmed to be different from that. There are three buttoms on my key fob: the lock, the unlock, and the emergency alarm. There's no special button for the hatch. If you want the hatch to open, you click the "unlock" twice. I've never had a problem with the hatch refusing to open when the car is running. What I did today -- turn the car on, start the defrosters, and then try to unlock the hatch with the key fob -- has succeeded routinely in the past.
     
    #11 southjerseycraig, Jan 7, 2015
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i've never had the one door. when you press the fob, does it unlatch completely, or just unlock, then unlatch when you put your hand on the hatch handle and press the rubber underneath?
     
    #12 bisco, Jan 7, 2015
  13. macman408

    macman408 Electron Guidance Counselor

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    I've never had the one door either, but here's my guess at what might've happened...
    You pressed unlock once on the fob, got into the driver's door. The other 4 doors are still locked. Start the car (so it's probably not the 12V battery - the voltage is 13-something once the car is actually on), go to the hatch. Press unlock twice on the fob, expecting it to unlock all doors. As David Beale noted, the fob lock/unlock doesn't work when the car is running. Then you touch the latch button on the hatch... and it's still locked, and won't open.

    I would be willing to bet that if you try to reproduce this exact sequence, it'll be the same.

    On the other hand, you've certainly not had problems unlocking the hatch before. In those cases, I would bet that one or more of the following is true:
    You had been driving, and shifted to park.
    You unlocked all doors with two presses on unlock *before* the car was running.
    You unlocked the doors with the button on the armrest.
    You turned the car off before pressing the fob's unlock button to unlock the hatch.
    In all those cases (and probably some others I haven't thought of), the above actions will result in unlocking all the car's doors, including the hatch.
     
    #13 macman408, Jan 8, 2015
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  14. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    I know the OP want's to avoid a reoccurrence.

    But the best approach here, might be to consider it an unknown anomaly (as to why and how it happened) and just continue on..

    If it's either the fob batteries, or the 12 volt....the symptom(s) WILL reoccur and at least you will know where to start.

    At that point it's pretty cheap to change the fob batteries. And cheap enough to test the 12 volt. Which if it happens again would be what I would do.

    It's been 2010-2015, changing the fob batteries, as well as having the 12 volt battery tested isn't a waste of time or money in any case.
     
    #14 The Electric Me, Jan 8, 2015
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  15. southjerseycraig

    southjerseycraig Active Member

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    Thanks to Bisco and Electric Me for their responses. I followed the exact sequence that Bisco thought I did. Only one difference (probably minor): I got into the front driver's side door by putting my hand on the handle and being beeped in.

    Bisco suggests that the fob does not work if the engine is turned on, and Electric Me thinks I may have experienced an anomaly. I think both have a point. I have been able to use the fob to open the rear hatch with the car since I got the car. OTOH, I think there are gremlins in the key fob system. For many years, I was able to open the hatch simply by putting my hand on the driver door handle, even though I don't have SKS 3. That abruptly stopped a couple of years ago during cold weather. This change too has happened during cold weather. I guess I'll just have to get used to it.

    There is only one other possibility: that there is a way of programming an SKS 1 key to become a SKS 3 key, and that I accidentally undid this programming. Is there indeed a way that an SKS key can be made an SKS 3 key?
     
    #15 southjerseycraig, Jan 9, 2015
  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    are you the original owner and original keys?
     
    #16 bisco, Jan 9, 2015
  17. southjerseycraig

    southjerseycraig Active Member

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    Yes to both.
     
    #17 southjerseycraig, Jan 9, 2015
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i don't think the one door has the sensors in the car, because someone (craigsj)? opened everything up and added sensors for the hatch and passenger door. maybe you have a loose connection that expands if the temp is just so. it will be interesting if it works again in the spring.
     
    #18 bisco, Jan 9, 2015
  19. southjerseycraig

    southjerseycraig Active Member

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    I thought the other issue would resolve itself when the temperature got warmer, but it didn't. Oh well. It's not a big deal -- so long as I follow your advice about opening the hatch before I start the car.
     
    #19 southjerseycraig, Jan 9, 2015
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  20. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i don't think it was my advice, but happy to take the credit.:p
     
    #20 bisco, Jan 9, 2015
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