[Daewood]

Originally Posted by anonymous

Simple solution - Open the car manually, open the hood, disconnect the central locking wire, which is connected to your battery, your central locking system is disabled, put the key in ignition and bingo.
I learnt this when my Autocop system stopped working and called customer care.

I don't think this would work on a car with im-mobiliser.

[Prowler]

Actually there is a tell-tale indication about the battery being low. These remotes come with a small miniature red LED which lights up every time you press one of the keys. Observe closely when the battery is getting low and you will find that its intensity will be low and it will blink. It is prudent to change the batteries every year even if they don't die out. I have a Zicom Burglar alarm with similar remote. It is a pain to wake up the entire neighborhood every time you come home otherwise.

[JediKnight]

I had a similar problem with my Santro which came with a dealer fitted xenos remote central locking/burglar alarm. After about four years the system started behaving erratically. ( Once the siren starting blaring while driving for no apparent reason ) I fitted a new battery in the remote but it still does not work properly. I got it checked with a xenos dealer. He said that the PCB ( printed circuit board ) of the remote has gone bad and needs replacement. He does not have any stock

Anyway i lost confidence in the system and have disabled it permanently. By disconnecting the negative terminal of the battery. I am using the key all the time although the central locking still works. Honestly i like it that way now. No unexpected tantrums.

My car does not have an immobolizer. I guess with an immobilizer you cannot disable the system and still use the car. What say guys ?

[DIY Guru]

Well, IMHO the most new car security systems have a valet switch, which is provided to disable the security system when giving the car for servicing, having remote problems, etc.
If one can spend a small amount of their time to program the security system with a disabling code with the help of the manual, one can avoid problems in such situations.

You only have to open the car with the key, get in (of course the siren would be blaring by now) and press the valet switch in a sequence and voila! the security system shuts itself. All of this under a minute..

[itwasntme]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that if you open the car with the key, the alarm will sound for 2 minutes or so and then stop.

The aim is to warn people that the car has been opened without using the remote but without uselessly discharging the battery. Will try and check with my Aveo's AutoCop manual and/or try and find a lonely place to test it :-)

Let's be clear - if no one has shown interest after 2 minutes, no one will!

[GTO]

It's very simple actually:

- There are ample warning signs of your remote battery wearing out (lesser range, weaker light). Pay attention!

- Keep a spare battery in your glovebox

- Many after-market systems integrate with your factory security unit. The Autocop of my Civic, for instance, completely mates to the Honda OEM. I don't even need a separate remote, the OEM key is the Autocop control. If the battery dies out, I can unlock the car manually (using the key hole). As long as its the OEM key, the alarm will not go off.

Originally Posted by gavinimurthy

The problem with modern cars is that there is a code that is transmittted to the CPU once you insert the key into the ignition slot. That code should match with the one stored in the CPU for the engine to start.

I am not sure if the transmission of the code to the CPU takes place when the remote battery is dead.

Murthy

If you are talking about a factory immobiliser (even Maruti 800s come with one today), yes, it will work even if the key battery is dead.

Originally Posted by Daewood

I don't think this would work on a car with im-mobiliser.

Earlier, after-market security systems were equipped with an immobiliser, which was little other than a power bypass. Today however, nearly every car sold in India comes factory-fitted with an immobiliser.

Originally Posted by aargee

If that's the case, why not carry a spare battery in the wallet along with the coins?

Impractical. Better to park a spare battery in the glove box and more importantly, pay attention to tell-tale signs of the battery wearing out.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by parashakthi

I called my people at home and asked them to press the unlock button on the spare key and i held the phone near the car and BOOMMMM. car was unlocked.

I had read about it long ago, but tried it and it worked for me. Dont know if iw as lucky enough for it to work or it works technically!!!

You could try that as well*
*provided somebody is at home and has an access to spare key.

Respected member parashakthi, has put in his experience, and surprisingly NONE had responded to his method. Are we ignoring that wonderful solution? or is it that you all tried this and it did not Work? I guess this is a wonderful solution, if it is practical. Please try it on your car. My Car does NOT have the remote lock (Central lock with keys is what I use) for me to try.

May be everyone here has different cars and if someone can ascertain this claim, it would be nice way out for this tricky situation. Please suggest.

[DIY Guru]

Originally Posted by parashakthi

I was near the car (which was locked) and it was parked almost 150 mtrs away from my house, I called up my people at home and asked them to take the spare key and press unlock button from there and i held the phone near the car and BOOOMMMM...it just unlocked.

Did you also do a control experiment to check if it works without the phone at the same distance and the car and spare remote at the exact same location as before to check if the remote worked with or without the help of the phone?

Extra info - An episode of BBC Top Gear showed that the range of a car security remote was extended by touching the remote to your head/skull. (Apparently it somehow amplifies the signal of the remote)

[aargee]

Originally Posted by GTO

Impractical. Better to park...pay attention to tell-tale signs of the battery wearing out.

Like, prevention is better than cure, it is always better to stay watchful & keep a watch out for battery drain out, but, its not impractical though.

Or how about manufacturers provide an additional slot in the remote to store a spare battery but without any connection? It will be convenient to immediately switch over to new battery.

But one should immediately replace a new battery in the additional slot when they use the new one; otherwise, I don't have a say on them!!!

[Prowler]

@DIYguru

Did you also do a control experiment to check if it works without the phone at the same distance and the car and spare remote at the exact same location as before to check if the remote worked with or without the help of the phone?

I doubt if it will work with modern remotes which use 433 MHz as their frequency of operation. Your mobile phone can handle only the audio frequency in the output stage without any additional interface.

[adisag]

Originally Posted by NFS

Respected member parashakthi, has put in his experience, and surprisingly NONE had responded to his method. Are we ignoring that wonderful solution? or is it that you all tried this and it did not Work? I guess this is a wonderful solution, if it is practical. Please try it on your car. My Car does NOT have the remote lock (Central lock with keys is what I use) for me to try.

May be everyone here has different cars and if someone can ascertain this claim, it would be nice way out for this tricky situation. Please suggest.

Tried Parashakthis method in retrospect - purely as a test - but did'nt work with my system...

[parashakthi]

Appreciate you guys effort to test it.

With regard to DIY Guru, i will have to get back home and try it out again.

If that works, that would mean that it is remote specific as highlighted by Prowler.

After all this test, EOD we will have some outcome and on that base we can conclude and may be get to know something new.

Will keep you guys posted ones i test it again.

Cheers...

[jaguar.runs]

In my lancer the MID shows a message if the key battery is low. I have key less go, but can access the key hole if I remove the cover and can start the car manually. AFAIK the immobilizer identification chip in the key do not depend on the battery power, so the alarm should go off when you unlock the steering and you must be able to start the car in an OE setup. For any non-OE, it would be difficult as the system will not identify if the key is real or not and will continue the alarm unless the remote is used or the battery is disconnected. I have also seen a Bosch system which used a dedicated key for the controller/alarm unit to reset the alarm, but that was years back.

@parashakhti - We had tried using the mobile phone technique on my boss's Volvo XC70, but did not work. He was in the parking lot and we were in the first floor of the building which is a good 200 mts away. The best part was when the mobile phone test did not work, I simply pointed the remote at his car from the first floor and we could open the car from that distance. We had a good time laughing about it as he had walked away from the car and was shocked to see his car unlocking by itself.

[ampere]

Just stumbled on this thread! Never realized this, though I was aware. My car keys are 6 years old (as they had come!) Never changed the battery. I do notice that range is reducing!

Will change the battery ASAP! Thanks for sharing this!

[DIY Guru]

Originally Posted by parashakthi

Appreciate you guys effort to test it.

With regard to DIY Guru, i will have to get back home and try it out again.

If that works, that would mean that it is remote specific as highlighted by Prowler.

Could you also post the car make/model and the car security system company's name.

Originally Posted by parashakthi

After all this test, EOD we will have some outcome and on that base we can conclude and may be get to know something new.

Will keep you guys posted ones i test it again.

Cheers...

Yes, that would be a very professional way of posting