[prakhar1998]

It's weird how using the keys causes the Nippon system to sound an alarm. I agree with you when you say, what would happen if you had a dead battery. My Laura doesn't have this feature and I can happy with it not being present.

[tamed_explorer]

I too agree with the above explanations to the weird thing, but one more possibility I can think of is security jammers. Since you were at the hospital there might have been a VIP visiting there with his convoy of vehicles which includes ones fitted with airwave jammers especially for these kind of frequencies.

Just a wild guess though!

[Turbanator]

This used to happen in parking lot in front of our Chandigarh office some months back , it was due to Mobile Tower - most likely Tata , occasionally cars of different make including my Fortuner & Harley won't unlock / start . Some guys did had tough times specially one in hurry .. and after some time it will be all back to normal .

[shashi63]

Originally Posted by avdhesh15

Car in question: Dec-2013 Swift Dzire Vxi


3. Any other advise / comments...

Thanks!

This basically happens when another unit is operational in the same area with the same strength of transmission. So basically when you have another wireless unit transmitting in the same frequency it can interfere with the remote system. If this happens repeatedly at the same area you can be sure that this is the reason. It could be a wi-fi unit operating in the same frequency or some source of interference in the same frequency.

One way of circumventing it and checking if this is the problem is by locking the car by the key rather than the fob.

Cheers!

Stay Safe!

[ahm]

Radiology Department at Lilavati Hospital has a 3 Tesla Philips MRI Machine. Just for comparison, a 3 Tesla magnetic field is equivalent to 50000 times the earth's magnetic field.

How far is the parking lot from Radiology Department?

[NYMEX]

Originally Posted by prakhar1998

It's weird how using the keys causes the Nippon system to sound an alarm. I agree with you when you say, what would happen if you had a dead battery. My Laura doesn't have this feature and I can happy with it not being present.

Imagine the following :

10:00 a.m at a parking lot -
Two cakes of soap.
One key impression.

11:30 a.m at the key makers shop -
A duplicate key made.

5:30 p.m at the Laura-
Insert the key
No noise
Drive off

5:30 p.m at the owners home -
No noise
Owner continues sipping tea with soggy biscuits

Next day 8:00 a.m at the owners home -
All hell breaks loose .....where is the Laura

The above situation is not fictitious......sometimes the drivers too have walked off with the cars.

Still have your peace of mind intact prakhar1998?

[Epic]

Originally Posted by NYMEX

Imagine the following :

10:00 a.m at a parking lot -
Two cakes of soap.
One key impression.

11:30 a.m at the key makers shop -
A duplicate key made.

5:30 p.m at the Laura-
Insert the key
No noise
Drive off

5:30 p.m at the owners home -
No noise
Owner continues sipping tea with soggy biscuits

Next day 8:00 a.m at the owners home -
All hell breaks loose .....where is the Laura

The above situation is not fictitious......sometimes the drivers too have walked off with the cars.

Still have your peace of mind intact prakhar1998?

Please correct me if I am wrong but I think VAG cars do not allow duplicate keys to work with their cars. Apparently if one looses their key, it has to be reported to the service center and a new key is made by matching / coding it with the ECU of the car else any other key will not work. If I remember correctly, I was told that if a non-authorized duplicate key is made, the car will open and will start but will shut off after a kilometer of driving. I have never tried it so cannot confirm this.

[fine69]

Originally Posted by NYMEX

Imagine the following :

10:00 a.m at a parking lot -
Two cakes of soap.
One key impression.

11:30 a.m at the key makers shop -
A duplicate key made.

5:30 p.m at the Laura-
Insert the key
No noise
Drive off

This can only happen if this particular variant of Laura didn't have an Immobilizer. If all variants do, then this isn't possible, else the purpose of having an immobilizer is defeated. ECU-based keys work in tandem with the engine ECU so something like this doesn't sound right.

[Faramir]

Originally Posted by avdhesh15

Car in question: Dec-2013 Swift Dzire Vxi

Yesterday a funny (although serious) thing happened which I thought of sharing and getting advice on for the future. My car was parked outside Lilavati Hospital (in Mumbai) and when I tried to unlock the car using the remote, the car refused to unlock. As I had a heavy bag, I unlocked the car with the key thinking of keeping the bag inside and then figuring it out.

This is more to do with the location. Had experienced similar issue before at B L Kapur Hospital's parking at Delhi, and the on road service team said dysfunctional remote locks in hospital parking is a common thing, probably to do something with the hospital's heavy machinery. The car in question was again a Maruti with an Autocop. It can be embarrassing if you use the manual override , and the alarm goes off and does not stop.

[lifebuoy]

Originally Posted by RSR

I second mmxylorider!

Since you mentioned a hospital, the source is obvious. A hospital would usually have several electronic (medical) equipment that emit strong waves with various kinds of frequencies.

The other, and the much better type, is the ECU controlled, key-based engine immobilisers - the iCATS system on Maruti Suzukis is an example. Your car will only start when the correct key is inserted into the ignition slot, and by no other means.

I would also go by the hospital eqpt theory. Nippon's freq used should be checked for it (as Harneet has suggested below).

The key's have an RFID device that answers when interrogated by the eqpt mounted near the keyhole. This is what is used to "unlock" the ECU. The ECU actually matches this code for closing the starting circuit, which car jackers use (laptop with a receiving device to store the code from the key and then replicate). Also, (as in the ARIA) peripherals like the ICE have an individual code that the ECU can optionally store and match - to give you a psudo-protection that your device cannot be used elsewhere (in another ARIA). However, it's pointless if the recipient system dosen't bother with the ICE code !

Originally Posted by Harneet.S

Keys usually are on 418Mhz or 433.92Mhz from what I know and these are extensively used by radio tinkerers and maybe some equipment inside of the hospital is emitting this frequency.

some old ass algorithm or frequency shift key modulation Nippon uses

Do you think anyone would bother about complex modulation techniques in such a simple application ? I guess they work with a freq+code combination ! That explains odd cases when one remote key unlocks more than one car (seen in Maruti's, if I remember right).

[avdhesh15]

Hi everyone, thanks for your valuable inputs. It does seem that hospital equipment is to blame in this case. This has happened a lot of times in the area according to the parking lot guys.

I have also gone through my car manual and understood how to deal with a dead battery. There is a personalized code given to customers at the time of delivery and this can be used in emergency situations.

[jinojohnt]

I lock my car using the keys (central locking) and unlock using the remote, especially if the area is safe (like my office parking lot).
I started this practice long back after I got stuck with a weak remote battery.
This way, I can always unlock using the keys if the remote battery goes dead.

[RSR]

Originally Posted by jinojohnt

I lock my car using the keys (central locking) and unlock using the remote, especially if the area is safe (like my office parking lot).
I started this practice long back after I got stuck with a weak remote battery.
This way, I can always unlock using the keys if the remote battery goes dead.

This sounds like a good method to ensure the battery has some juice left in it when you want to unlock.

However, this method has a drawback for those cars with an anti-theft alarm and/or an immobiliser that is linked to the remote locking system.

That's because the anti-theft alarm/immobiliser in such cases (generally but not always, with after market remote locking systems) gets "armed" only when the car is locked using the remote. If you lock with the keys (central locking) or the driver's door lock lever, the system does not get "armed".

The remote locking's anti-theft alarm/immobiliser is not a fool-proof system, but it still is a theft deterrent that helps secure the car to some extent when parked in unsafe/unknown areas.

On some factory-fitted remote locking systems and some basic remote locking systems (without this feature), your method is the best one to preserve a weak battery for unlocking.

[Wanderers]

My 6 years old Swift Vxi has Anti-theft & Remote locking from Nippon bought as genuine Accessories and one of the Remote stopped working. This happened after the battery went dead and while replacing the battery I may have cleaned it more that it called for. (Moist Cloth- so water ingress)

Since I am left with only one functional Remote, I replaced the remote battery with new one (even though it was unused). Also I keep a spare battery in the Car.
Most Importantly I have programmed the Security Alarm switch with password in case of any eventualities and since the process of disarming is cumbersome, I took the snap of the disarming procedure write-up from the Manual in keep in my blackberry.

[Traveller Nayak]

Recently I have started facing this peculiar but infrequent problem of the remote not responding to lock/unlock the door.

This, for some strange reason, happens only when the vehicle is parked in my office basement parking. I haven't faced this issue anywhere else.

Till this afternoon, I faced the issue in the morning. However, today when I left office at about 5.10 pm, I again faced the same issue. The remote did not respond. However, it did after I pressed the key twice or thrice. Same in the morning too.

I usually leave office around 6.30 pm - by that time most of the vehicles leave the parking slot.

As this is limited to the basement parking at office and as I left early today when the parking slot was full, I have a feeling the RFID signal is getting interrupted / affected with another vehicle in the vicinity.

I am otherwise able to open the door with the key and even start the vehicle.

July 01 - was when I completed 1 year. So, from what I read on the forum, it is unlikely to be remote battery related.

Most likely I will make a note of the nearby vehicles next time I face this issue.

Thoughts anyone!