keyless entry

[jwateland]

I have crappy reception with my keyless entry. i have a 99 gls and the batteries are new. I could take it to the dealership and have them replace the system but i was wondering if there is a better and cheaper way for me to fix it?

[cherrington17]

open it up, and look at the contacts on the battery. there are two on each end, and a big flat one in the middle. look close at those joints. quite often the solder joints will break up/off and give you crappy results.

[jwateland]

lol k this might be stupid to ask but, what does it look like and where can i find it?

[cherrington17]

hmm... let me see if i can get a pic...


EDIT: got one.

the 3 pins point toward the 3 solder joints that commonly crack. remove the battery and check the front and back for solid soldered joints. I've seen even one being cracked give horrible distance on the remote

[cherrington17]

I've also heard of people soldering small amounts of wire onto the antenna trace (i believe thats the little green line that goes around the outside) and greatly improving their signal. but i'm unsure of how this works myself. (the wire would have to be a certain length for optimal results)

you can also hold the remote up to your chin, and hit the button, to get better distance. It may look a little goofy, but it uses your head as a basic satellite dish.. and amplifies the signal.

[jwateland]

lol awesome thanks man

[01oldsgls]

Originally Posted by cherrington17

I've also heard of people soldering small amounts of wire onto the antenna trace (i believe thats the little green line that goes around the outside) and greatly improving their signal. but i'm unsure of how this works myself. (the wire would have to be a certain length for optimal results)

you can also hold the remote up to your chin, and hit the button, to get better distance. It may look a little goofy, but it uses your head as a basic satellite dish.. and amplifies the signal.

really? lol

[cherrington17]

after reading some, i wouldn't do the wire part. your changing the antennas impedance, thus shortening the battery life/transmitting power. and we dont' know the antennas frequency... so you don't know what length of wire to even test with.

and as for the second.. it absolutely works.

[01oldsgls]

im sorry to noob this thread to crap but ur telling me if i put my clicker to my chin i can use my head as an atenna and increase the range on my remote?

[jabartram]

Originally Posted by cherrington17

after reading some, i wouldn't do the wire part. your changing the antennas impedance, thus shortening the battery life/transmitting power. and we dont' know the antennas frequency... so you don't know what length of wire to even test with.

and as for the second.. it absolutely works.

yes the chin thing works, i do it for my remote start all the time when leaving work.

[cherrington17]

Originally Posted by 01oldsgls

im sorry to noob this thread to crap but ur telling me if i put my clicker to my chin i can use my head as an atenna and increase the range on my remote?

absolutely. your body is an RF magnet. (we each have out own electromagnetic frequencies... its why you feel wierd and kinda sick after an MRI) but your basically using your head as a satellite dish to bounce the RF off of. you'll gain a dozen or two feet off doing it, albeit looking a bit goofy.

speaking of which.. anyone know where our receiver antenna is, inside the car, for the keyfobs?

[01oldsgls]

you sir just blew my mind

[jabartram]

Originally Posted by cherrington17

speaking of which.. anyone know where our receiver antenna is, inside the car, for the keyfobs?

its built into the BCM.

[cherrington17]

Originally Posted by jabartram

its built into the BCM.

dammit. i was hoping to extend that, and get a little longer distance off mine.

[jwateland]

so i took the key remotes apart and the batteries out. how to solder one battery holder back to the circuit board. Cleaned and dried every part and my keyless entry works great. I've got the distance back and i can actually set my car off from inside the house.

[cherrington17]

haha. told ya! sweet.


i repair like 15 of those stupid things a month. (and i'm not even paid to) worst design EVER!

[01oldsgls]

Cherrington- aleromods king of keyless entry

[cherrington17]

not quite. it just happens that i have previous experience w/ this stupid things.

[jwateland]

so one of my soldersd burnt through the cirsuit board lol (leave me alone lol im a noob) do you know of a easy way to program a new remote?

[cherrington17]

where you were soldering the posts? they are suppose to. its how you secure posts on a circuit board... you drop the post through, then solder it in place on each side.