2024 Tacoma key fob battery

[Taco Golfer]

The battery on my key fob died today after 6K miles and 6 months. Has anyone else experienced this?

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[Sagebrush]

In previous gens, sure. It's an easy thing to replace.

 

[Wags]

yeah, I had one go bad after 3 to 4 months. Dealer said some came with bad batteries

 

[MT-Taco]

The battery on my key fob died today after 6K miles and 6 months. Has anyone else experienced this?

Make sure they (key fobs) are not close to cell phones. IE same pocket, storage tray etc. Even short times together will significantly reduce battery strength.

 

[Robin]

My brand new truck came with a dead battery in the key fob!

 

[Wags]

Make sure they (key fobs) are not close to cell phones. IE same pocket, storage tray etc. Even short times together will significantly reduce battery strength.

I've never heard of this before, why would that cause the battery to drain?

 

[MT-Taco]

I've never heard of this before, why would that cause the battery to drain?

Parasitic draw from your phone. My parents had this problem. Asked the dealer about first this he said was keep the fob and phone separated. Problem went away.

 

[Zanez]

The battery on my key fob died today after 6K miles and 6 months. Has anyone else experienced this?

Mine just died at exactly 6 months and 12,000 miles

 

[Taco Golfer]

Mine just died at exactly 6 months and 12,000 miles

Did you replace it or did you ask the dealer to replace?

 

[Zanez]

Did you replace it or did you ask the dealer to replace?

I replaced it

 

[andrewleader]

Mine just died after 9 months and 9k miles. Really pitiful! They take a less common CR2450 battery too, which I couldn't find in the grocery stores I checked while travelling.

The owners manual says the standard battery life is "1 to 2 years", it claims a low battery warning will appear on the car but I didn't see one.

You apparently can set the key to battery saving mode if you're not using it for a while...

Press UNLOCK twice while pressing and holding LOCK. Confirm that the elec tronic key indicator flashes 4 times. While the battery-saving mode is set, the smart key system cannot be used. To cancel the function, press any of the electronic key buttons.

I'm probably going to stock some extra batteries in my car now. It's really annoying opening the car with the physical key and having the car alarm go off for several seconds until you start the car!

 

[djevans]

Our fob battery was dead two weeks after purchase. The dealer didn't even blink and replaced it. We did get a warning on the dash...

 

[Mercedes]

Hopefully, some of these issues have just been poor batteries from the factory.

Once replaced, there are some things that can help extend its life:

- When the fob is at rest, look for the small light on the body of the fob. If that light is blinking red, the fob is communicating with something. And draining its battery

- When not in use, the fob should be kept as far from the truck as possible. In the door handle of the truck, there's an inductive coil generating a field. If the fob enters that field, the truck and the fob then begin authenticating and communicating via radio signals. Checking mine just now, my fob went active about 6 ft / 2 m from the truck. I haven't walked all around to measure the max distance. Other makes, I've noticed fobs can go active further out

- If stimulated with an Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) signal (often 125 KiloHertz (KHz)), the fob will transmit a Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) signal in an effort to authenticate to the truck. When not needed, keep the fob in a faraday pouch; this will prevent the fob from pairing with anything. It also keeps the truck that much more secure. In the example of a relay attack, two people could take the truck in moments

Edit,

Wireless charging systems are more common and greater in use. If you have a device with a coil and are charging it, great. If it's something like a fob or other electronic device, keep those well away from charging pads and wireless charging systems.

Edit (again),

I'm still studying the specifications, but I was interested in the cell phone comments, how a cell phone could drain a fob.

Cell phones operate in the GigaHertz (GHz) range. Bluetooth is also GHz. But what about Near Field Communications (NFC)? NFC operates in the MegaHertz (MHz) range, 13.56 MHz. NFC also allows for induction fields and power transfer involving those.

While RFID for vehicle fobs is often at 125 KHz , the RFID specification does have a high frequency: 13.56 MHz. The fob is an RFID receiver. If built to receive 13.56 MHz, that would set the fob off. It'd use its UHF transmitter to authenticate to the truck.

This ^ interests me...so someone is buzzing out in front of the TV, the cell phone with NFC on, the fob near that, lit and talking to the truck. Is that an opportunity for someone to walk up to the truck and open it?

In another scenario, using NFC, a cell phone and its internal coil can power a powerless device, to communicate with it. The attempted power transfer could set something off in the fob.

Not something I want to trial though. As mentioned above, placing general electronic devices next to those which can transfer power can lead to damage in the non-NFC, non-induction device.

https://nfc-forum.org/learn/nfc-technology/

https://iotjourney.orange.com/en/support/faq/what-is-the-difference-between-nfc-and-rfid

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