Toyota Key Fob Battery Life - Not Great!

[bsquaredMTB]

I'm curious if anyone else has had this issue. I feel like I'm replacing my key fob battery every 3 to 5 months. I don't remember my 3rd gen killing the key fob battery that often but I also am just going off of my memory. Has anyone had similar experience with a short battery life on the key fob? Does anyone have any suggestions to stretch the battery life?

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[maxx075]

Going on 2 years and no issues.

 

[bc510]

Faraday pouch or Box. Keeps the battery from constantly looking for the truck. Been about a year now. Still haven’t replaced the battery.

 

[gpburdell]

Faraday pouch or Box. Keeps the battery from constantly looking for the truck. Been about a year now. Still haven’t replaced the battery.

A Faraday cage wouldn't prevent the fob from looking for the truck.

For relay-attack prevention, key fobs from recent years go to sleep with a few minutes lack of movement.

See Which Toyota Smart Key Fobs Sleep With Inactivity? : r/Toyota and/or look in your owners manual for "When electronic key function stops"



If concerned about relay-attack theft before the fob sleeps, or if the fob will be moved enough that it's not asleep most of the time, you can manually put it in a sleep mode that requires a button press to exit. Press/hold lock then press unlock twice. LED in fob should flash 4 times to confirm success. Press any button to exit.

@bsquaredMTB I can't vouch for 4th gen other than to say I've seen no other mentions, and I can confirm third gen fobs go for years between battery changes (depending on amount of use). Try swapping to your other fob and see if the behavior continues. If not, then the first fob is defective.

 

[bsquaredMTB]

Thanks for all the info. I'm also going to go w/a name brand battery this time vs an amazon special. Maybe that'll help some too!

 

[gpburdell]

Oh, definitely yes. Mystery brand Amazon batteries can be hit or miss. I've even had great and so-so from same batch.

 

[Rocko]

Faraday pouch or Box. Keeps the battery from constantly looking for the truck. Been about a year now. Still haven’t replaced the battery.

I have been doing the same. Cheap but effective faraday pouches off Amz. That and Energizer batteries instead of cheap ones. The batteries last well now.

 

[MT-Taco]

Also don’t keep your phone near your fob (iE same pocket) it will create parasitic draw. And don’t put it near your wireless charger, it will cook the battery PDQ!

 

[gpburdell]

Also don’t keep your phone near your phone (iE same pocket)

huh?

 

[MT-Taco]

huh?

Fob

 

[ambit]

replaced my CR2450 for the first time in ~20 months.

 

[Romer]

Distance to your vehicle can be a factor. On my wifes car that is next to the garage door into the house, if I left thee FOB inside the door on the laundry room sink, the battery would wear out quickly as it can "see the car". Moved it 5 feet away and the batteries have lasted over a year since. I don't know the specifics on distance, just posting my experiance.

 

[defed]

Almost 2 years for my '24, no problems yet. All my previous ones I had 3 yrs w/o a problem.

 

[Dave45]

I'm curious if anyone else has had this issue. I feel like I'm replacing my key fob battery every 3 to 5 months. I don't remember my 3rd gen killing the key fob battery that often but I also am just going off of my memory. Has anyone had similar experience with a short battery life on the key fob? Does anyone have any suggestions to stretch the battery life?

press the lock button hold the lock button then press the unlock button twice you'll see the light flash on the remote the remote is now turned off until the next time you push the button

 

[Dirt]

'23 Camry (3 yrs.), '24 Taco (almost 2 yrs.) still on fobs' OEM batteries.

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