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remote starter problem

bolophonic

bolophonic

Supporting Member
Dec 10, 2009
9,731
18,460
Durham, NC
www.brendanlove.com
#1
My wife was up in the middle of the night, feeding the baby, and she heard a car start nearby. She thought it seemed too close to be the neighbor, so she looked out the window and lo and behold, the remote starter on our recently purchased 2009 Highlander had randomly engaged somehow. I have no experience with these things, so I don't even know where to start troubleshooting this problem. Of course now I am wondering how often this has been happening. Anybody have experience with this kind of thing?
 
#2
Wow. That's one I never heard before. Maybe one of your neighbors has a keyfob with the same frquency? My cordless doorbell would ring once in awhile and I'd go look,.and lo and behold nobody was there. Changed the frequency on the bell, amd it never happened again. Just throwing that out there, but I've got nothin'
 
#3
Could it be someone in your house accidentally and unknowingly hit the right buttons on your remote starter? Similar thing happened to my sister years ago: left the wireless phone on the baby's high chair and the little bugger unknowingly hit 911. A few minutes later a pair of cops show up on their front door.
 
#4
Those key fobs are sensitive. My grandson started my truck in the driveway playing around with the fob in the kitchen. The kitchen is in the back of the house at least 50' from the truck. Someone around your area has the same frequency, or it was one of your fobs accidentally pushed.

Paul
 
#7
If it keeps doing it, you can take the battery out of the keyfob and see if the problem persists. At least you can rule out your own keyfob being the culprit. (weak contacts maybe?)

Do you have more than 1 keyfob? Maybe in a drawer somewhere that could potentially get banged around? I keep spare keys in a junk drawer, which is why I ask.

Then, I think the only 2 other options are a neighbors frequency, or the module that controls the remote start system may be faulty.
 
#9
Unprofessional said:
Yeah, just imagine what would have happened if you had been under the hood checking a belt.

Remote starting for automobiles is a really, really bad idea.
Click to expand...

Working on an engine without disconnecting the negative terminal of the battery is a really, really bad idea.

OP, you might want to check the batteries in your remote. And that possible temperature setting that someone mentioned is definitely something to check out.
 
#11
Thanks everybody! It did get pretty cold around here, so that could be a possibility. The keys were just sitting on the kitchen counter, so I'm sure our button didn't get pressed, but I did wonder if a neighbor could have triggered it somehow. I will have a look under the hood tomorrow and let you know if I was able to solve the problem.
 
#16
68Goldfish said:
I seriously doubt your going to find something underneath the hood. I'd think about seeing if there's any tsb's or software updates which may require a trip to the dealer.
Click to expand...

+1 about under the hood. At least with the aftermarket one that my old Honda had, it was an in-dash modification. There was actually a box next to the steering column that was a receiver.

If its factory and a modern car, then it's probably buried way further than most of us simpletons could ever hope of getting to.
 

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