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Changed my alternator, now my smart key doesn't seem to work
Hi, I'm new here but I own a 2006 gs300. I love this car. I've owned it for about a year now. I'm a huge Toyota lover. I own quite a few. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago my car starting acting up. At first it was just a little slow turning over to start and after a few days the power steering wasn't working and then the car actually stopped and I had to get towed home. Anyway it ended up being the alternator. I quickly decided to change it so I took the old one off and got a new one from my friendly neighbourhood starter, alternator guy. Took about a week for me to get it. Anyway, today I installed the new alternator, hooked the battery back up and the battery of course was dead. I put my charger on it and left it for an hour or two. When I go back out to try to start Mr car I realize that nothing is working with my key. The lights and horn and interior lights are all working but nothing is working that functions with the smart key. I'm just wondering if anybody else has had this problem and if there is a special reset or something that I can do to make it work. Thanks
Disconnecting the battery or replacing the alternator shouldn't effect your locking system. First, check your key fob for a low battery:
1. Can you lock/unlock the car and open the trunk with the buttons on the key fob?
2. If the answer to (1) is no, hold the key fob about an inch or two from the start/stop button and push it – if it starts, you just need to replace the battery in the key.
Also, the car battery may not be fully charged yet, so maybe just leave it on the battery tender for 24 hours and see if that helps. Batteries that are old and have a reduced operating voltage can cause all sorts of electrical problems, so it may also be a good idea to check the voltage of the battery itself.
If the batteries are not the problem, then start checking fuses. There's a fuse box in the trunk and in the engine compartment there is at least one fuse box. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more, but I don't have a master list so unfortunately I can't tell you where they all are or which fuses are directly related to the locking/security system.
So I've been to the Lexus dealer here in Halifax after talking to them on the phone. On the phone they told me that changing the alternator shouldn't affect the keys for the car. Then they told me that as long as the led light on the fob works that it must be transmitting. Anyway when i get to the dealer they start telling me that if I push unlock/lock 3 times on the fob that the car will recognize it again and then it should work. Wish they could've told me that on the phone. Didn't work. I've been working too much and don't really have the time to take off to be able to tow it in. I really don't want to have to tow the car. They're telling me to reprogram the keys costs $120 ish. Plus the cost of the tow which is an hour away, this is really going to start costing. I'm thinking they really don't know what to do with it and they're just gonna start charging me by the hour to experiment with it. I'm so pissed about the whole thing right now. The alternator for it was almost $400. I'm thinking to redo the keys is gonna cost me at least another $400. This is ridiculous as far as I'm concerned. Please if anybody can give me some direction here I would be so grateful
So I've been to the Lexus dealer here in Halifax after talking to them on the phone. On the phone they told me that changing the alternator shouldn't affect the keys for the car. Then they told me that as long as the led light on the fob works that it must be transmitting. Anyway when i get to the dealer they start telling me that if I push unlock/lock 3 times on the fob that the car will recognize it again and then it should work. Wish they could've told me that on the phone. Didn't work. I've been working too much and don't really have the time to take off to be able to tow it in. I really don't want to have to tow the car. They're telling me to reprogram the keys costs $120 ish. Plus the cost of the tow which is an hour away, this is really going to start costing. I'm thinking they really don't know what to do with it and they're just gonna start charging me by the hour to experiment with it. I'm so pissed about the whole thing right now. The alternator for it was almost $400. I'm thinking to redo the keys is gonna cost me at least another $400. This is ridiculous as far as I'm concerned. Please if anybody can give me some direction here I would be so grateful
Don't pay them to replace your key or reprogram it unless they know for damn sure that that's the problem, and can say for damn sure that replacing/reprogramming will resolve it – if you let them start playing part darts, it may well get quite expensive and not resolve the issue.
Unless you get a scan tool and can tell us what error codes you get, I suspect it'll be difficult for anyone here to help. Diagnosing electrical issues can be quite a challenge even for an experienced technician since there are so many things that could cause an issue – Eric the car guy and humble mechanic on YouTube have videos explaining the challenges with auto diagnostics work.
About a year ago I was repairing an instrument at the lab, the issue was that it would shut down randomly. After many hours and several long phone calls with the head technician at the manufacturer, we discovered that the problem was that one of the boards was getting 4.6 volts rather than 5.0, and turning a screw on the power supply about 540° clockwise made everything work fine. The point is that 0.4 volts turned a $500,000 instrument into a 350 pound brick, and the instrument is quite a bit less complicated, at least in terms of electrical components, that our cars.
You could also go back in and make sure that all the connectors and wires you unhooked are secured properly, and that you didn't accidentally damage a wire or connector (or that dirt didn't get onto one of the contacts while you had them unplugged)
So I realize I haven't been here for awhile, due to the fact that I've been working every day for the last month or so, 13-14 hours a day and I haven't had the time to do anything with the car. Anyway, today was my first day off and I reluctantly towed my car to the Lexus dealership. I just heard back from them and they're t telling me that somehow the main fuse for the car is blown, that it costs $230 to buy it and that it takes 3 hours to install it.(at $120 per hour) They also say that the only way to blow this fuse is to boost the car with reverse polarity. I know that I never boosted the car wrongly and that just seems far fetched to me. Also, the horn and the headlights and everything that doesn't need the key is working fine. Has anybody ever experienced anything to do with this super fuse before. Right now at the least I'm looking at getting the car towed an hour home and then having to deal with this. Or should I just bite the bullet and pay the $600 and some odd bucks. Wow this has sure soured me to owning my nice little Lexus. This is the biggest scam I've ever heard of. I'm held hostage here. HELP.
Don't pay them to replace your key or reprogram it unless they know for damn sure that that's the problem, and can say for damn sure that replacing/reprogramming will resolve it – if you let them start playing part darts, it may well get quite expensive and not resolve the issue.
Unless you get a scan tool and can tell us what error codes you get, I suspect it'll be difficult for anyone here to help. Diagnosing electrical issues can be quite a challenge even for an experienced technician since there are so many things that could cause an issue – Eric the car guy and humble mechanic on YouTube have videos explaining the challenges with auto diagnostics work.
About a year ago I was repairing an instrument at the lab, the issue was that it would shut down randomly. After many hours and several long phone calls with the head technician at the manufacturer, we discovered that the problem was that one of the boards was getting 4.6 volts rather than 5.0, and turning a screw on the power supply about 540° clockwise made everything work fine. The point is that 0.4 volts turned a $500,000 instrument into a 350 pound brick, and the instrument is quite a bit less complicated, at least in terms of electrical components, that our cars.
You could also go back in and make sure that all the connectors and wires you unhooked are secured properly, and that you didn't accidentally damage a wire or connector (or that dirt didn't get onto one of the contacts while you had them unplugged)
I do own an OBD2 reader but it's pretty much useless here because I can't turn the ignition on. Thanks for your help anyway though. I really do appreciate it.
Take a picture of your fusible link. If it looks like this picture, its no good. Simple way to check. Its directly below your battery
Picture taken from this thread. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...n-t-start.html
Thank you very much for the pic. I checked the other thread and sounds somewhat the same as my situation. I'm just wondering though, if this fuse is the main fuse for the car, why are the headlights, interior lights and horn working?
Hey guys I feel like I'm in sort of a similar situation. I just got my car back from an accident repair and when I tried to start the car, it is absolute silence. It isn't ike a run of the mill dead battery where at least the car will recognize you're trying to do something when you hit the start button.
I figure its either the battery or alternator but one whacky clue may be this, the battery light was on and then when I was driving, pressing down the gas pedal would force the MPH needle back to 0 (while driving) and when not on the gas pedal, the needle would move back to follow current MPH cruising speed. Very odd, never seen it before.
Take a picture of your fusible link. If it looks like this picture, its no good. Simple way to check. Its directly below your battery
Picture taken from this thread. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...n-t-start.html
Man I just found out this is exactly what happened to my car recently.
My shop guy said someone soldered this in the past so ONE of the people who have previously worked on my car hasn't been completely honest with me.
10-08-16, 02:58 PM
Changed my alternator, now my smart key doesn't seem to work
