My first post, have had 2 Land Cruisers of my own. But, I inherited my Dad's '99 Lexus LX 470, 284,000 on it, runs like a top.

Anyway, there are a couple of issues with the power locks. The remote seems to be weak, in that you have to be close to the car [new battery in key] to activate the lock/unlock remotely.

Next I got an extra key, when the local [locksmith, not Lexus place] tried to program it, you have to lock and unlock a bunch of times, and about half way through the lock would stop working reliably [working it from the driver's door, not remotely]. So the programming attempt fails.

What does it take to fix, presumably the linkage, or actuator in the door, and improve the range on the remote key?

Thanks

 

Wow, expected some answer or thought on either the door lock mechanism or the remote key sensor/battery. Any insight would be appreciated.

 

It's likely the keyless entry module for the car is aging, I've had customers complain about the same thing in various Lexus vehicles and I've been a victim of it myself on my 98 GS.

I have no experience programming Lexus keys, but I can say that Toyotas in general are pretty notorious for problems when cycling the locks. You can't do it too quickly or else the system fails and this sort of situation happens. Actually you're quite lucky they still work, to be honest.

I'd advise you just to get an aftermarket alarm installed. It should solve the keyless entry problem easily and you don't have to worry about being out of the factory remote's range, plus it's going to be significantly cheaper than having a Toyota tech replace the keyless entry brain if they discover that's the issue.