Poor range with FOB
 

Hello,

search neither google didnt give me a answer so here i am.
I got a very very poor range with the key fob, i need to stand next to front door to let the fob lock or unlock.

I bought a new FOB so that cant be a problem neither does the battery does.
Cant find anything about the electric about the fob how its receiver etc.

Any advice?

Thank you

As first step check the battery, even if the fob is new it could have been sitting around for years with the battery already in, a new battery could solve your issue.

Like said in post its not the battery. I replaced it already.
Thanks for help :)

To have a better understanding: how long is your poor range? 5 meters? 10? 20?
I will try to estimate my range so we can compare.

2 maybe 3 meters

I checked and my range is about 20 meters, with a not so new battery, definitively something wrong with your fob...

Thanks for checking but i know i have an issue with fob just trying to figure out what it is

Yesterday evening I disassembled my fob ot have look inside, I could not find a wire sticking out form the cirtuit board acting as antenna.

You have the issue wiht both of your fobs?
If not then the problem on your non-correctlly working fob is probably on the cirtuit board itself, not an easy task to find and fix.
If you have the issue with both fobs then the problem is somewhere else on the Evo itself, in the "receiving" part.

Our fobs have a printed antenna on the PCB. If you want to post pics of your PCB maybe I can spot something obvious, but honestly it's really not worth repairing those. Everything is so tiny and tight you'd better be very good with an iron. Many of the components are surface mount and a pain to replace. I resoldered one of the microswitches for the lock/unlock and while it worked in the end, it was a huge pain.

It's odd that you get poor range, yet it still works at close range and it's not a battery issue. Is the battery fully making contact with the ground strap when you close the case? Check the antenna(and the rest of the PCB) for any breaks or weird-looking solder joints.

Edit:
So I took apart mine as it's been a while since I've messed with one, and I was wrong about the antenna, I actually don't see one anywhere on the board. Maybe someone with more knowledge knows, but I can't tell due to the dual-layer PCB. Either way, repairing any damaged components will be next to impossible and definitely not worth the time considering you can pick one of these up from Mitsu for $100. Or used for much much less.

Car came with just 1 key/fob and that one was working maybe 1 out of 15 times so that one was broken.
Ordered a new one on ebay, even replaced battery just to be sure.
Dont know if its just my fob or the receiver since i cant check with any other fob..

When looking at board from fob cant see anything weird.
Where is the PCB located?

Can it has something to do with frequenty from fob?
Cause the (new but bad) working fob sends around 300mhz frequenty out.
dunno about oem fob?

Ooh this is a fun idea!

I'll test my FOB with my RF stick and see what frequency we're putting out.

In response to your previous question the PCB basically takes up 100% of the space within the plastic in the key fob. You can access it by removing the one phillips screw on the back of the remote.

Given that it's been a month since the last time I checked this thread, have you made any progress? As far as I'm aware you need two working fobs to be able to program a new one. I could be wrong on that one though, just remember reading it somewhere....

Ah i tough PCB was the receiver inside the car.
No i already checked the pcb on faulty connections etc, nothing to see.
can post some pictures if you want but dont think its something on the fob side, more somewhere where the signal gets received inside the car

If you're having this issue with all of your FOBs and not just one, it most likely is an issue with the car side.

The keyless system is part of the ETACS-ECU on our cars. Both the antenna and receiver are integrated into it. The FSM doesn't have a ton of useful information about the inner-workings of the ETACS, but perhaps you can try swapping the unit to see if your issue is resolved. You'll have to relearn all of the codes for the FOBs if you do swap it.

Unfortunately any advanced diagnostic of the ETACS requires a MUT3 tool, which I'm guessing you do not have available to you, but at the very least you can check the connections and make sure it has good continuity to ground, etc.

Think i will try another ETACS if i see one for sale