Range Improvement for Remote (Before You Tear Open A-Piller)

[RandalJ]

I posted in the Common Fixes and Repair, but onto an old thread and thought it might be better if I added a quick note here.

 

Even if your car battery is good enough to crank your engine and start your car, if it is in old battery on the decline it will definitely shorten your remote range. In my case, it got to the point where I'd have to stand next to the driver's window, and even then it was tempermental. I did replace the battery in one of the keys to see if that was the problem, but it had no effect.

 

After reading posts on opening the A-piller, and making the antenna the optimum length, I thought this was something I'd eventually get around to.  But then, why would the range degrade if physically the antenna is the same as when the cart left the factory, and I was getting at least 30 feet when I first had the car?

 

Last week, I had the car in for an unrelated repair, and the shop commented that the battery was weak. With most batteries that means that the battery will die within days, if not hours, here in AZ.  But maybe the Optima is more forgiving because the only symptom I had experienced was slower cranking. So gradual I hardly noticed.  I had installed the Optima in 2007, so it was 7 years old! Anyway, I replaced the battery right away, and my remote range went to 30+ feet (I did not test at a longer range to know just how far). 

 

So, I'm just pointing out that the antenna design, while maybe not optimal out of the factory, should work for a pretty good distance as long as your car battery is sound. And maybe the remote range is a good indicator of when it's time to start shopping for a new battery.

 

By the way, the tester at Autozone indicated that my old battery was still good, so beware...