Insuficient or Remote Control TSB 9662 Made Easy

[Cassiebox]

Why does the wire have to be 130mm?

I follow the hack, and it looks like it is easy to do but I do not understand why the wire needs to be cut to 130mm, or only have 130mm exposed outside the foam wrap. Wouldn't more wire being exposed extend the range?.

Thanks!

It has to do w/ the frequency the remote operates on. The antenna length needs to be an inverse function of it to maximize as I understand. Here is the guide per the TSB as some countries remotes operate on different frequencies:

- for a frequency of 315 MHz: 130 mm (USA/Canada/Mexico/Australia/Japan/Hong Kong)

- for a frequency of 433 MHz: 100 mm (all other countries)

Sometimes you can get away w/ just pulling 130mm outside of the foam tape. On other cars, you need to measure from the end of the black sheathing to get it to function correctly. I guess it kind of depends on how long of a white wire w/out sheathing is in your car. Try just moving it outside the foam first. If that works, then you're good to go - if not, redo it measuring from the end of the black shield. Enjoy your new extended remote. As someone said previously to me... it's called a remote, not a "right next to" :D

[TAILWAG]

Well...i have been a proud owner of a 99' Techart 911 C4 for almost 2 years and run across this article. I decided to try it out and I had great success!!

Thank you all who participated in putting this together. I was a little "scurrred" to try it out butk, was able to extend the range considerably by exposing the tip of the white wire and by taking it out apx. 130mm from the foam insulation.

Now...if I could only do the same to the **** E46 M3 and the gf's Z4...things will be a LOT better.... :P

[CosmosC4S]

Tailwag...for the Bimmers, try this trick:

Hold the key (metal part) to your chin (touching) and press the button.

The range should be considerably further than what you are getting now.

I know, if you have not heard of it yet, it sounds funny and stupid, but give it a try and see for yourself!

I'm giving this tip from experience ;)

Edited October 15, 2007 by CosmosC4S

[TAILWAG]

Tailwag...for the Bimmers, try this trick:

Hold the key (metal part) to your chin (touching) and press the button.

The range should be considerably further than what you are getting now.

I know, if you have not heard of it yet, it sounds funny and stupid, but give it a try and see for yourself!

I'm giving this tip from experience ;)

Cosmos...thanks for the tip, however, that is probably not the solution I was hoping for. I feel kind of weird trying to stab myself on the throat...at least, that is what seems to other people... :D

[steve germany]

I just did my 2003 C4S. I found the antenna to be 120mm (not 130mm) so there was no cutting required. I relocated the antenna away from the cable bundle and have increased the range to over 60 feet! A great improvement over 3-5 foot range I had before!

[andrewg]

This is something i will do next weekend. It sounds a little scary but I have to get better reception than i get currently. at the moment I stand next to the car and put the key against my head to get the car to open.

[racer08]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Just measured 130mm from where the white wire exits the harness and my remote is now working reliably at over 100ft. (Even works at the end of my driveway which is great!!)

Edited July 5, 2008 by racer08

[gary996]

Tailwag...for the Bimmers, try this trick:

Hold the key (metal part) to your chin (touching) and press the button.

The range should be considerably further than what you are getting now.

I know, if you have not heard of it yet, it sounds funny and stupid, but give it a try and see for yourself!

I'm giving this tip from experience ;)

this one really does work, I have done it many times. It was even talked about on "Car Talk" No one seams to know why but it does work. It might have to do with resonance in the skull.

G

[CMiYC]

On a coupe, pull the coat hanger piece off first and start from there.

Can anyone help me with the coat hanger? Does it just pull off?

Edit: Nevermind. I just wasn't pulling on the pillar/cover with enough force.

Edited November 15, 2008 by CMiYC

[BuddyK]

Why does the wire have to be 130mm?

I follow the hack, and it looks like it is easy to do but I do not understand why the wire needs to be cut to 130mm, or only have 130mm exposed outside the foam wrap. Wouldn't more wire being exposed extend the range?.

Thanks!

This has to do with radio waves.

You want to catch the wave with the antenna, so an antenna of appropriate length will make a huge difference.

If the transmitter operates at 315Mhz for USA Canada, then the quarter wave antenna would be 226.42 mm. Half wave antenna would be 452.8 mm

1/8 wavelength 0ft. 4 - 15/32in. or 0.113 M

1/4 wavelength 0ft. 8 - 15/16in. or 0.226 M

3/8 wavelength 1ft. 1 - 3/8in. or 0.340 M

5/8 wavelength 1ft. 10 - 5/16in. or 0.566 M

so the 130mm beyond the insulation advice doesn't quite make sense to me yet - but I'm not an RF engineer.

Does this transmitter operate on exactly 315Mhz? I doubt it - it probably is in a range of frequencies designated for keyfob transmitters somewhere within 10Mhz plus or minus of the 315Mhz listed.

This would be the length of wire outside any radio wave insulating mesh or foil I believe. If there were no insulating material, then the measurement could be from the printed circuit board. It's important to know where the measurement should start. Otherwise, you'll get random antenna length and probably random results. Longer is not always better all the time.

From what I have gleaned from all the posts it seems that the antenna is being inadvertently shielded inside there by a bundle of wires etc, and it may also be of inappropriate length.

I have not done any mod yet, but my 1999 C4 really needs it, so I'm looking forward to this.

I have seen many other cars with 100 foot + range, so maybe I can add some antenna and match it up just right - I'll let you know here when I do it.

Edited September 14, 2009 by BuddyK

[brankota]

hi guys, on a australian spec car, which pillar would the antenna be, i get like 1m range only :(

[frisbee91]

Did the "Remote Range TSB" fix last night ('99 996 C2 Cab). Everything was exactly as described in the DIY. Shortened the white wire to 130mm, and my range went from about 8' to about 20', but this was with the car inside my garage. I'll try the range again once it's outside. Perhaps I need a new battery in the remote, too. Thanks for the tutorial!

[RandalJ]

I just wanted to pass on another tip for those who have had problems with the remote reception.  Before you go to the trouble of disassembling the A-piller, have your car battery tested.  Just because it cranks the car enough to start does not mean that it is 100%, and I have discovered that a new battery solved the reception problem.

 

When I bought my 996 in 2006, the reception was fine - 30 feet if not more. I installed an Optima battery, kept the car for about four years, sold it to someone in-state, and bought it back last December (75k miles).  I did notice that the key range had gotten a lot shorter, but didn't think much of it until recently, when I could be standing at the driver's window, and it would still be temperamental. I tried replacing one of the key batteries, but that didn't help.  Also did a search and read up on the antenna length in the A-piller, thinking I'd get around to it...

 

The Optima I bought in 2007 was still in the car, and by now it was 7 years old.  It seemed to still crank OK, though slower than I'd like.  Recently I took my car in to have the water pump replaced (preventative - slight amount of play on the shaft), and the indie shop advised that the battery was on its way out. So, off I went this morning to get a new Optima. It was at that point that it occurred to me that maybe the weakness of the car battery was causing poor reception.  That maybe the system cuts power to non-essential systems if the battery is not holding charge as well as it should.

 

Well, sure enough, I got the new battery in, and my range is back to 30 feet or so.

 

By the way, the Autozone guy tested my old battery and pronounced it "good", so it would be best to make sure you get someone competent to test yours.  If your engine cranks slowly but still enough to start the car, like mine did, that may be a clue as well.

[robbieracer]

Great mod, did this while I was removing the A pillar to hardwire my radar detector.  The range is very much improved.  Thanks!

[nickshu]

I just did this mod today. Trim removal is a little more involved on a coupe but the whole thing took less than 30 minutes. Huge improvement in the remote range. On my 2003 there was already 130mm of white/clear antenna wire exposed before the shielded black coating started from the factory. So all I had to do is move it outside of the wiring loom and velcro sheath. Easy peasy.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[Shane11]

On 6/1/2006 at 4:08 AM, BliarOut said:

Thanks very much for that, worked a treat. Best ten minutes I've spent on the car!

If anyone else is doing this mod the antenna is in the left hand pillar on RHD cars as well. I did wonder if they might have switched the loom before I started but they haven't.

 

On 6/1/2006 at 4:08 AM, BliarOut said:

Thanks very much for that, worked a treat. Best ten minutes I've spent on the car!

If anyone else is doing this mod the antenna is in the left hand pillar on RHD cars as well. I did wonder if they might have switched the loom before I started but they haven't.

thanks for that I should have read this post first, removed the A Pillar cover n my RHD 996 and nothing there, it is in the passenger side A Plllar

 

[Shane11]

It works, it works, yay, now what are my chances of getting back from the Porsche dealer the $500 that I spent on a new key, which they thought was the problem. and I am so glad that I found this post, because the Dealer was trying to charge me another $2k plus to fix it (a new alarm module box). They really should be better than this and know how to fix this problems, especially since there have been bulletins from Porsche about the problem.  A couple of points from me.

- the aerial is in the passenger side pillar on a Right Hand Drive car, and 

- the remote wasn't working any better at all after I had carried out the procedure and was testing it before putting the A Pillar back together, so I was really annoyed, but once I put the A Pillar cover back on it worked a treat, don't know why this would make any difference but it did (for me) thanks for making this fix available. It is very easy but I admit I was very nervous about cutting a wire in my Porsche

Edited February 21, 2022 by Shane11