Auto door lock? Key fob range sucks?

Hey everyone, so yesterday my 2018 CM was “broken” into, in other words just opened the door and helped themselves. I’ve been having my key fob not wanting to lock/unlock when you are more than a few get away. Is this just a tundra feature or does yours work at a larger distance. Seems like you almost have to touch the vehicle for it to unlock at times.

If this really is just how the tundra key fobs operate, is there a way to auto lock the doors after leaving the vehicle? I know a lot of other vehicles have this feature but can’t seem to find it on the truck menu. Also might not help that they store my owners manual so it’s a little tougher to look up. Thanks in advance, I’m a little discouraged.

 

Did you replace the cargo lights with LED bulbs by chance? Some brands are known to cause interference with the antenna, as they moved that into the brake light housing in 2018+ models.

 

Good point on the led bulbs.

Also make sure battery in fob is good, maybe replace it.

If you hold the fob against your chin the range is increased. I swear this works and I'm not just messing with everyone so they go around holding their keys to their chin. It does work, I use this method to remote start my truck at work, it easily doubles the range

 

I don't want to believe you, but I'm still going to look like a jackass trying it later today anyway...

 

I can confirm the chin thing works. You could get an aftermarket 2way system that way it would tell you what function you did. If you had an lcd 2way, you could see the status of your truck. Also you can program aftermarket's to lock so many seconds after the last door is closed. Just make sure you have your keys

 

Oh I forgot to mention you have to do a stand on 1 foot statue of liberty pose while doing it
Lol JK it really does work

 

I didn’t know that, and actually I did. Replaced them with VLEDs. Any idea if they cause the issue? Looks like I might be getting a cheap incandescent set and seeing if that changes anything.

 

I just assumed the battery was good with it being a newer truck, still can’t hurt to check though. Definitely try the chin thing as well

 

I believe it was infact vled bulbs that were giving guys issues with remote start. I have cheap Amazon jdm astar LED bulbs in my cargo lights and I dont have any issues

 

Yep, the older version of VLEDs were one of the brands causing issues, along with a few others. Reach out to them and they may replace them for you with the new version. I've also got the JDM astar LEDs and haven't had issues, so that's another option for you.

 

Just turn the cargo light completely off to test.

 

This works due to the shape of your skull amplifying the signal.

 

And fillings, don’t forget the fillings...

HO LEE SHEYAT. Just turned off my cargo light, and lo and behold, I have keyfob range again!!! Thanks @landphil!!

 

Low and behold it’s the cargo lights. Turned them off and it easily 3-4 times the range. You guys are the best as always! Going to give VLEDs a call tomorrow and see how the customer service is.

 

Which JDM astars do you have? I noticed a few different types on Amazon. TIA

 

I posted the wrong bulbs. Just a min and let me find the right ones.

I actually bought Auxito branded ones for my cargo lights:

$14 AUXITO 912 921 LED Bulb for Backup Light Reverse Lights High Power 2835 15-SMD Chipsets Error Free T15 906 922 W16W Bulbs, 6000K White Daytime Running Lights (Upgraded, Pack of 2)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0728DYR9H/ I think they're the same as the reverse light socket.

EDIT 3: These JDM Astars will work:

$20 JDM ASTAR Super Bright Error Free 921 912 3035 Chips White LED Bulbs For Backup Reverse Lights

https://www.amazon.com/JDM-ASTAR-Extremely-Bright-Reverse/dp/B01CRGU91Y/

 

Thank you sir!

 

Holy shit! My key fob started acting up this week, and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Changed the battery, still no improvement. Called Toyota and made an appointment to have it looked at. Then stumbled across this post. Low and behold, I’d replaced my cargo lights earlier in the week with these from Amazon. I’m not around my truck at the moment, but I will be swapping the original bulbs back.

$14 LUYED 3200 Lumens 921 LED Bulb for Backup Light Reverse Lights Ultra High Power 3020 30-SMD Chipsets 912 906 T15 W16W Bulb,6500K White(New Upgrade,Pack of 2)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075K4DPFY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_i5hnDb0G5FK80

 

I 2nd the iJDM cargo lights...they're very bright and no issues with the keyfob with them!

 

That's because the signal goes thru your head and shoots out your eyes like freaking lasers. Your key fob turns you into the Superman of car alarms.

 

Thank god I found this thread. I swapped cargo lights with some ALLA lighting LED 921 bulbs from Amazon... my FOb and remote start have sucked ever since but i didn’t put 2 and 2 together. I will try disabling the cargo light on Lock/unlock to see if it fixes. Next step will be to replace those bulbs with another brand.

 

Going to give these Auxito’s a try. I have COMPUSTAR remote start and I was having issues with the factory fob... but I’m starting to think it wasn’t the bulb + remote start combo, but actually the bulb + fob. I have to hit lock, unlock, lock to remote start and that 3rd lock was messing up.

it wasn’t until today I noticed the issue of just being able to lock the truck while standing right next to it.

 

I dont have any aftermarket LEDs, but tried the @Pudge chin method to start my truck today and it worked at a longer distance. Really surprised. Nice tip!

I did get some funny looks in the parking lot at work.

 

I've got the Sylvania leds in my cargo lamps and haven't noticed any problem with reduced range.

 

I actually have ridiculous range with my key fob.

 

LEDs in the 3rd brake light housing cause the issue. Turn them off so that they're never on unless you manually turn them on yourself and the issue will disappear.

 

Yup, this worked for me after reading your post....thanks!

I noticed range wasn't great but didn't know why. LEDs were installed on interior, LP and the 3rd breaklight/truck bed. After turning the bed lights to always OFF, my range is exceptional.

Will switching out the LEDs for a different brand or only replacing the Bed Lights (not the center brake), make any difference? Of is the only fix to put the original bulbs back in?

 

It sounds like the only one that causes issue is the cargo/bed light. I turned mine off and remote start / fob seem to be back to normal

 

There are a couple brands/models listed in the thread that fix the issue. There are specific chips on LEDs that affect the antenna, so swapping to another brand that is known to work without jamming the antenna will take care of this.