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Can a 10x increase in FOB range be this easy?

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Old 03-01-2019, 05:50 PM
  #16  
Churchill
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Originally Posted by Jay777
I followed up with ECU Docs yesterday to see if there was anything else they might have done to explain the 12x improvement in FOB range I’m getting. They confirmed what the repair report said, that all they did was change the 2 caps, adding “everyone should do this”. (They didn't respond to a follow-up question as to whether they would guarantee a range increase to anyone who had the mod done).
I'll go next testing this. I'm handy with a soldering iron. What could go wrong?
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Old 03-01-2019, 06:07 PM
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And thank you, Jay, for providing all this guidance. It'd be amazing to have modern-car fob range. Fingers crossed.
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Old 03-01-2019, 06:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Churchill
And thank you, Jay, for providing all this guidance. It'd be amazing to have modern-car fob range. Fingers crossed.
Can't wait to hear how you make out. Definitely do a "before-and-after" calibration, maybe with just a board cleaning and then after the caps are swapped.
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Old 03-01-2019, 07:27 PM
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Ordered the caps today. Will clean the board as well. With a fresh battery in the fob at most I can stand 5' away from my car and unlock it.
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Old 03-01-2019, 10:22 PM
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I'm at 5' or less too. Quite interested in this mod.
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Old 03-01-2019, 11:44 PM
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Originally Posted by pp000830
Other than a slightly different production board and a lot of lint it looks like your remote is definitely the same as mine OE.
VG
Yikes, Andy, you gotta stop driving underwater!
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Old 03-02-2019, 11:20 AM
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IainM
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So the mod is to the receiver in the car, not the key fobs. This makes more sense. The caps are essential to providing a clean supply to the radio receiver in a very noisy environment. Add in clock noise from the nearby processor and the noise/interferer level at the radio receiver goes up, reducing range. Fresh electrolytics with low esr will provide a much more stable supply to the receiver.
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Old 03-02-2019, 11:37 AM
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are the caps soldered on?
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Old 03-02-2019, 01:45 PM
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Originally Posted by JB 911
are the caps soldered on?
Yup. Through-hole components, 2 leads each. Very easy DIY with any old pencil-type soldering iron.
What kind of range do you get with your FOBs?
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Old 03-02-2019, 01:58 PM
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pp000830
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So my next question is where is the remote fob radio receiver unit? Is it underneath the seat with the MOTRONIC Controller?
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Old 03-02-2019, 02:17 PM
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Originally Posted by Jay777
Yup. Through-hole components, 2 leads each. Very easy DIY with any old pencil-type soldering iron.
What kind of range do you get with your FOBs?
10' on a good day. Seems to work better with a 1 second depress than a press and release like the newer remotes but still only 10 feet.
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Old 03-02-2019, 02:24 PM
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Originally Posted by pp000830
So my next question is where is the remote fob radio receiver unit? Is it underneath the seat with the MOTRONIC Controller?
Underneath the seat, just to the right of the ECU.
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Old 03-02-2019, 02:41 PM
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If one is not in a hurry the capacitors can be had on eBay free shipping ten each for $3 or so.
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Old 03-02-2019, 04:29 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by IainM
So the mod is to the receiver in the car, not the key fobs. This makes more sense. The caps are essential to providing a clean supply to the radio receiver in a very noisy environment. Add in clock noise from the nearby processor and the noise/interferer level at the radio receiver goes up, reducing range. Fresh electrolytics with low esr will provide a much more stable supply to the receiver.
The most likely explanation. If that turns out to be the case, it pretty much guarantees everyone will get the same improvement, for the same reason.
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Old 03-02-2019, 09:49 PM
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Following!
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