Jay777

In the car, in the immobilizer.
What kind of range do you currently get?

Allen

I get about 3 - 5 ft. It's not really an issue for me, but depending on how easy it is to get the immobilizer box out, I would probably do this mod.

ch3tman

Agreed! Eager to see the results and effectiveness for other owners who have tried this out.

IainM

My home parking is challenging for radio electronics with lots of buildings, cars and storage cabinets to block good transmission. I posted a while back saying my range was only 5 ft but after thinking about this, I needed to take some baselines in a wide open space so I did a few tests in the back lot at work. Out in the open, my current range is about 30ft, I was surprised, but realized that I adapted my expectations to the worst case experience. Even my normal parking spot at work has solar panels overhead, big steel superstructure and lots of cars around - why would you think radio would work well here.

Anyway, I have the parts, I have baseline measurements, I will do the mod, retest and report back.

s2racer

...so I'm having issues locking and unlocking the car. I have to hold the fob button down for 3-5 seconds right next to the driver's side door to get the engagement. No luck from passenger side. I ordered the parts (thank you for the #'s) and pulled the seat. Looking at the stuff (technical term) under the seat, I'm not exactly sure which screws/nuts to remove to release the boxes. An earlier post mentioned some security screws that need to be drilled out. Any advice? Once I pull the board, I will probably send it to ECU Docs to have them make the repairs (since I don't want to F it up myself).Thanks

Marc

Jay777

Check out this thread that discusses security bolt removal.
I'd be happy to make the mods for you, no charge. Takes all of 5 minutes and it'll save you hundreds. PM if interested.
-Jay

pp000830

Andy

Jay777

Drivers side, Andy.
Do a before and after range test and let us know what improvement you get.

IainM

I've been doing before tests and get very variable results, even on a wide, open, empty parking lot with no metal around.
Best I got was 30' when I started at this distance. Successive lock/ unlock test seem to get shorter and shorter as if the battery wasn't able to supply continuous power.
Next test will be with new battery to see if range improves
bottom line: it's hard to get a repeatable result

next time the batteries out I'll pull the seat and do the mod, any day now....,,

s2racer

Thanks for the input. Jay, I'll shoot you a note.

Marc

pp000830

I just went ahead and jumped in to replace the capacitors.

• I disconnected the car's battery before starting the procedure.
• The hardest part was drilling out the security rivets on the anti-theft cover over the controllers under the driver's seat.
• I used a shop vacuum to clean out the metal shards left from drilling before unplugging the controller to avoid contaminating the electrical connections.
• I did replace the cover when I was finished with some self-tapping machine screws as it may be providing some required electrical shielding, who knows.
• After going through the process of removing the seat, removing the security cover, detaching the fob receiver controller and taking it in the kitchen. I realized that one of the capacitors I purchased was the wrong one. Seeing that I did have the 0.47mf capacitor I installed it alone. That's what happens when Radio Shack no longer exists and one buys their components on eBay.
• Removing and replacing the capacitor was relatively easy however the circuit board is a two-layer board with traces on the front and back so be sure to use a low watt pencil-style soldering iron 35 Watt max and solder both the front of the capacitor's pass-through holes and the back to the new capacitor's leads as it looks like the capacitor is actually attached to both the front and the back traces.
• Also, the traces are close so use a magnifier to check that the solder joints are good and you didn't inadvertently jump and join adjacent traces.

Interestingly enough just replacing the one .47mf capacitor has resulted in my fob working from as far away as I can get from the car in my drive, about 30 feet, where on a good day it would only work from five or six feet previously.
Who would think?
Andy

pp000830

Just wanted to let the community know that changing the electrolytic capacitors in the fob radio receiver under the driver's seat really does drastically extend the distance from which the fobs work.
I replaced the 0.47mf capacitor yesterday and yes the improvement is significant.
Here is the original discussion thread:
https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...this-easy.html
Thank you, Jay, (Jay777) for your observation, exploration and resultant pearls of wisdom on the subject.

This is a big deal as when the fobs stop working due to dried out electrolytic capacitors, a most likely root cause, the fix now cost a few dollars DIY rather than $675, " repair price" as listed on a servicing web site.
Andy

Jay777

Good feedback Andy. Makes makes sense the .47 cap is the offending one - it's clearly part of the radio circuit (pic in post #14).
I'm making the mods to S2racer's immo tomorrow so hopefully we'll get results back from him when he gets it back.
-Jay

Lorenfb

Yes, an improvement in range does occur when the .47uf electrolytic capacitor degrades and is replaced. A better choice for a replacement is to use a tantalum capacitor, e.g. T350B474K050AT.
Given the effort involved to replace the capacitor and if an acceptable remote range exists, a future replacement may be more appropriate.

Jay777

I had the opportunity to change out the 2 capacitors on s2racer's immo today and for the first time was able to test the 2 original caps that came off the board. Not surprisingly, both were severely degraded:
- the 0.47uF cap measured only .005uF (with very low leakage resistance).
- the 330 uF was down to 49uF (acceptable leakage resistance).

Neither was doing much of anything in the circuit, especially the 0.47, which from Andy's post (#72), appears to be the one responsible for range reduction.
Hopefully we'll hear back soon from s2racer on how the change affected FOB range.

If anyone else needs help making the mod, I'm happy to help out.

-Jay