1998 Toyota Avalon, keyless entry problems

I bought a used 1998 Avalon XLS in 2005, and recently I've been having
problems with the keyless entry remotes.

First, they seemed to drain the battery much faster than they should --
I would have to replace my battery after just a few months of usage,
but my parents (who own a Camry with keyless entry) have never had to
replace theirs in a couple of years.

But lately, the problem has gotten stranger -- a few weeks ago, the
unlock and trunk open buttons stopped working, but the lock button
works fine. This happens on both remotes that I have for the car, so
it led me to believe that there was something wrong with a component in
the car. But when I replaced the battery in one of the remotes, the
entire thing started working again, but only for a couple weeks, at
which point the same problem as before started happening again -- lock
works, but not unlock or trunk.

Does anyone know what might be causing this? The two problems (battery
drain and lock-only) don't seem entirely related, but I don't really
know what's going on under the hood. I hesitate to take it to Toyota
because I'm sure they'd try to charge me an arm and a leg for something
that isn't an urgent concern. Might a third-party remote be a solution
worth trying?

Thanks,

- Tony

On Sep 17, 9:47 am, Tony Allevato
<cliongu...@kriocoudek.mailexpire.com> wrote:
> I bought a used 1998 Avalon XLS in 2005, and recently I've been having
> problems with the keyless entry remotes.
>
> First, they seemed to drain the battery much faster than they should --
> I would have to replace my battery after just a few months of usage,
> but my parents (who own a Camry with keyless entry) have never had to
> replace theirs in a couple of years.
>
> But lately, the problem has gotten stranger -- a few weeks ago, the
> unlock and trunk open buttons stopped working, but the lock button
> works fine. This happens on both remotes that I have for the car, so
> it led me to believe that there was something wrong with a component in
> the car. But when I replaced the battery in one of the remotes, the
> entire thing started working again, but only for a couple weeks, at
> which point the same problem as before started happening again -- lock
> works, but not unlock or trunk.
>
> Does anyone know what might be causing this? The two problems (battery
> drain and lock-only) don't seem entirely related, but I don't really
> know what's going on under the hood. I hesitate to take it to Toyota
> because I'm sure they'd try to charge me an arm and a leg for something
> that isn't an urgent concern. Might a third-party remote be a solution
> worth trying?
>
> Thanks,
>
> - Tony

I'm no expert but it sounds like you have a short somewhere that needs
fixing. I don't think a 3rd party remote is going to fix it myself.

There are others on this group far more knowledgeable than myself who
will hopefully chime in.

On 2007-09-18 00:32:45 -0400, "Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> said:

> I am assuming that the battery that is being drained is the battery in the
> remote and not in the car itself. Carefully open the remote fob and clean
> the back side of the rubber buttons and the contacts on the circuit board
> with rubbing alcohol or tuner cleaner and see if the problem goes away.

Right, it's the remote battery that's being drained. Thanks, I'll give
this a shot!

- Tony