All you need to know about Toyota Keys Mechanical and Smart keys

hello and welcome to the car care nut channel well in today's video we're going to be talking about everything you need to know about toyota keys from the smart key to the mechanical key to diagnosis to how they work to everything you need to know there are mainly two types of keys for toyotas there is the smart key and then there is the mechanical key or also called internally as a joke the dumb key before we get started if you're new to the channel welcome consider subscribing to the channel check out some of my other videos if you are a returning subscriber well thank you so much for watching another one of my videos and without further ado let's get right into it starting with the mechanical key or the key that you turn to start there are mainly two kinds of those there's the one that has is called a chip key or a non-chip key the one with the chip is an immobilizer that one without a chip without an immobilizer so basically if you have a non-chip key you can go to your local hardware store cut a metal key and start the car off you go the chip key i want you to see the chip and understand how you can recognize what's what well the first indication on the car is if you have a security light that's the first indication if you don't have it you don't have a chip key if you have a security light you do the other thing is on the key itself on the tip of the blade there's usually a dot a letter some kind of identification for the chip the ones that do not have a chip will not have any markings now it could have a a key like has a remote like this or it could be just a plain key it doesn't matter that you're still going to have a chip and speaking of the chip this is how the ship looks like here's where it's located on inside the key inside the case of the key you drop that out of it it's done it won't start the car anymore and then within those all of these types there are two important types that you need to know about there is a master key and there is there is a valet key a few ways to distinguish which is which but the main thing i want you to know is the blade shape this is a master key watch the blade shape at the end especially at the tip of the key and here is a valet key these both will start the same car but they are different and the valet key will start the car but will not open the glove box will not open the trunk you know it's just used for valet but the important thing for our purposes here the master key is a key you can program off of the valet key you cannot more on that when we talk toward the end of the video on how you program these and what happens if you lose all the keys having said that about the mechanical keys the heavy emphasis of this video is going to be on the smart key which i see no information on the internet that is clear and precise on so let's dig right into it so the smart keys or the keyless start or whatever you want to call it smart keys official word let's talk about the consumer side what they do in a very brief fashion you come to the door you put the key in your pocket you touch the door the door opens you open the door get in put your foot on the brake press the start button voila car start when you're done you press the button again car shuts off you get out of the car you touch the little nibbles on the door or you push a button if you have an older one and the car locks itself and life is good but that's not why you're watching this video let's talk about actually what happens behind the scenes how are these keys communicating what are their generations what's what we're starting with so there are small little receivers all across the car in strategic locations here's how that looks like they're called oscillators and all they do is they communicate with the key as you approach they're always sending this signal that the key picks up and once the key picks it up they start communicating the main thing they will communicate is two things first one is it's called the key id this is a permanent code that is stored in every key and that permanent code is registered in the car so that's going to be the first thing that gets sent and the second thing that it's going to get sent is called a vehicle id now that vehicle id is unique to every car every car will have an id and that id gets printed on the key so it's gonna send it okay maybe we have the same key id for whatever reason but what about the vehicle id this key is not registered to this car so it needs those two numbers to match perfectly now there are different styles and different configurations of computers but here's what happens when the oscillator gets these two codes the oscillator is just a receiver he's the mailman he doesn't make decisions you just get takes things from a to b the oscillator is going to send these two codes to a main muscle of the operation almost it's called the certification ecu that's lingo first probably some translation from japanese but that's what it's called it's basically a computer that computer is going to take this code and it's going to communicate with a guy called the id box the id box is a very secure place where all the codes are stored and usually in cars equipped with it some models will have it combined with another computer but the models that have it it'll be buried right behind the hvac unit between basically all the way behind the dash you have to tear the whole car apart just to replace it or get to it for security of course now once it communicates the code to that computer it's going to ask it hey buddy do you like these numbers do you see them in your list you look in their list yep i got that key registered is it saying the right vehicle id yes cool i like that i like this key we have entry the id box gives authorization to open the door that goes back to the certification ecu certification ecu yep picks up the phone calls the body computer and the body computer that controls the locks and the doors tells them we gotta go ahead to open the doors and flash the flashers voila doors open now when you go to start the car things are different remember i told you there are placed in strategic locations these oscillators there's one by the door there's one inside in the back all across so the computer would have an ability to know not only if this is a right key but where is it located in the car because you do not want to start the car when the key is outside near the car you only want to start the car when the key is inside by the driver's area and that's how it's able to tell from these different locations where is it picking up the key closest and strongest signal is what's priority that means that's where the key is now once the you're inside you put your foot on the brake pedal and you hit that start button here's what actually happens behind the scenes the certification computer through the oscillator is going to get the two codes we like that codes go to the id box they do the same dance but this time when the certification issue says we're all good to go it's going to call two of his best buddies he's going to call the engine computer pick up the phone call the engine computer tell them we have a request to start that is approved the immobilizer the engine immobilizer has been unset or it has been unlocked because we have an authenticated id code and vehicle code this key is good we're good to start and the other thing is going to do and if you notice in these smart key cars the steering wheel locks usually in a mechanical key you put the key turn it in the key and the steering wheel unlocks but in a smart key you don't have that so it actually has a computer and a little motor that locks the steering while that's the other computer that's going to get a call from the certification ecu hey man we got a key unlock the steering wheel life is good car is going to start everything is good but it doesn't end there because this is where toyota takes security a little bit to the next level because if you were right next to your car and you started it and then the key left or they were hacking into the car trying to steal it i mean this is we're talking about very complicated stuff if you have a thief that is able to bypass all this they could be not interested in your car and trying to do bigger stuff because that's a lot of high level theft here i wish they were dedicated to better things in life but nonetheless one last security later after the car starts after the engine starts and everything is running within 10 seconds after the car starting the computer will send a unique code that is heavily encrypted to the certification ecu and to everybody telling them we are still good that code is essential because if this car was hacked stolen whatever the case may be you you do not initiate that code from the key you initiate that from the computer meaning 10 seconds have passed and we're still good the smart key is still good the code is still good everything is exactly the same and everybody has all the computers have gotten together again and said we're all good but if it's not it's going to shut off the engine again and disable everything some of these cars and they have immobilizer problems and especially when you go putting aftermarket remote starts that one wire that sends that code it's called the g-code if you are interested in what it's called that one wire notorious to break because it's a tiny communication wire and now the car starts shuts off within 10 seconds and nobody knows what's going on and has all kinds of codes because that one wire is broken and it cannot send that for confirmation code if you would let's talk about the generations of smart keys briefly so you understand why they are slightly different and they how they evolve so the first one is the initial smart key in any toyota is the 2004 prius first generation and the worst one sorry if you own a 2004 or second generation prius actually it's the whole second generation 04209 but it was ancient and it was horribly ancient not in a good way not like the forerunner for example that's a good ancient it was basically a mechanical key that had the smart functions kind of added on top of it so it operated like a mechanical key but it had this you could open the door and push the start button and there was this over complicated process to program them to do all this mess and that's why it was gone it was it was never used in another car other than the first generation prius it was not made by denzo it was made by somebody else some long name that i'll put on the screen here that's the company that made it god bless them they did a good job but it was a horrible system for lack of a better word we're more interested in the second third fourth and potentially fifth generation which is what you see in most of these the second generation which was great and it started with the o5 avalon now the off of avalon has a very weird looking key different than anybody else but it is actually the same generation that generation went from o5 all the way to almost 09 10 depends when the model changes that generation worked exactly as we talked that whole same the only difference between these generations the frequencies and some of the computer orientation was different like some of them combined the computers some of them that's only real difference third generation and fourth generation and i say that because they're exactly the same just the frequency changed is the third generation started from around 2009-2010 and the fourth generation which is possibly the best so far started from around 2012 actually debuted on the 2012 toyota camry and it went all the way into a lot of models up until the ghost fifth generation it's never really called the fifth generation because nothing really changed very minor things changed but it is actually what started in the 18 camry like this 2021 rav4 behind me here's the key and it actually says the name of the model on it and it physically looks different than the old ones however that's the generations of these keys if you're interested to know where you fall in this if you don't have a second generation prius they all pretty much work exactly the same and still today so there's that so let's talk about a few things that you might not know about this every time you shut off your car you open the door and you leave it open you hear the annoying ding that's just the way it is it reminds you that you need to take your key out but if actually you close the door and open it it locks the steering wheel and now it don't ding anymore as they all do that it's very annoying and if you don't want to close the door and open it you can just reach in and press that courtesy switch which is basically imitates the door closing and opening and you hear the steering lock engaged and life is good the other thing is you can actually cancel the smart key functions in the first generation there was a physical button in the prius that cancels the smart functions in all of them there's a procedure to cancel it if you cancel the smart key function you will need to press the physical button on the remote now that signal goes completely to a different signal goes to the regular receiver that has also the tire pressure monitor in it and that's a completely different cycle of how you're going to unlock the doors and when you want to start the car and this applies the same if the battery inside of this guy is dead you're going to hold that key against you're going to hold the toyota emblem on the key against the start button and then press it that actually bypasses because this key is able to transmit things very short range without a battery that's how they're designed and there's a receiver in there is this over complication to explain it but we'll keep it simple put this in front of the envelope of the start button and live is good another thing is the battery inside these keys now most folks will go years and this battery is still good some of them every six months the thing is dead and they have to replace it well here's a tip for you that it was actually discovered down the road when the smart key came out so the frequency that this key transmits on it's basically the oscillator will send a small frequency that wakes up the key and starts the key starts transmitting the code if you have another device computers whatever the case may be they actually happen to transmit to the same signal this key will start emitting its signal infinitely until it's a certain amount of time has passed and it stops then it gets that signal again and starts and starts so that actually kills the battery and and the way to know if this key is transmitting is if you look at it it has a red dot as soon as it starts transmitting doesn't matter if you could take this key walk to a similar car that's not yours it will not unlock it but it'll actually start flashing that little red light indicating there's communication doesn't mean there is successful communication but there is communication and that starts draining the battery now the battery have a fail safe in it if to protect the battery if the battery drops below a certain level it won't flash the light anymore and eventually it completely dies shuts down now you have to hold it against the start button now let's get into the meats and potato of this video the programming part the part that there's not a lot of information and there's a lot of misinformation about so let's start from the beginning this will apply to both key types to the mechanical one and the smart key it's a similar process for both except the first generation key smart key which happens to be in the 2004-2009 prius that is completely different let's start when you have to program a key this can be done on a dealership but it also can be done by a good locksmith they can do that there's no problem with that all it does is it's going to require you to have one registered master key now all smart keys are masters there's no such thing but in the case of the mechanical keys you need a master c key it cannot be a valet key because the valet key even with that security in mind it does not unlock or do what we need to do so basically having that key that's already registered you're going to use that code to unlock the computers so you can get in them and add a new code for the new key that's all it is so if you lose one key most of these cars come with two keys from the factory some of them three in the case of the mechanicals you need a registered key to program a new key there's no way around it that's how it is and that's usually very cheap at a dealership should not cost a small fortune if you have a mechanical key that has a remote the remote is a separate programming if it has a separate remote that's also a separate programming but the smart key it is a one thing program except the over 009 prius that's that's yeah it's one time shot you program it the remote already starts working on the smart key and everything is done and then there is another function on the leadership level don't know if this locksmith can do that let's say you have two keys your key was stolen you know it happens things happen you already you still have one key you come to program another key but now you're worried what if that person that stole my key is going to come and start my car and steal my car now so there's a function to erase keys you basically bring us at the dealership all the keys and we will go in unlock the immobilizer using your code on the key and then erase any keys that are not here you're basically going to scan the keys again through the start button and tell the computer these are the only codes i want to work everything else erase it so you effectively erase the keys and last but not least on this section it's very important that you still have a good a very good locksmith you can't have an amateur do this anything to do with the immobilizer system is mega complicated and one thing's locked down it's over so make sure it's a good locksmith yes the dealership could charge more but these keys are very expensive to begin with and use keys there is a catch with used keys we'll talk about this so what happens if you lose all your keys what happens then here's the problem if you don't have a key that works currently to unlock the immobilizer and all these computers so you can change things it's locked it's done you cannot get in so the only way to get in is through a kind of a master unlock code called the seed number that's what toyota calls it again a fancy probably translation from japanese that seed number is generated by the by the computer but in order to decipher that seed number or inc decrypted you need to go to the toyota website online so you can register this event you put your name your manager's name the manager needs to approve it and a record of this goes to the government which then will keep track in case this car was stolen so they know who programmed the key and they can there's a record to track to prevent thefts because you know what every technicians have the ability to program a key and uh not everybody's a good person so there is a record now you cannot just program a key steal a car and have a nice day they're going to come back after you because they know you program the key last so once that code is decrypted it gives you a master unlock code you go back in the car you enter that seed number and then the process takes 16 minutes to unlock the computers and once they are unlocked they're erased clean and they are back to their factory setup where they are ready to program new keys from scratch once you are in that state of everything is fresh and waiting for new programming it's similar if you would have replaced all the computers then you can rewrite the vehicle id you're probably wondering what am i talking about used keys when you buy a new ski off of ebay or amazon or whatever that key will get there's an ability to get a program to the car but it won't work because the vehicle id is imprinted in this key now of the previous car you're trying to run it on your car it won't work the only time you can reprogram the vehicle id inside of these keys is when you do basically a lost all keys operation now this becomes kind of counterproductive if you buy a used key to save a few bucks then have to go to the dealership pay a small fortune to just make this key work why don't you buy a new key to begin with i don't know but here's what that could work if you have a very very very good locksmith not everybody and be very careful with this for the following if you have a very good locksmith they could have the ability or the software but to kind of decrypt that code that comes out of the car but just know that that's actually a hack and it is not it's a computer hack and it is not an official or proof procedure so you're basically going through a back door to get this to happen and the reason i want you to have a very very good locksmith because if this goes south you could permanently lock these computers and now no matter what you take it to the dealership they'll just tell you yep you need a few thousand dollars to replace every single computer involved because they're all on lockdown now so be careful make sure the locksmith is doing this knows what they are doing and have done it before because if they don't they could break your car and you'll they'll disappear into the wind and you're left with a four times bigger bill than if you would have told your car a dealership to begin with so be careful and for diagnosis i want to share with you a few things the key the biggest thing is you need to look at the flashing light on the key as you see here that light is flashing the key is communicating with the car now is it sending the right stuff is it working right that's different story but that's your first code of diagnosis the key stops working the first thing you want to do is walk up to the door of the car and then see if that light starts flashing it'll flash once twice whatever the case may be but that's your first mode of diagnosis every time you have a problem with a smart key system you replace the battery that's an automatic the other thing and this is some tips that i will share with you from experience i cannot tell you how many cars get towed in the dealership that won't start after a dead battery with a smart key because here's something that's interesting for you when the battery dies if it dies in the process of the smart key starting that whole communication gets jammed and now we have like an error and that error stays because the battery died and it never got cleared when you bring a car back from a dead battery you need to turn the key on and let it be for a couple of minutes otherwise it won't start you press the start button nothing happens it's just all the lights and the desks come up nothing happens and that brings so many people towing the car in all i do is go and go in the car turn the key on wait for a minute or two after a jumper is on the battery and starts right up so i'll share this one with you because it takes them some time for all these computers to communicate and everything you go back to normal and this system is really trouble free for the most part the oscillators they're very simple they're scattered across the car typically there's one in the interior close to the driver's seat that's the one that picks up when the key is ready to start and life is good with this system other than the battery dying all the time or accidents or wiring damage stuff that are not diy you're really not going to have that many problems with these and one last thing that makes these keys stop working interference other than you know what we talked about that kills the battery similar interference could actually cause them not to work so when your smart key also you come to the door and it doesn't want to open and it doesn't want to start you got to unlock hit unlock on the key and then go inside and put the key against the button every time you got to look at your environment if it happens especially if it happens intermittent are you do you happen to have that problem in the same spot every time that could be interference and i've seen so many people get very frustrated every time i go out of work it don't want to start i have to put the key and do all that well does there happen to be a giant transformer right next to the car that is jamming the signal of this key i don't know so if you have an intermittent problem try to isolate it is it happening in the same spot every single time because i bet you that's going to be the problem because we've seen so many folks that come in the dealership and say my smart key does not work sometimes every time i go to x b or z it don't want to start well because you might have interference in that spot so that's one thing i wanted to bring to your attention as well if you lose one please make another one if you lose your mechanical key you always have two with a car when you go buy one used ask for the second one if they don't have it request that is included in the deal you always should have two keys for these cars if you lose one go get one don't procrastinate because you could easily lose the second one and now you're stuck with this whole mess it happens all the time sometimes i've seen people working at a dealership i've seen people carry all three keys in one key chain for the same car and i try them they're they're for the same car it's like what's the point of having three keys we carry them all we're gonna lose them in one shot job security for me i suppose please don't do that i i really it pains my heart every time i see people having to pay a small fortune to program keys that they lost it's it things happen in life but if you're proactive about it and don't let it happen you won't be in that situation one last note i would like to say before we wrap up this video this all applies to the newer toyotas the reseeding part there are two cases that i'd like to bring to your attention one of them is older cars early 2000s into the 90s the ones that have immobilizer unfortunately in these models and namely 98 to 2002 sienna that's just that's one example of them you cannot do the the reseeding process when you lose all keys you have to replace the computers there's no way to go in through the scan tool and unlock them to a new state just like the other ones you can you cannot do that that's not possible so you lose all keys on these it's going to easily total that cart you have to replace all the computers so be careful especially if you have older ones like that the other thing is there are some of the new models going back to that we have had some reports of this rav4 behind me with the mechanical key that you must replace some components because they are not unlocking and things are not working so the moral of this story is don't lose your keys if things happen that's why you have two keys you lost one key go and get a second one immediately as soon as possible it's very expensive i understand but trust me when you lose all your keys it's gonna be even more expensive just thought i'd let you know that i hope this video was helpful informative i hope you learned something new if you like it consider giving a thumbs up if you're new to the channel thank you for watching this video this long consider subscribing to the channel check out some of my other videos and until the next video folks may the lord bless you and keep you and you have a wonderful day

Channel: The Car Care Nut

Views: 436,392

Keywords: All you need to know about toyota keys, toyota keyless entry, toyota key programming, program toyota key, toyota smart key, how do toyota keys work, toyota security, toyota lost key program, lost car keys, lost car keys no spare, toyota chip, toyota owner, car key programming, toyota key fob, how things work, how toyota works, toyota immobilizer, toyota problems, toyota diy, the car care nut, toyota tundra, toyota 4runner, toyota camry, toyota tacoma, rav4 prime, rav4

Id: vYtU5-OLv-k

Length: 29min 33sec (1773 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 03 2021