Our Toyota symbols page has now been aligned by color. We’ve have now transformed several pages, including our primary symbols page, to reflect the new color ordering.
The page features a number approaching 100 indicators, now ordered red through black, white or gray scale. This generally provides a “mostly serious” to “simply letting you know” range. We used the term “mostly serious” for red indicators because many legacy red symbols do not point to a problem with the vehicle.
Regardless, the new ordering provides a cleaner, simpler option for drivers searching for information.
Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
My was having some trouble with his Toyota remote and actually thought it would need to be replaced. So rather than leave him to spend what’s likely a lot of money, we went ahead and opened it up. We did a video as well that you can see here.
There is a gap upper corner that is your way in. A small screwdriver will do the trick.
Note right away that the buttons are loose and keeping the button side down would be helpful. Also, the buttons only fit in one spot each, so not to worry.
The battery is found in a case inside the key and it too needs to be separated. Check out the video for instructions and have a CR 2016 battery on hand. There is a circuit board inside that is loose and also goes in just one way.
See more videos for Toyota keys and fob battery replacements here,
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
The acronyms AFS and AFLS in these symbols or indicators stand for Active Front-lighting System or Adaptive Front or Cornering Light System. The difference is very subtle and is the result of a manufacturer choice only.
But first, is one of these truly your symbol?? If yes, then continue on below.
If it includes the word OFF, it indicates that the system has been turned off with an available switch. Look for the switch, which may have been tripped accidently. It may also be tucked nearly under the dashboard where it can be hit by the driver’s knee in a Toyota or Lexus.
More Versions
The acronym SRH changes the reference to Steering Responsive Headlights, but is exactly the same type of system. If any of the OFF lights flash or remain lit, they indicate a fault in the system, and your dealer will be needed for a repair.
Another indicator of a malfunction are the picture symbols to the left, a curved arrow, indicating movement, above or split by a headlight beam, one adding the exclamation point. The beam is represented by the closed rounded triangle with lines above it. The last one is seen on its side with a bent arrow in one corner.
The symbol is used by manufacturers who call the system Adaptive Forward Lighting (AFL), Active Bending LightSystem (ABL), Static Bending Light System (SBL) or Cornering Headlights. Another example of multiple industry names for the same basic system and again, your dealer will be needed for repairs.
Either headlight system move the direction of the headlights left or right – the arrow – in concert with the steering. When the system is off, the headlights work as they have for a century, so there is no need to be concerned.
Note that these active systems often have an on/off switch that may have been accidentally been tripped on the dashboard (as noted) or inside a menu found in an instrument panel display. Look for the same acronym on a switch or in the menu.
If you drive a Polestar, note that they have begun using the symbol to the right to indicate that a lamp has malfunctioned. Follow the link here for more.
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
We came across a video some time ago from Now You Know – linked here – where a Toyota guy highlighted a Toyota key fob feature: Disabling a Key Fob. Press and hold the lock button, and while doing so, press the unlock button twice. This disables the proximity access feature of the fob.
We then verified it on a Toyota as well and it works! See the video below.
Now, not to worry, a simple press of the unlock button not only gets you in the car, it also restores the proximity feature.
But we’re not Toyota guys, so we set out to test as many cars as we could get our hands on. But before we get there, why is this even important?
The proximity feature of a fob only works within about 18 inches of a lock. But the fact is, clever thieves can tap into the signal from a live fob even though its seemingly not in use. Likely as not you’ve had the experience of using an unlock or lock button from 50 ft or even more. I can lock/unlock my car from a good 70 ft.
This is the signal that can be tapped from a live fob, essentially duplicated on a computer and your car is gone. The video is from CNN is right here.
And it can be done while you’re at home and the car is in you’re driveway! This is the value of the disabled fob feature.
What of Other Manufacturers
So who else? We tried a Nissan, but no dice. Actually, it turns that two Nissan models we tested do not lock or unlock with a touch of the door handle, so disabling is unnecessary. We tried a Dodge, which again did not work.
We then tested a Lexus, which is a Toyota product, it did work. It did not work on an Audi, a Volvo, a Polestar, an Acura, a Volkswagen or a BMW.
So, this is a call to all manufacturers to implement the feature, and to you the owner of any Toyota and Lexus models to use the feature. And if you have a model from a manufacturer that we didn’t test, try it and let us know in the comments if it worked – or not.
We did a video on the subject, linked below.
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
If you’ve ever walked out to your car and found all the windows open, this is our subject. We’re going to discuss a feature found in cars from a number of manufacturers that catches people with their pants down. Or their windows down. This is not about a fault or a system failure or a warning light, but about something working exactly as it is supposed to, but doing it seemingly at random on its own.
Vehicles made by BMW and Mini, Honda and Acura, Ford and Lincoln, Maserati, Mercedes, Toyota and Lexus and Volkswagen Group, include what is called a convenience feature, which opens all the windows for ventilation when the unlock button is pressed and held. The sunroof will be open as well and the car unlocked.
From what we’ve discovered only Mercedes and some vehicles made by the Volkswagen Group offers the option to close everything again using the lock button. The Honda we have here does not.
Its An Accident!
So, what is causing the surprise window openings can be explained by accidental button pushes. Whether carried in a bag or in a pocket, something pressing on the unlock button for an extended period can and will activate the feature, if the key fob is within 50 feet or so. Remember that while the key fob’s keyless access can only operate within 18 to 24 inches of the vehicle, the buttons on the fob will work from a much greater distance.
For a fob carried in a pocket, preventing this may be a simple as turning the fob over on the key ring. The buttons will face the other way, if like me, your keys rest in the pocket the same way each time.
If it is carried in a bag, the nature of keyless open and start can easily lead to the fob migrating to the bottom of the bag. In this case, you might try using a device like this carabiner or snap hook. It can be hooked to a strap like on this computer bag and still actually be closed into the bag. But it won’t work its way to the bottom. The devices come in many different sizes and colors so you can be a stylish as you’d like and they can be found online or at most hardware stores.
To finish off the functions of the actual convenience feature, the windows will stop short if the button is released, and will continue down if it is pressed and held yet again. Some vehicles require the unlock button to be pressed and released once before the convenience feature will work. In Honda and Acura vehicles, the feature will work by holding the mechanical key turned to the right in the key cylinder, but this will not happen accidently. Also, turning and holding the key back to the left will close the windows and sunroof.
The feature can be disabled in Ford Motor Co and Toyota and Lexus vehicles, but you’ll need your dealer. In fact, the feature in a Toyota and Lexus must have first been activated in this way.
So, if ever you find your windows wide open one day, don’t panic — find a new way to carry your key fob.
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
So, what is that light on your dashboard? What follows is easily the most complete list available of symbols and warnings that may appear in and on your car’s dashboard or instrument cluster.
The following are warning lights and indicators found in vehicles built by Toyota. Click the link to the right learn more about each one.
How They Are Presented
They are ordered primarily by color and roughly by importance. First up are red, followed by red with yellow/amber/orange options, strictly yellow/amber/orange, then blue and green symbols and finally white and gray scale symbols. There are over 90 of them so be patient!
Need the symbols for another manufacturer? Click here!
Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
We’ve done a couple of owner’s manual rants and got to thinking about where the average driver might look in their respective manual if they ran into trouble, specifically with dead or dying key fobs.
So, we examined a sampling of owner’s manuals from BMW and Mini, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, GM, including Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac, Honda and Acura, Kia and Hyundai, Land Rover and Jaguar, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Nissan and Infiniti, Subaru, Toyota and Lexus, Volkswagen and Audi and Volvo. And since we are adding this commentary, you can probably guess the results.
So lets set some parameters. Our first thought is to look for Troubleshooting chapter. So, result #1 is that not a single one of these 25 manufacturers have a chapter with this title. Only 3, Mazda (right), Toyota and Lexus, even use the word Trouble. Emergency, Roadside or Breakdown are most likely to be found, and this is a pretty short hurdle. VW raises the hurdle, with a Do It Yourself chapter that includes flat tires and dead batteries, etc. that tend to be found in the Breakdown chapters from other manufacturers.
To Index or Not to Index
Next, we looked to see if there was an index to resort to. Several, BMW, Land Rover, and Ford, for instance, have no indexes at all. So if someone out there is from these companies, please consider adding that in. On the other hand, the indexes we did find were no help at all with dead key fobs.
So, back to the our troubleshooting-like chapters. Once inside, only Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus and Subaru got this right! Setting aside for a moment the fact that the owner’s manual is most likely inside the car and the driver locked outside, at least if the driver manages to get the car open, he or she will be able to get started.
The Honda and Acura chapters point to an issue with the key fob being weak. This may not be immediately obvious to the operator, but it would be a likely spot to check out if the car wasn’t responding.
Subaru (right), Lexus and Toyota chapters point directly to pages with solutions to issues with the electronic keys. Again, it may not be obvious to the driver that the key fob is the problem, but these manufacturers come the closest to nailing the problem. Titling the sections using something like what to do if the car does not respond to the electronic key would come closest to replicating exactly what the driver is experiencing.
Absolutely none of the other manufacturers point directly to the electronic keys in anything remotely like a troubleshooting chapter. To be clear, they all have the solutions shown, but the driver is left to contend with 400, 500 or 600 pages of information to get to what they need.
So for all of them, walk a mile in your customers shoes and try to think like someone who simply doesn’t understand what is wrong. Then make a Troubleshooting chapter and forget the clever titles like Handling the Unexpected or Volkswagens do it yourself chapter, which is where they keep breakdown assistance.
The closer your cars get to being rolling computers, the more relevant an actual Troubleshooting chapter will be to your customers.
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
Toyota symbols page joins the new color treatment list
Toyota symbols page
Our Toyota symbols page has now been aligned by color. We’ve have now transformed several pages, including our primary symbols page, to reflect the new color ordering.
The page features a number approaching 100 indicators, now ordered red through black, white or gray scale. This generally provides a “mostly serious” to “simply letting you know” range. We used the term “mostly serious” for red indicators because many legacy red symbols do not point to a problem with the vehicle.
Regardless, the new ordering provides a cleaner, simpler option for drivers searching for information.
The Toyota symbols page can be found here.
——————————————————————-
Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY