Toyota Corolla Keyless Entry Remote

Keyless entry is one of the conveniences that we take for granted. But there are times when your remote key will fail to work. What happens when you’re having trouble with your Toyota Corolla’s keyless entry remote?

A Toyota Corolla keyless entry remote can suffer from a dead battery or dirty connections to the remote control. See if the remote is the issue by trying to unlock your car with the backup remote. If that doesn’t work, test the car’s locking mechanism by using your physical key.

If your Toyota Corolla key remote isn’t working, how do you fix it? Read on to find out!

Toyota Corolla Key Remote Not Working: How To Fix

If your Toyota Corolla key remote isn’t working, the first thing you should do is to check with a backup remote. If your second remote succeeds in locking and unlocking the car’s doors, you have a defective key remote.

Another thing to rule out is electrical and mechanical problems with your car door locks, so use your car’s physical key to see if it works.

If the physical key can get the locks opened, there’s no problem with the lock’s mechanism. However, to rule out electrical problems, you can lock and unlock all doors using the controls inside your Toyota Corolla.

If you don’t have a spare remote, you can go to your local Toyota dealership. These establishments often have a backup key or a universal remote. They can help you rule out any problems with the remote lock mechanism.

Toyota Corolla Remote Key Replacement or Backup

You might want to get a backup key fob for those times that your remote suddenly runs out of battery or stops working altogether. These products might also be a suitable replacement if you can’t figure out what’s wrong with your Toyota Corolla remote key.

Depending on your model, you can get these backup keys for less than $50:

Toyota Corolla Remote Programming Instructions

If you’re going for a replacement vehicle remote or just want a backup, you can get one of the above products. You’ll need to program these vehicle remotes to work with your Toyota Corolla.

You need to be inside your car with all the doors closed except the driver’s door.
Insert the physical key in and out of the ignition twice in five seconds.
Close and open the driver’s door two times in a row or within 40 seconds.
Insert and remove the key in the ignition, but this time do this only once.
For the second time, close and open the driver’s door two times in a row or within 40 seconds.
Insert your key into the ignition, and then close the driver’s door.
Turn your key to on, then off, without starting the engine in the process.
Remove the key and wait for the locks to cycle. This locking and unlocking is your sign that the car is in the program a key fob mode.
Press down on both the unlock and lock keys. Hold for three seconds. After releasing, the car door locks should cycle.
Press the lock button.

We know that this process has many steps and usually needs to be done within a particular time, so here’s a video demonstrating how to program your Toyota Corolla key remote:

Now you have a backup for your Toyota Corolla remote, and that should get you into your car without any problems. However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to figure out what’s wrong when your Toyota Corolla keyless entry remote stops working.

Here are some troubleshooting and remedies that you should try.

Toyota Corolla Remote Battery Is Dead

Among the most common reasons why your Toyota Corolla’s remote battery fails is because of a dead battery. To check if this is the case, you can use a multimeter. Or, it might be easier just to put in a new battery, especially if you’ve been using the remote for quite a while.

Changing the Toyota Corolla Remote Battery

For Toyota Corolla made between 2015 through 2019, here’s how to do it:

Locate the small slot at the bottom of the key fob and pry it open using a flathead screwdriver.
This will reveal the battery slot inside. Take note of what kind of battery the remote uses. Most Toyota Corolla models made during these years have a remote key that uses a CR2016 battery.
On one end of the battery, usually in the lower right part, you’ll see a small dent. An arrow indicates where this dent is.
Using a flathead screwdriver, prop the battery loose.
Put the new battery in.

Toyota Corolla Smart Key Battery Is Dead

Hand holding and finger pressing car key fob

If you have Toyota’s Smart Key, here’s how to change the batteries:

Copyright protected article by Know My Auto and was first published on May 29, 2021. .

Remove the mechanical key that allows you to open the doors if your Smart Key’s battery runs out of battery or cannot be detected by your car.
Insert the tip of the key into a slot found at the bottom of the Smart Key. Turn it either to the left or to the right. Doing so will open the case.
You can pry the battery off using the key.
Put in new batteries.
Put the case back together.

This official Toyota video will show you how to replace the batteries on your Toyota Smart Key:

Toyota Corolla Key Remote Locking Not Working: Loose Battery Terminal Connections

If you’ve changed the battery and the remote control still doesn’t work, it might be a problem with the broken battery terminals. Taking the remote apart, you can visually inspect if anything looks broken. What’s more, the terminals may feel loose, and there’s a degree of movement when you touch it.

You can solder these battery terminals to keep them in place.

Toyota Corolla Remote Buttons Are Problematic

Car key fob dangling outside door handle

If the battery terminals are working fine, but the remote is still not working as it should, there might be a problem with the buttons. For instance, if your unlock button works fine but not your lock button, clean the printed circuit board where these buttons are placed.

Take out the circuit boards and clean the pads with alcohol. Put just enough alcohol on the Q-tip and use that to clean the pads on the circuit board.

Key Not Detected: Toyota Corolla Keyless Entry

There are times when your Toyota Corolla doesn’t detect the remote key, which may be because you’re too far away. Toyota says that you need to be around 80 feet (24.4 meters) or nearer if you were in an open space. If there are buildings, trees, hills, and other hindrances around, you might need to be even closer to the key to be detected by the car.

If you’re sure that you’re within range and there’s nothing wrong with the remote key and your Toyota Corolla’s lock mechanisms, it might be because the receiver inside the car is disconnected or broken. The best advice is to let the professionals do the work, but if you’re sure it’s because of the receiver, you can buy the remote key entry module new or used on eBay.

You can find the module at the back pillar just above the rear passenger seats of your car. Removing that panel, you would see the module. Remove the wire connection and the 10-millimeter (0.4 inches) bolt that keeps the module in place. Install the replacement module and reconnect the wires.

Broken Door Actuator

It might also be because of a broken door actuator, which controls your power locks. If one door is not locking or unlocking when you press the remote key, you’ll need to buy the appropriate replacement door lock actuator.

Furthermore, you might have a bad relay or some sort of electrical issue. You’ll need to take your car in for repair if this is the case.

The copyright owner of this article is Knowmyauto.com and was first published on May 29, 2021..

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KnowMyAuto is the sole owner of this article was published on May 29, 2021 and last updated on May 31, 2023 .