Like other members with early-year Cuisers the effective range of my '98 LC's keyless entry was pretty dismal. We're talking 10 feet at best. New batteries in the key fob didn't help and I may have a permanent imprint on my chin from attempting to use my head as an amplifier.
By relocating the OEM receiver’s antenna I successfully increased the effective range by at least 10x. It requires soldering skills and under-dash acrobatics, so I'd rate this as a multi-banana job.
UPDATE: As of 1/2019 at least three members have successfully done this mod, increasing their fob range from "terrible" to 100+ feet.
The receiver box ("Receiver, Door Control", P/N 89741-60060 for my '98 LC) is buried in the dash behind the power mirror & vent window switches, an area surrounded by a lot of metal and isn't the best for radio reception. The whole receiver box itself could be relocated but you'd have to extend its 15-wire harnessand that's no fun. UPDATE 1/2019: We're also working on a harness extension, I'll link to that when we have a solution.
You'll need to buy:
- 5’-6’ length of small coax cable with a SMA female connector, similar to this: https://www.amazon.com/Coaxial-Conn...pPl=1&dpID=41W3VUcQsNL&ref=plSrch&tag=ihco-20
- Short 315MHz antenna with SMA male connector, similar to this: https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=ant-315-cw-rh-sma-nd
Here's how-to:
The receiver box is difficult to access but once removed it looks like this:
Pop off the cover to access the circuit board:
The two curly wires are the stock antennas that you’ll be replacing. There are two of them perpendicular to each other to increase the coverage of the module, but again, being mounted low in the metalized dash greatly reduces their effectiveness.
Remove the two antennas by desoldering them where they connect to the circuit board. NOTE: The part "C1", and any other parts that may be neaby, are DELICATE and easily damaged by a wayward soldering iron, so steer clear and be VERY careful not to knock anything else.
By relocating the OEM receiver’s antenna I successfully increased the effective range by at least 10x. It requires soldering skills and under-dash acrobatics, so I'd rate this as a multi-banana job.
UPDATE: As of 1/2019 at least three members have successfully done this mod, increasing their fob range from "terrible" to 100+ feet.
The receiver box ("Receiver, Door Control", P/N 89741-60060 for my '98 LC) is buried in the dash behind the power mirror & vent window switches, an area surrounded by a lot of metal and isn't the best for radio reception. The whole receiver box itself could be relocated but you'd have to extend its 15-wire harness
You'll need to buy:
- 5’-6’ length of small coax cable with a SMA female connector, similar to this: https://www.amazon.com/Coaxial-Conn...pPl=1&dpID=41W3VUcQsNL&ref=plSrch&tag=ihco-20
- Short 315MHz antenna with SMA male connector, similar to this: https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=ant-315-cw-rh-sma-nd
Here's how-to:
The receiver box is difficult to access but once removed it looks like this:
Pop off the cover to access the circuit board:
The two curly wires are the stock antennas that you’ll be replacing. There are two of them perpendicular to each other to increase the coverage of the module, but again, being mounted low in the metalized dash greatly reduces their effectiveness.
Remove the two antennas by desoldering them where they connect to the circuit board. NOTE: The part "C1", and any other parts that may be neaby, are DELICATE and easily damaged by a wayward soldering iron, so steer clear and be VERY careful not to knock anything else.
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