Increase the range of your remote

[Amarao]

Originally Posted by T.O.elise

Just completed added 20" of wire. No blood! works from across the street.
Thanks for posting pictures and info.

I just did the same. No longer will I look like a total moron locked out of his own car.

[apexdc]

I would do it again in a heartbeat, now that I know my neighbor and I are the same blood type!

Just kidding. Not a tough job.

If you are hesitating, I would suggest mechanics gloves and a little caution. Not a big deal and worth it.

[xxxotic]

Originally Posted by Brennon

I've attempted this mod on two different cars and have never managed to get any increased range. Maybe a foot or two but nothing noticable. Dunno what I do wrong when everyone else says it works great.

Were both of them Elises?
If they are another brand of car, the frequency of the transmitter might be different and then you have to use a different lenght of wire.

However, the most probable cause is that your battery for your remote needs to be replaced. I replaced the battery in the remote I use all the time when I did the mod. The other remote that I dont use that much seemed not to have as much range, so I replaced the battery and now I have good range again on both.

The owners manual says to replace it once a year. On my other cars (non Lotus) I had never replaced the batteries and the cars were 5 years old and they stilled work fairly good, but also worked a lot better when I replaced the batteries.

My garage door battery seemed to wear out about once a year, and it was 12 volt, so I hard wired it into the car and now the range is somewhat better too.

If the battery is weak, then the transmitter is sending out a signal that is not as strong, so the reciever has less of a chance of picking it up. I also extended the wire on my garage door opener, to the correct length based on its operating frequency but it didnt make that much of a difference in my case because my garage is not in the line of site when I am going down the street until I am almost in the driveway.

[ChrisB]

Originally Posted by Brennon

I've attempted this mod on two different cars and have never managed to get any increased range. Maybe a foot or two but nothing noticable. Dunno what I do wrong when everyone else says it works great.

There isn't much to do wrong. I didn't even extend the antenna wire, just pulled it out of the wire bundle and pointed it skyward. I used to have to almost touch the fob to the drivers window to get it to work. After the mod, I could unlock the car from about 30 feet away...though I'm happy to be able to do it from 8 feet.

The Cobra installation manual warns not to put the antenna wire into any cable harness, but I guess the Lotus factory workers don't RTFM.

[55mini]

Hi everyone
Just had the dash all appart for replacement of the switch pack relay board and thought to do the mod for the alarm. I added the full 37" length of wire and had the sill cover off. It has a couple of slots in the aluminum that the wire will lay in nicely. Once all back together I have about 75' of range which is huge considering I had to always stand next to the car before mod.
I would agree with others on this being one of the best and easiest improvements to make.
Keep these kind of mods coming!
Mark

[TheViper]

Mark,
Coupled with the same length of wire, that range is about what I got too .
By the way do you have any detailed info and photo's on replacing the Switch Pack? Incidentally did you do my simple A/C mod?
Michael

Originally Posted by 55mini

Hi everyone
Just had the dash all appart for replacement of the switch pack relay board and thought to do the mod for the alarm. I added the full 37" length of wire and had the sill cover off. It has a couple of slots in the aluminum that the wire will lay in nicely. Once all back together I have about 75' of range which is huge considering I had to always stand next to the car before mod.
I would agree with others on this being one of the best and easiest improvements to make.
Keep these kind of mods coming!
Mark

[55mini]

Hi Michael

I did not take pictures of the process of relay change but it was somewhat straight forward. I could do a write up if no ones has done this before. Round trip it took about two hours and you need four special plastic clips for the reinstall of the dash airbag. They break on the removal process. I had read the pack was $120 but I paid $88.
I will look at your mods for air conditioning but we don't get as hot as you and I will try to remeber warm air this winter when it drops below zero.

Mark

[RCHAD]

works greaaat!

[plastique999]

can't wait to do this

[apexdc]

Be a Lotus blood brother! Fix your remote!!

[plastique999]

Originally Posted by apexdc

Be a Lotus blood brother! Fix your remote!!

I'm waiting for the mod day to do this Nov. 22 ...

SOCAL MEET: Let's organize a MOD day!!!

come join us!

[jwood]

Such a simple but great mod! Less than 10 min and you have a remote that works from many yards away ... instead directly beside the car.

I didn't add any wire to the existing one. Simply tucked it to the left of the panel you open. It was difficult to get the panel off. I had to use a flat head to gently pry it loose. It appearers as if the foam that keeps it from touching and rattling adhered to both side. Unless it should be sticky on both side? Either way ... wasn't a problem.