keyless entry antenna placement

I have poor reception on my keyless entry system, the module is beneath my steering column. What is the best place to rought the wire?  Can I splice onto the end and increase the length?  I think I should route it away from the dash more, but I am not sure what the best path for the wire.  Does it work better horizontal or vertical etc.

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Andy Huot

yes, you can extend the antenna wire up the a pillar as high and close to the windshield glass to increase range.

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My rifle is my friend...

Who makes the system you have? Most antenna cords are long enough to route up to the top of the windshield that I've seen...

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·Ï¢årµ§·

The manufacturers really don't give much information about what to do with that wire antenna.

I learned from a co-worker of mine, he always liked to tape the antenna wire onto a long plastic zip-tie, and that would keep the wire straight and prevent it from curling up.

You might try experimenting with making the antenna vertical or horizontal. I'm sure one must be better than the other, but they don't tell you which.

I would guess that just like any other radio antenna, the wire that's on the unit is probably already "tuned" to the right length. You could try making it longer, but if you do, at least try to remember the original length so you can change it back if necessary.

You could effectively move the antenna to a new location, by using grounded, shielded cable to run up to the car's windshield, and then use a piece of wire (of the same length as the original), but attached to the windshield glass.

Audiovox used to include an antenna like that in some of their remote starters, and an original-style (old) DEI remote start antenna could be used also.

Also try and keep the antenna away from other wiring or metal shielding (i.e. part of dashboard)

I have a Crimestopper 2012 TW1 in my 04 Grand Am GT1 and I ran it through plastic Flex Tube all the way across the dash, without attaching it to any part of the dash, avoiding as much metal contact as possible, and up my A Piller, across the Headliner, and out above my rear view mirror. It increased my range by about 200 feet. Before I went through all that, I just ran the wire without the flex tube, and had it wire tied every couple of inches, to whatever I could tie it to.

Maybe this is coincidence, maybe it's not, but I know something, or some part of my new routing technique increased my range dramaticly....

It's another Idea you might want to try

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The Only Stupid Question, is the one Un-asked

It's an Automate model 3, it was installed by acura when I bought the car new back in '99.  The wire is only long enough to reach just past the steering column.

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Andy Huot

Also, what else can you tell about this poor reception you're having?

Has it been all the time since '99, or did it just start now? Do you have problems everywhere you go, or just in certain locations?

If it's only in certain locations.......I've seen (only twice in the past six years), cars where the basic alarm/keyless worked very poorly, but only in certain locations, due to some kind of interference we couldn't figure out.

In both cases, when we switched the customer to a long-range combination alarm/remote start, which has a separate, glass mounted antenna/receiver assembly, the problem went away.

Also, since the car is almost ten years old, could it be that your remote(s) is working intermittently?

Make sure the light on the remote comes on each time you press the buttons.

If you haven't already done so, open up the remote, polish the battery contacts (fine sandpaper or a pencil eraser), and put in a new battery.

If you still have two remotes, try carring the other one around for a few days instead, and see if that one works any better/worse.

The keyless entry stopped working 2 years after I bought the car, but I didn't bother fixing it.  Then the next time I replaced my car battery, the volitile memory was erased.  Every time I started my car, the parking lights flashed for 60 seconds and then stopped.  I lived with this for a few years, not knowing what was wrong.  Now I have just graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering and have a lot more knowledge of electric circuits and have had time to look for the source of the problem.  I believe the alarm was in some sort of program prompting protocal or a valet mode, so I figured out how to program it.  I could get the lights to stop flashing but the doors didn't lock, which is when I looked at the unit and found that the lock/unlock outputs were not connected, so I looked at my car power lock wiring diagram to lacate where the output should be connected.  When I found the proper wires that they were supposed to connect to, I found 2 saddle style connectors the same color as the output connectors.  I then looked at the wiring diagram to verify which should go to each connector and then I hooked them up and the keyless entry started working again after years of using my key.  However my signal is now poor and spurratic.  I believe the wires were origanlly disconnected by acura when I had some work done a few years ago.  Nonetheless I currently have a poor signal, maybe because somhow over the years, the antenna was worked loose or moved by anyone who has worked on the car.  Yes I have already replaced the transmitter batteries and used 0000 steel wool to remove oxidation from the terminals.  The transmitter light always works.

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Andy Huot