Remote start / key FOB a better way

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I was talking with my son the other night and he owns a 2014 Ram with the Eco diesel which has a remote start. He has been searching some of the forums to see how to get the remote start to work from a longer distance away and apparently there has been some discussion and some videos in regards to this. What you do is place the FOB under your chin and hit the button and he said the truck will now start from a longer distance away. He discussed this with a co-worker who owns a F-150. He has to be right next to it to get the remote to work which means why even have it when you are right next to it. His co-worker laughed but tried it and it worked for him, so now when he starts his truck with the remote he's not right next to it. I have a keyless entry on my 04 explorer and the original FOB's died a long time ago so I now have a couple of cheap China knock offs which have worked well but the battery or the FOB is now dying. I tried pushing the button while holding it under my chin and instead of being right next to it and maybe working or not I can be about 20 feet away and it works. Hopefully this has not been posted before, could not find anything when I did a search and I hope this is in the right forum.
 
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
It's an old trick, that actually works 9/10 times



I heard about it, tried it and it doesn't work one bit.
 
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
It's an old trick, that actually works 9/10 times



Works on my VW Passat, have not tried it on the other cars. FWIW, German cars don't usually have as much of a range as others for remotes.
 
My wife's BMW does not have a factory remote starter. She relies on me running out in the cold to start the car, clean windows, turn on the heat to the steering wheel, seats and interior. If she is comfy, I'm comfy.
 
Never tried it. My Chevrolet app on my cell phone lets me remote start from across the country if I want. Pretty handy when I'm inside a building ready to leave.
 
The other day I accidentally pressed the alarm button while INSIDE THE GROCERY STORE. Came out to find the alarm going off. WOW!
 
Works great on my Mustang remote. I tried it by walking away from the car pushing a button until the car stopped responding. Then I put it under my chin and I got another 15 feet or so of reception.
 
Added maybe 200 yard range to my BMW key, I use that every time I look for my car in a parking lot. Works like a charm.
 
Originally Posted By: BobsArmory
Never tried it. My Chevrolet app on my cell phone lets me remote start from across the country if I want. Pretty handy when I'm inside a building ready to leave.


Does the Chevrolet system require you to have a 3G/Cellular subscription for the vehicle? Just wondering how it receives the signal from the app.
 
Originally Posted By: fsdork
Originally Posted By: BobsArmory
Never tried it. My Chevrolet app on my cell phone lets me remote start from across the country if I want. Pretty handy when I'm inside a building ready to leave.


Does the Chevrolet system require you to have a 3G/Cellular subscription for the vehicle? Just wondering how it receives the signal from the app.

I had this too on an Escalade that I used for work- it required an active OnStar subscription. I would start the truck at the halfway point of my 45 min drive to work and it would be running when I got there. As long as I had a phone signal, it would work.

Originally Posted By: Dyusik
Added maybe 200 yard range to my BMW key, I use that every time I look for my car in a parking lot. Works like a charm.

FYI- If you have a metal plate in your head, you would get ~1-mile range.
laugh.gif
 
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FWIW, this is not a new thing.
Back in 1999, I had a remote start installed on my then-new 2000 Toyota Tundra.
They showed me the under the chin trick as they were showing me how the remote start works.
18 plus years later, I still have that same Tundra and the same remote start.

The chin trick?
After nearly 2 decades of use, I can tell you that maybe it extends range.
Sometimes it does.
Most times it doesn’t.
This is my experience and it likely differs from yours.

That being said, if you’re on the fence about getting a remote start, I’d strongly consider getting one.
Warm car and clear windows have been nice in the past 2 weeks of snow and sub zero temps.
It’s also nice to have the car cooled down in summer as well.

If you think you don’t need one, then you probably don’t.
 
Originally Posted By: fsdork
Originally Posted By: BobsArmory
Never tried it. My Chevrolet app on my cell phone lets me remote start from across the country if I want. Pretty handy when I'm inside a building ready to leave.


Does the Chevrolet system require you to have a 3G/Cellular subscription for the vehicle? Just wondering how it receives the signal from the app.


lugnutz is correct.
 
Originally Posted By: KzMitch


If you think you don't need one, then you probably don't.


It's rarely cold enough here in the UK to need one but in any case they are not permitted by law. It's an offense to have a vehicle with the engine running and not be in the driving seat. In fact on a public road it's a fixed penalty emissions offense to park up and leave the engine running even if you are still in the car. People still do though as the law is not often enforced.
 
My mom has a factory remote start on her Fusion and it is pretty awesome. We were walking back to the car from AutoClub Speedway and I was on the pedestrian bridge a couple hundred yards away and got it to start with the chin trick. It was awesome because the AC was on and it was about as hot as the surface of the sun outside so that was nice to walk up to.

I can't have remote start on my Mustang here in California, legally they can't be installed on cars with manual transmissions.
 
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