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Stop key fob from broadcasting

donjuan97447810

donjuan97447810

Guest
Guest
I am in a RV park, and I noticed my bike was ready to start all night due to the proximity of the bike to the RV. Not much space to move them further apart. This is not ideal .

Anyone know any tricks to prevent the fob from broadcasting? I tried wrapping the key in Reflectix, no luck.
 
So I did remove the battery since I'm getting the battery fob low message anyways. But, for some odd reason, the light is still on. It has been 4 hours since I removed the battery and red light still blinking.

I think something else going on. I did recently reconnect two wires that I think mice chewed. I matched the colors. Not sure If that is the reason, but it seems very odd. I also am not able to start it although that red light is blinking. So not sure at this point.

Once I get it back to normal, I like the tin foil idea. Will try that.
 
donjuan97447810 said:
So I did remove the battery since I'm getting the battery fob low message anyways. But, for some odd reason, the light is still on. It has been 4 hours since I removed the battery and red light still blinking.
Click to expand...

This is normal. It would be advisable to review the Owners Manual. The red LED will blink for 24 hours after shutdown to indicate the immobilizer is active.
 
donjuan97447810 said:
Cool. I guess I never noticed it. Will read the manual though. Thanks for the info.
Click to expand...
Another security measure is how you park the bike. If your C-14 is facing the fob (key fob is in front of the windshield) there will be no reception. So if you park in that manner then turn the stove key to lock and remove you can rest easier.

Note - The red security light on the dash blinks for 24 hours whether in contact with the fob or not - just FYI.

Wayne, Carol & Blue
 
Mine has to be very close to the bike for it to start. Try actually starting the bike with the fob inside the RV. I wondered about this too when I park under my rv awning . Starting the bike outside didnā€™t work in my case if the fob was inside the rv.
 
IIRC there is no constant transmitting being done by the Active FOB, nor by the C14. The FOB does constantly listen (receives). It only transmits when it hears the bike signal it when you press down on the stove knob....where the bike sends out an electronic equivalent of "Hey are you there?..and are you really you?" Where upon the FOB then transmits back an electronic equivalent of "YES! I'm here, and here is my serial number to prove it's really me....bla bla bla (whatever)." So covering the active FOB with aluminum foil and/or hiding it in a stainless steel thermos only limits the FOB's ability to hear, but doesn't stop it from listening (and thus doesn't help save the FOB battery). There is also communication between the bike and the FOB at intervals when the bike is running but I forget what triggers these running status checks between the two while running. Coming to a stop might be one of the status check triggers as well as other triggers that I'm unaware of (speed, time?). This would be a good test, start your C14, then wrap your active FOB in foil and drop it in a saddle bag, go for a ride and see if/when the bike display tells you about it. I also think the bike only checks for the active FOB if it was started with the active FOB...if it was started with a passive FOB then it doesn't perform the running active FOB status checks. (can anybody verify this?)

To the best of my knowledge the blinking red light is as others have described, an approx 24 hour blink since the bike was last successfully powered on. When on a trip, I always find it reassuring when I come out of the hotel and remove the bike cover and see it blinking...it reassures me that the bike is probably going to start. If the battery is drained for some reason during the night, the blinking red light is shut off first by the bike's ECU in order to conserve power. (When I was at the 2013 COG National, I had a 5th floor hotel room with a balcony and I could look down at the Motorcycle parking area at night and see all those blinking red lights. If I squinted just right it looked like a swarm of red fireflies.)

I am as convinced of the above described FOB operation as others are of the wrong things (i.e. "placing the active FOB in the C14 glove box makes the battery drain faster"...aah no it doesn't. It just makes it easier for someone to steal your C14). However if those that have extensive knowledge (via testing with electronic instruments, or have read/understood Mitsubishi technical documents about this or other similar immobilizer systems_)....I'd love to hear more details about how this system actually works definitively, even if it shows me to be incorrect in my simple man explanation of same.
 
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fartymarty said:
IIRC there is no constant transmitting being done by the Active FOB, nor by the C14. The FOB does constantly listen (receives). It only transmits when it hears the bike signal it when you press down on the stove knob....where the bike sends out an electronic equivalent of "Hey are you there?..and are you really you?" Where upon the FOB then transmits back an electronic equivalent of "YES! I'm here, and here is my serial number to prove it's really me....bla bla bla (whatever)." So covering the active FOB with aluminum foil and/or hiding it in a stainless steel thermos only limits the FOB's ability to hear, but doesn't stop it from listening (and thus doesn't help save the FOB battery). There is also communication between the bike and the FOB at intervals when the bike is running but I forget what triggers these running status checks between the two while running. Coming to a stop might be one of the status check triggers as well as other triggers that I'm unaware of (speed, time?). This would be a good test, start your C14, then wrap your active FOB in foil and drop it in a saddle bag, go for a ride and see if/when the bike display tells you about it. I also think the bike only checks for the active FOB if it was started with the active FOB...if it was started with a passive FOB then it doesn't perform the running active FOB status checks. (can anybody verify this?)

To the best of my knowledge the blinking red light is as others have described, an approx 24 hour blink since the bike was last successfully powered on. When on a trip, I always find it reassuring when I come out of the hotel and remove the bike cover and see it blinking...it reassures me that the bike is probably going to start. If the battery is drained for some reason during the night, the blinking red light is shut off first by the bikes ECU in order to conserve power. (When I was at the 2013 COG National, I had a 5th floor hotel room with a balcony and I could look down at the Motorcycle parking area at night and see all those blinking red lights. If I squinted just right it looked like a swarm of red fireflies.)

I am as convinced of the above described FOB operation as others are of the wrong things (i.e. "placing the active FOB in the C14 glove box makes the battery drain faster"...aah no it doesn't. It just makes it easier for someone to steal your C14). However if those that have extensive knowledge (via testing with electronic instruments, or have read/understood Mitsubishi technical documents about this or other similar immobilizer systems_)....I'd love to hear more details about how this system actually works definitively, even if it shows me to be incorrect in my simple man explanation of same.
Click to expand...
Very cool. Interesting to know the actual tech behind it.
 
donjuan97447810 said:
Very cool. Interesting to know the actual tech behind it.
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Well I would hardly call my simple man explanation the "actual Tech" but I do believe it's accurate. I'm sure there are at least two people (EDIT: three, if you count Harry with the AM radio ;)) on this forum that have actually looked at the system with electronic equipment and have a handle on what the "actual tech" is, although I doubt I'd understand it if they explained it to me except in the simplest terms. I think Brian Felice (sadly, :(no longer with us) is the only person to have read the actual technical papers (Mitsubishi?) on how the system actually works.
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Totally unrelated, but interesting (YOMV) is that when the main battery is disconnected for a length of time, the tire pressure section of the dash display disappears.
You can scroll through the menu over and over but it just isn't there and like it never was, at all. Then when you ride the bike (or spin the wheel in place {sometimes for 5 minutes or longer} with the power on) and it detects the TPMS then the menu item is there again. It has been suggested that since the Ninja ZX14 is very similar to the C14, that Mama Kaw used the same electronics and menus system but since the ZX14 doesn't come with TPMS they made the TPMS menu item only show up if the ECU detected the wheel TPMS transmitters. I have no idea if that is true, but I find it interesting none the less. When I sent my ECU off to Steve for a flash I disconnected the battery and then reconnected the battery after the ECU came back and was installed. I was going through the menus to set the clock when I noticed that there was no tire pressure section on the menus as I scrolled through them. I almost called Steve to start bitching that he screwed up my ECU......I'm sooooo glad that I didn't do that. Talk about how embarrassing that would have been...OMG .:eek:
 
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Just place a small AM radio receiver on the gas tank and tune to low end of the band.
Turn the volume up. Hear anything? Nope. No RF being emitted by the bike or FOB.

Now, punch the stove knob. The C14 will start screaming all kinds of noise and the AM radio will pick it up and amplify it.
The FOB will respond with it's own noise. You can hear them talking to each other.

The FOB is using power, else how can it respond? It may not be transmitting, but it is listening at a very low power level until the C14 starts chirping, followed by the FOB chirping back. Wrap that FOB in aluminum foil and it won't receive the chirp from the C14.

That's enough science for me.
 
FartyM - off topic - but the TPMS is in the KIPASS ECU didn't you know? Some folks who don't like to fix/replace sensors disconnected the earth when the sensors are removed or dead to make that feature disappear. As the ZX14 doesn't have KIPASS, or ABS on the earlier ones, the display unit may possibly work on a series 1 non-ABS C14 as you correctly say was suggested but no-one ever proved the point as I recall - as there seemed to be no point. šŸ˜€
 
Freddy said:
FartyM - off topic - but the TPMS is in the KIPASS ECU didn't you know? šŸ˜€
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HA!, obviously I didn't know or I wouldn't have initially considered calling Steve to bitch about my ECU...which like I said would have been embarrassing had I done so, my embarrassment would have been even higher when he would have no doubt told me what you just did. :rolleyes:
 
Still off topic - a third ECU is in the ignition lock assembly, which is where the passive fob/immobiliser keys reside. A fourth one is in the ABS unit if so equipped.

Now you're SmarterMarty :LOL:
 
How the Active part of the KIPASS fob communicates.

When the Passive part of the fob is used the blue lines of communication are obviously irrelevant.

One of the frustrations of the various manuals Kaw has supplied to owners and workshops is that each component of KIPASS has at least 2 names, depending on what manual you're looking thru to get help on the range of tasks KIPASS involves.
 

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And you can have up to 6 Active and 6 Passive (transponder or immobiliser) thingies.
 

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The FOB does not ever "broadcast". By that I mean it never sends out a signal without first being queried by the bike. There are only two times when the bike queries the FOB:

1. When you press the stove knob.
2. Every so often while you are riding to check if the FOB was left behind.

It's a MYTH that the bike and FOB are constantly communicating when the bike is OFF. It doesn't happen!

Don't believe me? You can listen to the FOB with a scanner radio set to the correct frequency. It sounds like a "chirp" and you'll hear it just as mention above and you can listen for hours and will not hear it any other time.
 
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