Increase the range of the Remote Keyless Entry in your 1999-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ม.ค. 2025
- Thanks for watching everyone!
Does the range of your key fob... suck? Well, there are several possibilities, and I'll go thru a few of them today. It might be as simple as weak batteries, or it might need some antenna work.
I'll walk you thru step by step what I did to increase the range of my key fob, including the mistakes I made so you don't have them!
The inspiration for this fix came from hours and hours of Googling solutions, but I finally found a page that talks all about what I did to my Jeep:
www.ausjeepoffr...
Please 👍 the video if you enjoyed it or learned something, and comments are always appreciated!
Remember - I have no special skills, tools or training.
If I can do it... So can YOU!
Thank you for the video showing the mistakes and the solution. I haven't taken mine apart yet but I imagine cold or broken solder joints could be a problem as well as these vehicles age.
Just went to the yard first time to find a couple upgrade parts and already hooked. Cant wait to go back.
THIS is the video I needed to see...I just replaced my key fobs and had to be less that a foot away to make the Jeep lock and unlock...THANK YOU...I will be doing this real soon and will post the results. Hopefully, all I need to do is add a length of wire.
Hopefuly just the extra length on the "antenna" will work. Definately try that first before you tear into it or try any crazy calculations!
Looking forward to hearing about your resluts! Thanks for watching!
amazing how my Audi will open/close doors within hundreds of meters and my Jeep wants me to drive the keyfob inside the door to work :D
What is the magical "Calculation" you are talking about when you mention the wire length??
just to be clear: the key fob reciever is located in the passenger front door? no where else, nor the red sensor in the dash?
Thank you for the video. I soldered the antenna but still not working. Any suggestions?
I just needed to know where this module is so I can unhook it because I believe it could be draining my battery. Later if it's the culprit, I'll have a remote starter installed at Ziebart. They work from 100+ yards away.
It's integrated into the passenger side electronic lock panel. AFAIK, it's not something that you can "disable", but I'm sure whatever aftermarket system you use ties into the computer direct and bypasses the OEM locks. Just make sure that whatever you buy is designed specifically for the WJ, and not a newer WK as the computer control system is totally different.
Good luck with your project, and thanks for watching!
@@eXperimentalJeep when I unhooked this, all of the windows and locks stopped working. I ended up pulling the #7 fuse to disable this and keep my battery from draining for now. It would be nice to know which wire to clip to disable it permanently.
The module in the front passenger door has all the controls for door locks and windows in it... Remove the module entirely and they all stop working.
I do not know which wire to clip, or even if you can. My recommendation would be to talk to an installer about it. My guess would be that an aftermarket kit works in parallel with your factory controls rather than replacing them, but if the factory controls are causing battery drain then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ... An installer of aftermarket RKE and remote start systems /should/ know the answers. If not, it might mean a trip to the stealership.
One last place to check would be WJJEEPS.COM. There is a ton of knowledge on that site, and I've found answers to questions that I couldn't find anywhere else...
Good luck with your project!
@@douglasclark6219 not sure if this will help with your issue but it is known for the wiring harness going through the door jamb to fail. you can solder the wires back together thankfully but it is known to cause some issues
I like to use a schematic, meter, and amp probe to track down parasitic draws. Many time the problem was easily fixed with no parts required. As already stated, nearly all that had wiring through the door, was a broken grounded wire at the door hinge. Just unhooking it may not solve your problem and can result in fire if not properly addressed. Plenty of burned vehicles in scrapyards to prove it. Like the guy selling his truck on Craigslist, said the blower quit for some reason, was just about to buy and someone said, hey that truck is on fire. Right where the blower motor use to be. No I didn’t buy the truck.
ive got to get this done before summer... but ive never messed with wires or electrical so im nervous
An alternative would be to just replace the module... HOWEVER, and this is a big deal - you also need to get BOTH keyfobs that are already tied to that module. I've seen just the module for sale on eBay and they are literally useless without the keyfobs. If you don't get the keyfobs that are already paired to the module, then you'll have to pay the dealer to reprogram them. Sometimes you can get them to reprogram aftermarket keyfobs, sometimes they will make you buy OE keyfobs there, but every time, they will make you pay way too much. I priced it out once, and including the hardware and the dealership fees, it was over $400.
So... if your range already sucks, what do you have to lose by trying?
You also might be able to get the power door lock module and the keyfobs from a salvage yard. When I added RKE to my 2000 XJ, I was able to find all the parts from one donor vehicle. Honestly, I was surprised that the keyfobs were still in the XJ as most salvage yards will take them out and put them in a bin up front.
Good luck with your project, and thanks for watching!
إنه حقاً مفيد ، شكراً لك 👍
Thanks for the video. I've been looking for a video like this for a while. Do you know if a 2006 Grand Cherokee antenna would be on the passenger side as well?
unlikely... 2005 -2010 is the WK model. While I'm sure there are some similarities, I wouldn't be surprised if this is not one of them. Best bet - go to a salvage yard and look in the door of a 2005 or 2006 and take a peak. If its there, pick it up and experiment with that one before you start tearing into yours.
Good luck with your project and thanks for watching!
Question. If I take this from a jeep that I get the key fobs too would that work instead of buying new keys and programming it?
Yes, it works, took the module from a 2000 model year Laredo and put it into my 02 Laredo with the matching key fob and lock/unlock works plus panic button works no problem
@@brynnond.6952 ended up fixing the issue but do you know any remote starters that work well with our wjs?
Any one of those key files off a 2000 will fit a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo
Not sure what you mean by "key files"... also not sure if that was a statement or a question?
I do know that in later years, they added the antenna wire onto the control box... but not consistently. I've seen 2004 with out them and 2002 with them - all in a salvage yard. As always, YMMV.
If you want to clarify what you meant - would love to know what you were driving at! Thanks for watching!
I do not have a solder... can I strip and intertwine the wires and crimp them instead?
Yes you can, but the wires are very thin (22 gauge I believe) so a butt connector may not be the best thing. If you don't have access to a soldering iron - you could just strip the wires, twist them together and cover them with some non-conductive tape. Its not a very clean look but its also hidden inside your door so ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯
Good luck with your project, and thanks for watching!
Can this also be done on the drivers side?
No... that's because the brains of the Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) system are in the door/window module on the passenger side. There is nothing to modify on the drivers side in relationship to the RKE.
Hope that helps you in your project... thanks for watching!
Hey. Really good video. Where did you end up getting the antenna wire? I have looked everywhere and haven’t had any luck
I actually went to a thrift store and bought a really cheap speaker - the kind that has a wire hanging off the back. I used that and it worked great! I know you can order some online or get some at the auto parts store... but you can't beat the price of one dollar!
Good luck with your project and thanks for watching!
Mine sux too. Why are u babbling about using math to come up with the correct length…. Where did U get all ur base line info to formulate this mathematical equation to begin with ? 😂. Sorry but thx for showing me the module
Believe it or not... math is useful! In this case, a few minutes of "figuring" can mean the difference between an improvement and not working at all.
Personally, I hate math... but it does have its place. I took one for the team by going down that rabbit hole so YOU didn't have to!
Glad that the video was useful to you... thanks for watching!
@@eXperimentalJeep if was me i would have put 30 feet of wire and went clear around the edge of head liner. if it is an antenna it shouldnt mater. I have same issue battery didnt fix it and i already soldering extensions in the drivers door from the 2 grounds that broke there. wish you would have experimented a bit more like a long length or attaching it to the radio antenna to see if it being outside the vehicle helped.
「動画の音が良くない」、