Transponder battery low message

[Z71]

Is this battery covered by the 3 year/36 month warranty?  If not, what is the cost of this battery? 

[B.D.F.]

I don't know about the warranty as I have never heard of anyone asking for a fob battery at the dealer?

Fob batteries are very inexpensive ($2 or $3) and readily available in just about any drug store or large retailer.

Brian

Is this battery covered by the 3 year/36 month warranty?  If not, what is the cost of this battery?

[So Cal Joe]

Both mine went dead about a month after I got my bike, You can buy new ones for less than the cost of gas  going to the dealer. I bought 3, one for each FOB and 1 to carry as a spare in the unopened package.

[Z71]

Thanks, I wondered what kind of battery it took.  If it is an ordinary watch type battery, no big deal.  I will get it locally.   There is no way to turn of that fob, is there, when you park your bike?

[Z71]

Well, I bought a pair of CR2025 lithium batteries and have another problem:  I cannot get that stupid fob casing apart by using a screwdriver in the slot as suggested.  Is there a hidden screw somewhere or something?  I do not want to break this thing.   

[B.D.F.]

Yeah, they can be a little stiff. They will pop open before anything breaks though. Try to use a screwdriver that fits the slot well. It tends to throw up little plastic burrs if you twist the screwdriver in the fob slot so the better way is to pry the halves apart if the screwdriver blade is thick enough.

Make sure to align the silicone seal correctly inside the fob before you snap it back together. It can be a little tricky because the seal tends to slide a bit to the side.

Brian

Well, I bought a pair of CR2025 lithium batteries and have another problem:  I cannot get that stupid fob casing apart by using a screwdriver in the slot as suggested.  Is there a hidden screw somewhere or something?  I do not want to break this thing.

[So Cal Joe]

They just POP apart but they are tught. Use a big flat head screw driver or maybe the side of a quarter.

[valkmc]

Both of mine died with in two days of each other. I was on the Alaskan highway, lucky I read this forum and had two with me. That reminds me I need to replace my spares. Both of them dying at about the same time tells me it is not a use issue just a time issue. The fob that died 2nd I never used, it sat in my desk drawer until I went on my trip.

[B.D.F.]

The fob is off when you are not using the bike. The fob only responds to requests from the KiPass ECU on the bike so when the bike is shut off, the fob will not use any <appreciable> power. The fob does have an active receiver section because it has to (otherwise it could not respond to a validation request) but that does not use any battery power (or no appreciable power) from the battery. Only the fob transmitting uses battery power and the fob only does that once when the bike is started and then a few very specific times when the bike is being ridden (crossing through a specific speed, shifting into 6th gear).

A dead battery in the fob is no problem anyway- there is another way to use the fob to start the bike even if there is no battery in the fob. It is basically to hold the fob against the lug on the ignition switch housing and is documented in the owner's manual.

Brian

Thanks, I wondered what kind of battery it took.  If it is an ordinary watch type battery, no big deal.  I will get it locally.   There is no way to turn of that fob, is there, when you park your bike?

[GTRrob]

On the old site someone said if the fob is stored within 8 ft of the bike while parked it would continue transmitting and consume battery life. Is this true?

[Tim]

I don't know if this is true but I will say I have not replaced the fob batteries yet as I want to see how long they last for me. My fobs are stored away from the bike. My 14 is a 09. Also the batteries used in the fob are the same ones used in the red dots on my target pistols.

No trees were harmed in the production of this message. However, a rather large number of Electrons and Magnetic Particles were somewhat inconvenienced.

[B.D.F.]

No. The fob only responds to a request or poll from the KiPass ECU and does not initiate anything itself. The KiPass ECU only polls any fobs during very specific events; when the ign. key is pressed down, when the bike shifts into 6th gear, when the bike passes a certain speed (12 MPH if I remember correctly).

You can leave both fobs on the saddle if you want with no decrease in fob battery life.

Brian

On the old site someone said if the fob is stored within 8 ft of the bike while parked it would continue transmitting and consume battery life. Is this true?

[VirginiaJim]

You can leave both fobs on the saddle if you want with no decrease in fob battery life.

Brian

Or in a glass of Scotch...

[Mad River Marc]

And Riesling...but only for about 20 minutes or so and then you will need a new battery

[robbill]

Don't forget you can hide the warning message by holding the display mode button down and pressing the trip button. Resets when ignition is turned off or another warning message appears.

Best do it when stationary, eh?

[gPink]

No. The fob only responds to a request or poll from the KiPass ECU and does not initiate anything itself. The KiPass ECU only polls any fobs during very specific events; when the ign. key is pressed down, when the bike shifts into 6th gear, when the bike passes a certain speed (12 MPH if I remember correctly).

You can leave both fobs on the saddle if you want with no decrease in fob battery life.

Brian

Why this?

[B.D.F.]

I do not know.

I suspect it is so that the system can track the fob after the bike has started to move and alert the rider to the loss of a fob. Otherwise there would be no warning at all that the fob was missing. As it is there might not be any warning for quite some time if the bike was traveling at high speed for a long time after the fob was lost.

It has been mentioned that part of the original Mitsubishi system that Kawasaki uses did contain a lost fob function along with some type of readout as to how far back the fob was lost. The story goes that with that system intact, if you were to lose a fob while riding, the bike would indicate the loss along with an 'up count' of the distance traveled since losing the fob. Something about that does not ring true though because 1) why would Mitsubishi put such a system in an auto (it was not developed for motorcycles but rather cars) when a fob is extremely unlikely to be lost from the car while it is moving. 2) how would the KiPass system (MISTY originally) keep track of mileage or tie into the vehicle's electronics to monitor this? 3) Most importantly: the system would have to keep polling the fob to make sure it was within range to be able to detect the fob no longer being present. That would tend to kill fob batteries pretty rapidly by making the fob broadcast much more often than the system calls for now.

Brian


Brian

Why this?

[firemedic2143]

  I just bought my Concours used and the key fob message was on i went and replaced both key fob battery's with new ones and reset the message as stated but it still keeps popping up every time i turn bike on. the batteries are brand new so i know they aren't low..what can cause this does anyone know?

[Excavator]

I just bought my Concours used and the key fob message was on i went and replaced both key fob battery's with new ones and reset the message as stated but it still keeps popping up every time i turn bike on. the batteries are brand new so i know they aren't low..what can cause this does anyone know?

I replaced one of mine and two days later I got the low trans. battery again, I just chunked that battery and got another new one and now it's fine. Just because batterys are in a sealed container on the store shelf does not mean they are good....no more cheap, off brand batteries for me.

I would think/hope your problem is not something other than a low battery.