Fob batteries? Why do I keep burning through them?

I get a couple years out of the Tacoma fob, and 4-6 months out of the 4Runner fob.
Both proximity keys.
Who knows...

 

cheap batteries? one of the sets i got from Amazon are complete trash. i put them in airtags and immediately get low battery warnings.

 

The batteries that you see above in the picture where purchased on Amazon.ca I have used them on numerous electronic equipment guitar tuner, fobs ( Venza) and some remotes that require and they work great and long lasting. I don't see any name brand on them except CR 2032 Lithium OEM. presuming it means Original Equipment Manufacturer.

 

Old thread, great info here.

 

I have the best luck with the Japanese made Maxell and Swiss made Renata batteries. Never buy batteries from Amazon. Between the fakes and old stock, it isn’t worth the hassle. I buy mine from Battery Junction.

 

Every battery I've bought has been a crapshoot.

I've overpaid for local genuine energizer's. I've bought the cheap Amazon's, the unique japans...

Sometimes it's just a bad batch

 

I'm going to try one of these:

$4 Hoiny 2 Pack Faraday Key Fob Protector, Premium Car RFID Signal Blocking Pouch, Secure Faraday Bag for Car Key Fob, Anti-Theft Case (Red+Blue, Small)

https://www.amazon.com/Hoiny-Farada...&mcid=a31751d1703d3e2991f356f5d793a0d2&sr=8-9

 

I’m going to go with paranoid, Bob.

 

I've had pretty good luck with all batteries except Kirkland Costco Batteries.
Those usually work great and then all of the sudden leave me stranded and when I open the fob to replace it, the battery had exploded and leaked.

So now I'm out of the house, away from a place to really clean up the fob, having to do some make shift road side repair in a parking lot AND replace the battery.

Everything else I get from Costco with the Kirkland brand on it has been great but I'd Cooter Kick ol'Man Costco for what he done to me with his batteries. And it's all of them. Fobs to AA's.

 

Guess I'm lucky then. I bought truck new in April 2017. Came with 2 keys/fobs. To this day, I have only ever used one of the key/fobs. It worked flawlessly until about 6 months ago, then would work sporadically, then finally died completely a couple months ago. I still haven't tried replacing the battery. Just FYI, the truck battery finally gave up the ghost in 2023, with about 95K miles on it.

 

@Nirango kid


The faraday pouch is supposed to block reception, thus saving the battery when not in use. My key hook is close enough to the truck that if it were trying to connect/read it may be draining said battery.

 

I bought a 2006 Tacoma new in 2006. I used the one fob up until I sold the truck in July of 2025. Never changed the battery. Way back in 2006 I took the other key fob and stashed it away. I totally forget where I stashed it. A month before I sold the truck my ex girlfriend came across it in a box in storage. She sent it to me and it also worked perfectly. So both fobs were 19 years old and one was used daily the other never used and both flawless. Here I am with my newer 2018 Tacoma which I traded the 2006 in on and the first month of ownership had to change out the battery. By the way, I’m the one who bumped this old thread.

 

I can't recall ever changing the fob batteries in my 07 Tacoma. Both still work fine.

 

The Amazon ones are junk, I’ve found that you need to get name brand ones like Energizer or Duracell. I got sick of changing my amazon battery every few months so I started checking the voltage on them. Brand new they were about 3v, I noticed the name brand ones are actually .1 to .2 volts higher, I haven’t had to change one in well over a year now.