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Keeping key fob in Jeep

ThirtyOne

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I don't have my JL yet, so I don't have a fob to test, but I did try some quick tests on my cell phone and found the following. I didn't test every combination.
  • The cell phone signal is blocked if you put the cell phone on a stainless steel tray and covering it with a stainless steel bowl.
  • If you wrap the cell phone in aluminum foil:
    • the cell phone signal is blocked
    • the bluetooth signal is block
    • the wifi signal is blocked even though the wifi access point antenna was less than 2 ft away
Ok. Now I have to try. Give me a minute to wrap my fob in aluminum foil.
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NavyVet1959

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Ok. Now I have to try. Give me a minute to wrap my fob in aluminum foil.
I was going to try cutting the top and bottom out of a beer can and squeezing it flat to see how that might work, but my phone was too big for a normal size beer can and I didn't have any of the Foster's 25oz cans handy.

But I did try the beer can with my garage remote control and it did block the signal.

So, it's possible that you could take two beer cans and carefully cut the top out of one and the bottom out of the other so that they could slip together and *look* like a single beer can and put your fob in there.
 
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ThirtyOne

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Aluminum foil does block the fob.

Ironically it took me a little while to find my fob. I had left it in the Jeep.
 

NavyVet1959

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Aluminum foil does block the fob.

Ironically it took me a little while to find my fob. I had left it in the Jeep.
Try the beer can method that I mentioned above.
 

ThirtyOne

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Try the beer can method that I mentioned above.
I drink bottles.

You could take a box, co er it with aluminum foil, and write “used condoms” on it with a Sharpie.

Then put the fob in there.
 

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NavyVet1959

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I drink bottles.
I drink *kegs*... :)

They would probably work, but they're a bit large to be carrying around in your car just to act as an RFID shield. :)

The worst part of having a kegerator is trying to decide what beer you want to be drinking for the next 6 months. I'm the only one who drinks around here and a standard size (15.5 gal) keg lasts me 6 months.

I don't think bottles would work that well unless you used one of those aluminum bottles that I believe Bud came out with at one time.

Of course, one danger of putting in in a beer can like that would be your wife seeing the beer can and deciding to clean out the vehicle and throwing it away. Even the most basic key fob for the Sport model that has *no* buttons on it costs $168 from what I've gathered.

Now, there are some of the hard eyeglasses cases that are probably big enough for the fob to fit in. If you put a couple of layers of aluminum foil in one of them, it might work.
 
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NavyVet1959

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I was watching a video on YouTube earlier this evening where someone was showing how to remove and replace the radio on the Wrangler JL. As I was watching it, I got an idea for a possible modification that might be interesting for some folks at some point.

In order to get to the raido, the panel containing the Start button has to be removed first. I noticed that when he did it, there was some sort of modular connector that goes to the back of it on the left side and it was wiring that goes to the starter button. There were more than the 2 wires going into the back of it that you would normally think would be used just for a switch, but that's probably because of the lights on the switch that get activated depending upon the state the vehicle is in. One of the wires is going to be a ground and the other is going to be the control line for the switch that is going to go back to the car's computer.

If a person was to cut that control line and solder a pair of wires to the two newly cut ends and then route that line somewhere else in the car, they could put a hidden switch that would need to be turned on in order for the car's Start button to work. And, of course, you could wire it so that a certain number of ON-OFF-ON switches had to be set in a particular order for even more security. We would be talking low voltage low current signal wiring here, so one of the small switches that can be purchased for less than $1 on eBay would work perfectly. Or, if you really wanted to be discrete, you could go with one of the very small momentary contact pushbutton switches and wire it so that you had to press and hold it when you were pressing the normal switch in order for the computer to get the signal. Or you could leave that the normal pushbutton switch in the panel as a dummy that still lit up, but the actual push button was hidden somewhere else.

Or maybe even find a place on the panel where you could mount a keyed switch. Then you could use a key to make it look like a normal keyed ignition switch.

Hmmm... I see some possibilities here...
 

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I have 4 vehicles--2 TOYOTAS/RAM/JL and strangely enough--i only drive ONE AT A TIME-

There is no way I'll leave a FOB in a vehicle-that reeks -stupidity !

Whatever

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I was just leaving it in there since it’s garage kept but as stated by some leaving the fob in the Jeep may keep it talking to the onboard brain and cause issues like running the battery down or keeping the dash display message from going out when it’s supposed to as it thinks it’s getting ready to be started since the fob is in the Jeep.
 

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Damn, some of you guys sure go to great lengths to disable theft prevention features, among other things. :computerrage:
 

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NavyVet1959

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Damn, some of you guys sure go to great lengths to disable theft prevention features, among other things. :computerrage:
I don't agree with routinely leaving the fob in the vehicle, but there are rare occasions where it *might* be necessary. For example, when I go diving, I prefer to carry the key to the vehicle on me even when I'm underwater. I don't need the remote control / fob while I'm there, so I will leave it in the vehicle and just take the key with me. That was not a problem with my XJ or Ram, but it would be a problem with the JL and it's keyless ignition. If someone was to enter my XJ or Ram while I was away, they might have the door remote control fob, but it does not allow them to start the vehicle, so they would not be driving it away. With the JL though, if you lock your fob in the car and it is not in a RF blocking container or if they find it, then they are going to be able to drive away with the vehicle. I consider that unacceptable for my likely uses of the vehicle. As such, before I would use it in that manner, I would take additional measures -- removing the battery from the fob, installing a hidden additional switch that must be pressed while the normal start button is pressed, etc.
 

NavyVet1959

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Firstwave

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May not be for everyone but this is my solution to an oversize key fob.

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