2016 Outlander keyfob hack. REMOTE HEATER!

[jthspace]

Agree on that the shells/cases are not perfect but I think they are good enough.

When it comes to getting the pre-heating or pre-cooling (yes this is possible too!) to start I do like this:
1) Make sure that you have activated either heating or defroster or cooling in the app (or in the MMCS menu system in the car). In the app select Timer and then Climate Timer Settings and then select Mode (heating or cooling). Also select Operation time, 10-30 minutes.
2) Car must be locked (as far as I know).
3) On the remote double-click the red button. The car will confirm with 3 fast turn signal blinks.
4) Now the pre-heating or pre-cooling will start. It is not possible to cancel this process unless you open a door.

I have used the pre-heating daily during wintertime and it works perfectly. The pre-cooling is a nifty feature which you may not think of first hand. Now during summertime it is so handy to just doubleclick on the remote to start the cooling. The cabin temperature will reach comfort temp within 10 minutes normally. A killer application for me and my dog.

OK. I decided to reset the whole wifi/remote and started from scratch.

Using the wifi/iPhone I can control heat/cool/defrost just fine.

The modified remote still will not work. I have rechecked soldering under a lens and the connections are good. The remote led lights when the 4th button is pressed. Maybe the remote/programming changed on later models. I have a June 2015 registered vehicle.

I may modify the other remote and wire the switch as intended and see if that triggers the alarm. I will update when done, but it may not be for a few weeks.

Thanks for the input,

Jeff

 

[ClasseClas]

Agree on that the shells/cases are not perfect but I think they are good enough.

When it comes to getting the pre-heating or pre-cooling (yes this is possible too!) to start I do like this:
1) Make sure that you have activated either heating or defroster or cooling in the app (or in the MMCS menu system in the car). In the app select Timer and then Climate Timer Settings and then select Mode (heating or cooling). Also select Operation time, 10-30 minutes.
2) Car must be locked (as far as I know).
3) On the remote double-click the red button. The car will confirm with 3 fast turn signal blinks.
4) Now the pre-heating or pre-cooling will start. It is not possible to cancel this process unless you open a door.

I have used the pre-heating daily during wintertime and it works perfectly. The pre-cooling is a nifty feature which you may not think of first hand. Now during summertime it is so handy to just doubleclick on the remote to start the cooling. The cabin temperature will reach comfort temp within 10 minutes normally. A killer application for me and my dog.

OK. I decided to reset the whole wifi/remote and started from scratch.

Using the wifi/iPhone I can control heat/cool/defrost just fine.

The modified remote still will not work. I have rechecked soldering under a lens and the connections are good. The remote led lights when the 4th button is pressed. Maybe the remote/programming changed on later models. I have a June 2015 registered vehicle.

I may modify the other remote and wire the switch as intended and see if that triggers the alarm. I will update when done, but it may not be for a few weeks.

Thanks for the input,

Jeff

Sounds strange that it doesn't work. Sorry for being rude but did you press the red button twice (and quite fast) in order to start the ACC?

If you want to, you could always take a hi-res pic on your PCB and just let us take a look. If I remember correctly my remote and Fragge's ditto were of different revisions. Maybe your remote is of an even later revision.

 

[jthspace]

Hi, no need to apologise - I tried "press press" / "press . press" / "press . . press" / "press . . . press" and so on. I tried standing on one leg, pointing the remote over my shoulder (as BMW owners seem to do :lol: ) but nothing seemed to work.

I will take a picture and post a link.

One question - if I press and hold the 4th button, the LED flashes once a second for 14 seconds - does yours do similar?

Jeff

 

[ClasseClas]

Hi, no need to apologise - I tried "press press" / "press . press" / "press . . press" / "press . . . press" and so on. I tried standing on one leg, pointing the remote over my shoulder (as BMW owners seem to do :lol: ) but nothing seemed to work.

I will take a picture and post a link.

One question - if I press and hold the 4th button, the LED flashes once a second for 14 seconds - does yours do similar?

Jeff

:lol:

Yes, I have the same behaviour when pressing and holding the red button. It blinks 14 times.

 

[jthspace]

Sorry for delay, few days away.

Here is a link to HD version of the photo. Cant see a circuit board version number.

http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac281/jthspace/Outlander/JTH Remote.jpg

Lower quality image below . . . .

Jeff

 

[ClasseClas]

There is a difference when it comes to revisions of the board. This is visible from the symbol in the yellow ring in the upper right part of the PCB. Please compare with my mod.
https://goo.gl/photos/xgbrNWnWqAhZr6K39
Your mod looks ok. I cannot tell how you have managed the lower left hand leg. It should be isolated by the tape. As the LED indicates that the switch works it is hard to tell the difference from my mod. One thing that could cause a problem is the charging timer. If you have it on, pls turn it off and then try again.

 

[jthspace]

Thanks for the reply. The bottom left leg was cut off and isolation tape underneath separating left hand side of the switch from the board. Looks like later revision of the board must have something to do with it.

I do not use the timer functions on the car or remote app.

Oh, well, it was worth the experiment. Appreciate your help.

Jeff

 

[Steepndeep]

Hi

I have also tried the mod and it does not work. The LED blinks but nothing happens in the car. Mine is a 2016 which came brand new in April. I have disabled the Android App as I was touring in Europe this summer and did not want any hacking surprises (maybe too paranoid). Anyway looking into the MMCS I fail to see any heater or AC setting which would make the Mod work. The settings on the MMCS are different than from the Android App. In the App I can set running time from 10, 20, 30 minutes but in the MMCS I can ONLY choose start time, not running time. Is there something I have missed??

 

[Fragge]

Hi

I have also tried the mod and it does not work. The LED blinks but nothing happens in the car. Mine is a 2016 which came brand new in April. I have disabled the Android App as I was touring in Europe this summer and did not want any hacking surprises (maybe too paranoid). Anyway looking into the MMCS I fail to see any heater or AC setting which would make the Mod work. The settings on the MMCS are different than from the Android App. In the App I can set running time from 10, 20, 30 minutes but in the MMCS I can ONLY choose start time, not running time. Is there something I have missed??

Did you double click the button on the remote to start the heater?

 

[Steepndeep]

Yes, pressed it twice quickly. LED lights for each press. Car does nothing. Long press on butten yields 14 LED blinks which other seems to get as well. But again, I see no setting in MMCS menu which indicates a remote activation is possible. How have you set the MMCS?

 

[ClasseClas]

Yes, pressed it twice quickly. LED lights for each press. Car does nothing. Long press on butten yields 14 LED blinks which other seems to get as well. But again, I see no setting in MMCS menu which indicates a remote activation is possible. How have you set the MMCS?

Hi, the only thing you need to do in the app or in MMCS is to decide on cooling or heating once activating via the remote.
"1) Make sure that you have activated either heating or defroster or cooling in the app (or in the MMCS menu system in the car). In the app select Timer and then Climate Timer Settings and then select Mode (heating or cooling). Also select Operation time, 10-30 minutes."

 

[nahoj56]

Yes, pressed it twice quickly. LED lights for each press. Car does nothing. Long press on butten yields 14 LED blinks which other seems to get as well. But again, I see no setting in MMCS menu which indicates a remote activation is possible. How have you set the MMCS?

Hi,
I think you may use TP5 (SW3) instead on newer PHEV. TP6 (SW4) is used to disable the timer Charge on the new PHEV 2016.

 

[Steepndeep]

What is TP5 and TP6?

 

[nahoj56]

What is TP5 and TP6?

Oh sorry,
I meant soldering points on the board.

 

[Phev2015S]

The information in this thread is "golden".
I've created a Wifi bridge between my home network and my Phev's WiFi to be able to easily trigger the aircondition and check on the charging status. Unfortunately the Phev-app is slow and triggering the aircondition just takes too much time and effort.

Today i finally got around to opening up the keyfob of my Phev. It's actually as easy as using a flat screwdriver to wiggle the casing open. When i shortcut the SW3 button pads, it triggered the airconditioning. Hurray!

I understand the modifications which have been suggested in this thread. Most modifications are repurposing the charge-timer-button. I prefer to keep this functionality intact, although i've never used the charge-timer-button.

-editted-
I converted the second button facade to a working button.
I've done the following things:
1. clipping 4 (cutting with knife) studs on the back of the button facade. I left one stud to get a lever effect.
2. ordered a switch of ebay for soldering onto the keyfob board (ebayid: 271508137198, "EVQP4003M").
3. soldered the button onto sw3. This was quite easy with a flat-head-solder-tip.
4. drilled a small hole behind the button facade and crafted a little stud to put into the hole. The stud functions as a lever pressing the sw3 switch.

It's all a little bit fiddly, but seem to work. I didn't notice before, but apparently you must press the sw3 button twice to trigger the airconditioning.
To be honest. I suspect the lever-stud might give me issues in the future, accidental triggers and/or hanging switch.

I've got an dutch PHEV2016.

 

[Steepndeep]

Finally managed to get the mod to work on my keyfob. Turned out I actually did not cut the old wiring deep enough on the PCB so there when I pushed the button I actually pushed heater on and heater off simultaneously :twisted:

Anyway, know it works like a charm, great

 

[anko]

I did the hack on one of the keys of my 2013 PHEV. At first, all worked fine. The original buttons worked correctly and after pressing the new button twice, the heater started. Tried it several times without issues. Then after half an hour or so, I wanted to show my wife what I had done. But this time, pressing any button (including the new one) resulted in the little light on the FOB flashing 14 times, with no response from the car whatsoever. After removing and reinserting the battery (as a matter of fact, I swapped batteries between the two FOBs to rule out low voltage of the battery itself), everything was fine again. But this morning I had the same problem with the modified FOB.

Interestingly enough, keyless entry (keeping the key close to the car and opening / closing the car with the little knop on the door handle) still works fine. But not while the light on the key is flashing 14 times after pressing one of the buttons ....

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Steepndeep]

Hi anko

A couple of things. You really need to cut deep in the PCB to cut the wires. You should not have 14 times LED blinking.

Another annoying thing. When I lock the car and try the remote heater through the keyfob it works great. However after an unspecified time if I want to start the heater again it does not work. I have to relock the car and then press twice on the keyfob and then it works. I have not managed to decipher this more though.

 

[anko]

Hi anko

A couple of things. You really need to cut deep in the PCB to cut the wires. You should not have 14 times LED blinking.

Another annoying thing. When I lock the car and try the remote heater through the keyfob it works great. However after an unspecified time if I want to start the heater again it does not work. I have to relock the car and then press twice on the keyfob and then it works. I have not managed to decipher this more though.

Cutting into the PCB? I didn't do any cutting at all.

In the mean time, it turns out that the wire running from the microswitch to the PCB was less well insulated as I thought and short circuited somewhere on the PCB. A little extra tape and for now the issue seems solved.

(sorry, hadn't find the time yet to update my post )

 

[ht13]

My 2014/2015 Outlander PHEV (german "plus" version: with electric heater but without electric tailgate) has a remote control with only two buttons. With all the infos in this topic I arranged to add a third button to start the electric heating/climate control.

On my modification the new switch is conntected to soldering point TP5 on the circuit board (thanks to nahoj56 for this advice).

I found the best suitable switch on conrad electronics: Drucktaster Würth Elektronik

The Third button on my remote is not clickable, so at the moment as you can see I don't use the metallic cover. But I'm waiting for a new shell with a third clickable button which I found here on AliExpress: New Smart Remote Key Shell