Should Homelink work with ignition off?
- Thread starter skategoat
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bulldog-yota
New member
nope my homelink seem to only work with the ignition on, maybe it works in acc as well. it doesn't work without the key.
boston_kevin
New member
no bigger issue than a garage door opener
My wife's Yukon does the same thing. As long as there is interior power, you can use homelink to open the garage door. However, if you didn't have homelink you would have a garage door opener to open the door and that is an even bigger security risk as someone can take the remote and open the door when you aren't around.
Homelink implies nothing about security, it is a convenience factor only. It allows you to open 2-3 garage doors, or turn on lights, or any other RF controlled device without having multitudes of remotes laying around your car making it look like your living room with the remotes for the TV, Cable, VCR, DVD, Stereo, etc.
The only security "built" in to the homelink is the ability to sync up with rolling code garage door openers, so no one can read your code with a scanner.
My wife's Yukon does the same thing. As long as there is interior power, you can use homelink to open the garage door. However, if you didn't have homelink you would have a garage door opener to open the door and that is an even bigger security risk as someone can take the remote and open the door when you aren't around.
Homelink implies nothing about security, it is a convenience factor only. It allows you to open 2-3 garage doors, or turn on lights, or any other RF controlled device without having multitudes of remotes laying around your car making it look like your living room with the remotes for the TV, Cable, VCR, DVD, Stereo, etc.
The only security "built" in to the homelink is the ability to sync up with rolling code garage door openers, so no one can read your code with a scanner.
Around my neighbourhood, the #1 M.O. for burglars is to break into your car to open the garage with your remote. Having Homelink helps because it is less obvious than a remote. It would help even more if you needed the key to use the Homelink buttons.
So, I think Homelink does help with security. All you're trying to is discourage thieves. Ask any cop and they will tell you that thieves are lazy. They look for convenient targets. In Toronto, the homes that get nailed most are the ones close to busy streets, especially near subway lines. The perps don't want to have to walk too far to grab your stuff.
Nothing you can do will absolutely secure your home, bike, wallet, car or garage.
So, I think Homelink does help with security. All you're trying to is discourage thieves. Ask any cop and they will tell you that thieves are lazy. They look for convenient targets. In Toronto, the homes that get nailed most are the ones close to busy streets, especially near subway lines. The perps don't want to have to walk too far to grab your stuff.
Nothing you can do will absolutely secure your home, bike, wallet, car or garage.
Mark86
Super Moderator
Mine stays on as well all of the time. I have a Sport though and added it on after I bought my truck. I saw that Bulldog-yota has a Limited, so the homelink must have come from the factory. Maybe it is different than the ones put on after. Anybody else with a Limited have theirs stay on all of the time?
Hitman
New member
skategoat said:
So a thief will break into your garage? For what? I don't keep anything valuable in my garage (except my cars), so they would still have to break into my house to steal anything of value.
My garage has a door that goes into my house, but it is double-locked (deadbolt and regular lock), just like the other entrance doors. Why would a thief bother with the garage entrance?
rando
Senior Member
My experience has been that the homelink features work without the key. I checked the wiring manual though and it indicates that power to the homelink module is switched via the DOME relay which is controlled by the Body ECU. In other words, the homelink buttons should function anytime the interior lights can function.
I just checked this in my truck and it's true. Get inside your truck and the homelink will be active. Wait 30 seconds (depending on how your dome light is programmed) and the dome lights will go out. The homelink buttons will no longer work. Alternatively, get inside your truck and lock the doors. The dome lights should go out immediately and the homelink function will be disabled. If you unlock the doors or put the key in the ignition, the circuit is active again and the homelink buttons will work.
This behavior is the same in all 4th gen 4runners that have the factory homelink buttons (originally or installed later). If you have homelink buttons in your mirror, they may operated differently since (in another thread) someone reported that their mirror required an always powered circuit connection. Homelink enabled mirrors are not factory equipment.
I understand what you mean by security risk but my truck is always parked in the garage. If they break into it, they're already in the garage so I'm not too worried about the garage door at that point. Moreover, the ability to disable the homelink without the key is only a marginaly security improvement. It's a trivial matter to rip the homelink out and wire it up to the battery -- assuming you've already broken into the truck. Either way, it's not much more (or less) secure than a handheld opener would be.
I just checked this in my truck and it's true. Get inside your truck and the homelink will be active. Wait 30 seconds (depending on how your dome light is programmed) and the dome lights will go out. The homelink buttons will no longer work. Alternatively, get inside your truck and lock the doors. The dome lights should go out immediately and the homelink function will be disabled. If you unlock the doors or put the key in the ignition, the circuit is active again and the homelink buttons will work.
This behavior is the same in all 4th gen 4runners that have the factory homelink buttons (originally or installed later). If you have homelink buttons in your mirror, they may operated differently since (in another thread) someone reported that their mirror required an always powered circuit connection. Homelink enabled mirrors are not factory equipment.
I understand what you mean by security risk but my truck is always parked in the garage. If they break into it, they're already in the garage so I'm not too worried about the garage door at that point. Moreover, the ability to disable the homelink without the key is only a marginaly security improvement. It's a trivial matter to rip the homelink out and wire it up to the battery -- assuming you've already broken into the truck. Either way, it's not much more (or less) secure than a handheld opener would be.
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bulldog-yota
New member
Mine is a LTD so it came with the homelink. But correction as stated above it does seem to work with the ignition off and the door open. Rando described it the best. I thought it was off if the ignition was off, because a few times I was in the 4R after i switched it off fiddling with stuff and when I tried to open the garage door it didn't work, but open the door and whoala.skategoat said:
I park my car inside so no probs, besides in my neighbourhood people leave their homes and garages open overnight sometimes with no problems for as long as I have lived here.
flownosaj
New member
Try this as an experiment and see what happens:
1. Roll down your window.
2. Get out and lock the door with the remote.
3. Reach in and 'pop' the door open from the inside.
4. Try the homelink and see what happens.
My guess is that the alarm will go off in some equipped models when the door is opened (LTD or Viper equiped), and others (SR5, Sport) may or may not work.
Go outside and tell me what happens. I don't have Runner access this morning.
1. Roll down your window.
2. Get out and lock the door with the remote.
3. Reach in and 'pop' the door open from the inside.
4. Try the homelink and see what happens.
My guess is that the alarm will go off in some equipped models when the door is opened (LTD or Viper equiped), and others (SR5, Sport) may or may not work.
Go outside and tell me what happens. I don't have Runner access this morning.
rando
Senior Member
If you have an alarm and do this experiment, you will set off your alarm and annoy your neighbors. The OEM and RS3200 alarms will relock the doors if you do this. Depending on how fast you are with opening the door handle, you can still get the doors open. It's unclear if the DOME circuit will be enabled or not while the alarm is tripping. Regardless, I'm not sure what this experiment is supposed to prove/disprove.
If you want to test the homelink, you don't need to mess with your alarm. Just sit inside the truck and close the doors (no alarm activated). Once the lights turn-off, the homelink function will be disabled. Open (or open and close) the door and the homelink will function again -- until the light circuit timer expires again.
If you want to test the homelink, you don't need to mess with your alarm. Just sit inside the truck and close the doors (no alarm activated). Once the lights turn-off, the homelink function will be disabled. Open (or open and close) the door and the homelink will function again -- until the light circuit timer expires again.
Hitman, think like a burglar for a minute.
Okay, you double lock your doors and keep nothing valuable in your garage. So what if someone enters your garage, you say?
What about this scenario. Said burglar enters your garage. He then closes the garage door behind him. Now he has all day to smash through your double-locks, industrial strength door, what have you. No tools? No problem. That shovel hanging on the wall will do nicely.
No one can see him. Not an opportunity I want to offer.
Okay, you double lock your doors and keep nothing valuable in your garage. So what if someone enters your garage, you say?
What about this scenario. Said burglar enters your garage. He then closes the garage door behind him. Now he has all day to smash through your double-locks, industrial strength door, what have you. No tools? No problem. That shovel hanging on the wall will do nicely.
No one can see him. Not an opportunity I want to offer.
flownosaj
New member
Rando, what you said proved my point--as Skategoat was trying to determine--it's not a security hole. We know that the homelink works without the need for a key, but from a burgular's perspective, it's not as simple as slim-jimming opening the driver's side door and hitting the homelink and doing an "open sesame" for all the household goods. The alarm goes off and the dome circuit and homelink might not work.
If someone wants to break into the house, there's quieter ways than breaking into a car that may or may not have an alarm just to get into a garage. On newer cars (especially a 30K+ one like our 4Runners) they're really playing the odds on an alarm being present.
As long as I have the security system enabled, I'm not worried about someone getting into the house through my 4Runner. I'm more worried about someone finding the fake rock with a key in it hidden somewhere in the yard.
:arrow:
If someone wants to break into the house, there's quieter ways than breaking into a car that may or may not have an alarm just to get into a garage. On newer cars (especially a 30K+ one like our 4Runners) they're really playing the odds on an alarm being present.
As long as I have the security system enabled, I'm not worried about someone getting into the house through my 4Runner. I'm more worried about someone finding the fake rock with a key in it hidden somewhere in the yard.
:arrow:
rando
Senior Member
LOL, hire a good locksmith and have him open up your car or your house. A good one can open either in a matter of seconds. Once you see this done, you'll no longer worry about the inexperienced home thief who decides to break into your car on the off chance the you might have a homelinke receiver so that he can open your garage door on the off chance that you have a tool he can use to break down your fire-proof door (required for attached garages in California) in privacy on the off chance that you don't have a home security system.
run-on sentence intentional
Assuming all or any of the premises in the above statement are true, even a half-brained thief would invest in a $5 glass cutting tool and just walk right in through your patio door or any one of the other ground floor windows on a typical home. Accept it, the typical home security mechanisms do little more than keep honest people honest. If someone wants to burglarize your home, they can do it without much thought.
run-on sentence intentional
Assuming all or any of the premises in the above statement are true, even a half-brained thief would invest in a $5 glass cutting tool and just walk right in through your patio door or any one of the other ground floor windows on a typical home. Accept it, the typical home security mechanisms do little more than keep honest people honest. If someone wants to burglarize your home, they can do it without much thought.
boston_kevin
New member
What type of garage door opener do you have?
Any type of garage door opener besides the screw type are easily (and relatively quietly) pried open using a simple crow bar or jack handle. Very easy, homelink or no, the door is now open, and it took about 30 seconds.
Do you have any windows or a side (or back) door to the garage? If so, this is easy to cut the glass and walk right in.
Debating security on a convienence item is like debating how well a refrigerator can cook your dinner. The intent of the homelink system is not to provide security, that is the responsibility of the owner. The only security homelink can offer is to provide a rolling code signal to match your current handheld remote garage door opener (and this is merely to provide interoperability with your current system).
If you want security on your house, get an alarm or a serious deadbolt, or both. A garage is difficult, though not impossible, to secure.
Any type of garage door opener besides the screw type are easily (and relatively quietly) pried open using a simple crow bar or jack handle. Very easy, homelink or no, the door is now open, and it took about 30 seconds.
Do you have any windows or a side (or back) door to the garage? If so, this is easy to cut the glass and walk right in.
Debating security on a convienence item is like debating how well a refrigerator can cook your dinner. The intent of the homelink system is not to provide security, that is the responsibility of the owner. The only security homelink can offer is to provide a rolling code signal to match your current handheld remote garage door opener (and this is merely to provide interoperability with your current system).
If you want security on your house, get an alarm or a serious deadbolt, or both. A garage is difficult, though not impossible, to secure.
