Tmax 530 Smartkey Issues

[Rodbourne]

Hi all,

I am at my wits end! Had my 2018 Tmax 530 DX for a year. Never had an issue. Was out last weekend and went to my dad's, bike had been fine all day. When I came out of my dad's to start my bike, nothing, nada, not a single light! Turned the key off, turned it back on. Nothing. Not a single light on the instrument panel regardless of what I pressed. Got dropped home and came back with my wife. Tried to do the emergency process but only got to the first digit and then it came to life. The smartkey light then started flashing but it started. Got it home, turned it off, turned it back on again, perfect! Next day, it wouldn't start again so I've changed the battery in the Smartkey fob in case it was that but its still not working. Its like the bike isn't registering that the key is I'm range. The key is on as it flashes when the button is pressed. Please help because I don't know what else to do!!

[MrGrumpy]

Hmmm. I recently had a something slightly similar in that suddenly my 2017 Tmax 530 was totally dead and wouldn't switch on, 30 seconds after I'd switched it on and wheeled it out of the garage and switched it off. This turned out to be the main scoot battery that had failed. Now your problem sounds similar in that you find it completely dead and unresponsive like I did, but on the other hand, yours seem to revive itself on occasions! I'm not an expert, but it maybe the main battery is in its death throes, and sometimes can summon enough volts to work, but sometimes not. Your battery is, like mine was, 5 years old approx, so maybe getting marginal.

I found that my battery was the problem cos I tried to charge it and it wouldn't recharge properly. Still, I was relieved it was the battery as that's a relatively easy and cheap fix - I was panicking about the smart key system failing and how much that would cost to fix! So I'd check the battery first.

btw when it fails, are all the seat, fuel cap etc unlocked? When mine failed, I was surprised to find that everything had unlocked itself - a safety feature??

[scootabout]

Hmmm, I wonder if the Forza 350 fails in the same way, with the seat and fuel flap unlocked?

Also, should I change the battery on my smart key anyway after two years (which is how long the manual says it should last)?

[MrGrumpy]

Also, should I change the battery on my smart key anyway after two years (which is how long the manual says it should last)?

Sods law says that your key battery will inevitably fail at the most inconvenient moment, so its probably a good idea! On the Tmax, there is a smart key operation warning light that flashes when the key battery is getting low - maybe the Honda has something similar?

[Data]

My neighbour had this issue. It was the bikes main battery terminals were loose and had some corrosion on them. The voltage was also a bit low when I tested it. Everything appeared ok when you looked at them but giving them a good pull revealed some loosening which is no good especially when the battery voltage is low. Gave them a good clean and tightened them up and all was well. The key fob batteries do also, as Grumpy says. run down on a fairly regular basis as it works quite hard expending quite a bit of power. Cars are the same if you have keyless starting, they are always looking for the car.

[Rodbourne]

Hi, the main bike battery is new. We replaced it 9 months ago and have only just started having issues. We have also changed the battery in the smartkey but have also ordered a couple of different makes to see if they make any difference as I've heard certain makes are better. The bike starts straight away using the emergency procedure (when we can remember how to do it right) I'm going to disconnect the main battery and I'll change the key fob battery when the others come and see what happens. If not, a trip to Yamaha

[MrGrumpy]

I've not had a problem where different smart key batteries don't work, though I did find that the Duracell one I tried seeemed to have a rather shorter life than the 2 years predicted in the handbook. I'm currently using Energizer ones and they seem fine.
btw when the scoot won't start, are the fuel cap & seat unlocked or not? When my battery failed, I was intrigued that everything unlocked itself, rather than leaving you locked out (thankfully).

[Rodbourne]

Yes everything is still locked. Literally nothing happens until the emergency mode is activated. Once the bike is started and we then turn off the bike, and try and start it again, the smart key light flashes and beeps and then nothing happens. To start it, you have to do the emergency mode. It's like the bike isn't recognising the key

[MrGrumpy]

OK...that does make it sound a bit different to mine. It'd be interesting to get some measurement of the main battery state, though it's probably OK. It could be that the transponder (assuming there is such a thing!) in the bike is intermittent.

[Rodbourne]

Interesting update, I checked the main battery terminals and although not loose at all, the bike came to life. It then carried on starting as usual but with the smartkey light flashing. We'll see what happens over the next few days