Intelligent key port aka fobgina question
 

I've done a search of the forums and looked in the manual and haven't found my answer; here's my question:

What's preventing someone from stealing an unlocked 370Z by sticking something in the key port and starting the engine?

I mean if the key port is for use when your intelligent key battery is dead then this leads me to believe there is no sensor system active in the intelligent key and car. So the key port just seems to be a mechanical switch that allows the car to be started once something is in the key port???? I know it can't be that simple but I don't want to jam anything into my key port to find out the answer!!!

Go stick something in it and start it up. Report back.

:rofl2:

:tup:

Hah.

Jokes aside, just because the battery is dead in the fob does not mean that power is not supplied to it via the port on your dash(ie: it's still reading the fob when you plug it in).

Can you replace the batteries in the fobs or do you have to buy a new fob when the battery dies... you know Apple style?

Really? I don't see any contact points on the fob, just notches where I guess it secures in the fobgina.

you can replace the battery and it costs out of the *** with the dealership because you have to reprogram them, my dealer charged me 45$ for my infiniti g35 fob when my battery died, those dicks

in the fobgina, are you supposed to stick in the fob, or the key thats in the fob?

You should have been able to simply replace the battery on your own with no programming. The 370Z's owners manual shows you how for ours.

You can stick the fob in without the key portion, but the key's loop end makes for easier removal.

Wow you got ripped off. My dealership replaced my friends battery for free. Just put a new one inside. No reprograming required.

Yeah so I took a closer look at the manual. Recommended battery:
CR2032 or equivalent. That's a cheap part.

NOW back to my original topic: There really is no mention about the fobgina doing anything "intelligent". I really think it's just a switch mechanism that when the fob is place in, it allows the car to be turned on. Anyone with another intelligent key for a different vehicle that can try this out??? There HAS to be something else that I'm missing. Nissan wouldn't be so stupid to make it that simple.

The key port has a fingerprint reader inside. Stick your finger in and it will start the engine.

always imagined it worked like the store detectors... you know them poles at the entrance that light up when one tries to sneak something out?

they work on eddy currents and the like...

If nissan made a car that would start with any fob in it... that would be more of an epic fail than Toyota right now...

the fob works when in proximity of car. you could have the key sitting a couple feet away from teh car and it'll work. all the fobgina is there for is if the battery runs out, it supplies temporary power to get the fob working. it won't recharge it, but its enough to get the sensor to sync up and start the engine. you realize you don't have to put the key in the fobgina everytime you get in the car right? my keys always stay in my pocket.

i'm not sure what you're expecting out of an "intelligent" key, but that's about it.

Its likely inductive coupling (kinda like the "wireless" chargers for the phone with 40,000 fart applications.... what's the commercial name? Oh yea the iPhone). It probably induces a current in a winding or trace on the PCB in the Fob when you place it in the fobgina. That gives the Fob power so the RFID can be transmitted to the ECU with a dead Fob battery. Its not a simple switch - its an inductive power supply.