Our Secret Entry Code

It wasn’t hard to break the code to our door. Until yesterday.

From the factory, all of the TriMark e-Ask Keyless Entry systems, found on most high-end coaches, use the same two codes: 1-2-3-4-4 to unlock the door and 4-4-4-4-4 to add new codes to unlock the door.

We were told to read the manual to change our keyless entry system.

And I did.

The process, in a word, was awful. I mean, what was this company thinking?

Here it is. Straight from the manual.

Sorry, what was that? Take apart the side of your coach and find an unidentified wiring harness to short a bunch of wires? With a paper clip?

There are times when I think that the suppliers to the RV industry are completely clueless. And this would be one example.

This was such a ridiculous process that I just lived with the default codes. The likelihood that someone would use them was remote and, if someone really wanted to break into the coach, a brute force method would likely be the approach.

I suspect a number of owners do the same though I am reluctant to conduct an experiment in the field to confirm my suspicions.

However.

It kept nagging at me. Deep in the back of my mind. I am highly technical. And I should be able to change our authority and access codes to our entry door.

I did some more digging and it turns out that the manual is simply incorrect. There is a much easier way to change the code to our keyless entry system.

There is a button.

Can you see it?

In our coach, it is located towards the very bottom of our steering column on the driver’s side — left and towards the back of the column as you look out the front of the coach. Never noticed it before. It is unmarked and undocumented in the manual. I had to crawl down with a flashlight to find it.

With the ignition on accessory, pressing the button will initiate the sequence of changing codes.

How exactly we got it to start working is still a bit of a mystery. We pressed the button several times and then, at some point, it initiated the process to put in the new code.

I waited for some beeps at the entry door lock handle after Lorraine had pressed the unmarked button a few times. Then I entered a new 5-digit code (the code must be 5 digits long). Waited for the chirps after the last digit of the new code had been entered. Entered the new code again. Waited for some more chirps. And then tested the door.

Success. The keyless entry door has a new code.