Getting a keyless remote re-programmed

[Tricky Dicky]

SWAMBO managed to accidentally put her remote through a white wash & spin c ycle. As expected fresh out of the machine the remote no longer worked. How ever, after disassembling it, drying it carefully with a hair dryer and rep lacing the battery it started to work of a fashion. The lock and unlock but tons now only open the boot, the boot button does nothing and that is it. T o my mind a re-program might solve it but checking with my Ford main dealer he tells me that to re-program it costs £70 (for as far as I know a few minutes work on a computer) and he thinks it is probably f**ked anyway and to mend it with a new one is £200.

Does anyone know who could do the job cheaper? 70 beer vouchers is a bit mu ch for a try that might not work. Previous cars we owned had instructions i n the manual to program remotes at the car, this one does not. SWAMBO has d one this before on a previous car, on that occasion drying out and replacin g the battery managed to rescue it. BTW the car is a Ford Kuga if that has any bearing on the problem.

Richard

[J1MBO/m]

Got two remotes for my ford mustang from china for about a fiver airmail delivered...with the ford you can programme them yourslf at the car BUT you have to have more than two to do it...might be the same with your ford.....if they will tell you.....

[Tim Watts]

It's more likely that the buttons have been affected than the programming.

Take the battery out, soak in distilled (de ionised) water for a day, work the buttons while in the water, change the water, repeat your drying procedure.

Possibly soak in meths briefly to "dry" out the water - but that depends on whether it looks like the meths would damage anything.

It's a long shot - the washing detergent may have corroded the switch contacts - but vs £200 I would try.

[michael adams]

Does anyone know who could do the job cheaper? 70 beer vouchers is a bit much for a try that might not work. Previous cars we owned had instructions in the manual to program remotes at the car, this one does not. SWAMBO has done this before on a previous car, on that occasion drying out and replacing the battery managed to rescue it. BTW the car is a Ford Kuga if that has any bearing on the problem.

Richard

...

Try giving it a week to dry out properly. I dropped a mobile phone into a glass of water once. Removing the battery and sim and manual drying - and a hair dryer were of no use at all. However left to its own devices it started working after about four of five days.

Same as dropping a cup of tea down the back of a portable B/W TV decades ago. No disassembly or drying attempted at all, but it was working again within days. And that was tea with about three spoons of sugar in it.

michael adams

...

[Jeff Layman]

I dried out my mobile by taking the back off and battery out, and putting it in a sealed plastic food container filled with dry rice. A few days in that (shaking it gently once or twice a day) restored it to full working order. Note that most modern mobiles have a chip which detects if the phone has been immersed in water, and so the manufacturer will not honour the guarantee under such circumstances.

[Jeff Layman]

Any chance of retrieving one from a Breaker's Yard and reprogramming that? Also I wonder if another model Ford remote might work if it could be reprogrammed. Do any car manufacturers not rip you off for replacement electronic keys/remotes?

[Brian-Gaff]

Well I'd seriously doubt that the wash has altered the programming. I think its busted. However, which planet are these remotes made on that costs over

200 quid for them, when they are very simple devices. I'd not expect them to cost more than 50 quid even if they were carefully put together by some artisan and painstakingly programmed manually.

Brian

[DerbyBorn]

"Brian-Gaff" wrote in news:mlbga2$rnp$ [e-mail]:

Is the button one of those conductive rubber things like on a tv remote? If so, then I believe you can re-coat the rubber.

[Tim Watts]

Good point. Try taking it to bits and if so, try using a bit of tin foil to operate the contacts. If that works, go with the above theory.

[DerbyBorn]

Tim Watts wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Water could have washed off the conductive dust.

[F Murtz]

Most of the car remotes I have seen have little switches. similar to this

[Tricky Dicky]

Thanks for all the advice, I am going to give it a few days and see if it s tarts working. This afternoon SWAMBO tried it and it managed to open the do ors but trying it again and it went back to just opening the boot. The swit ches are small tactile switches under a rubber cover. I am minded to disass emble it again and let it dry further. I am encouraged that it still commun icates with the car and is displaying some normal behaviour.

Richard

[Murmansk]

Try posting your question on here:

There are lots of helpful people with specialist knowledge on there

[F Murtz]

I often replace those surface mount switches ,it is not all that difficult.

[Bill]

Easy enough when you can find them! I've been trying to locate a couple for a Clio fob for a while, CPC/Farnell and RS don't stock any small enough and the ones I've bought from Ebay that are exactly the right replacement aren't. One day I'll no doubt find some. :-)

[airsmoothed]

starts working. This afternoon SWAMBO tried it and it managed to open the doors but trying it again and it went back to just opening the boot. The sw itches are small tactile switches under a rubber cover. I am minded to disa ssemble it again and let it dry further. I am encouraged that it still comm unicates with the car and is displaying some normal behaviour.

My experience is with Vauxhall keys rather than Fords, but they may well be similar in operation. The key contains an RFID chip, it is this that the m ain dealers charge an arm and a leg to program to the car's ECU/immobiliser i.e. the ECU is programmed to recognise the particular RFID chip's number as OK for that car. The actual electronics in the 'blipper' aren't programm ed to the car IMX and can generally be replaced relatively cheaply if dryin g out doesn't work. e.g.

The new 'blipper' + old RFID chip generally require 'synchronising' to the car by following the same process as one would after changing a 'blipper' b attery, should be in the user manual for the car.

[charles]

on getting an extra "remote" key for my Citroen (11 years ago) I had to take all the keys in to the dealer. They all had to set/reset - not just add a new one.

[airsmoothed]

Well yes, if there's an extra key then the ECU/immobiliser will need to kno w the number of the new RFID chip, and (typically) only a dealer can do tha t. My point was if you're moving an existing RFID chip to a new 'blipper' t hen that shouldn't need a trip to the dealer. This will very between manufa cturers of course. The remote's RF 'blipper' part that activates the centra l locking should just need re-synching to the car's receiver, which should be covered in the car's user manual.