How to fix your key fob, for FREE!

This is my free fix, assuming of course you have the tools required.

 

SOOOO.... all the buttons on my key fob worked except for the lock button. After a week of dealing with the wife lording her working key fob over me. And the subsequent week of embarrassment whereby i get caught trying to steal hers at all hours of the night. I finally decided to "fix" mine. So i went and bought a battery for the thing, and after the pain in my nether regions subsided, from being bent over the counter to the tune of 12 bucks for a watch battery, I got to popping the thing open. Sure enough the battery did nothing for the broken button. But undettered I decided to take the lil bastard completely apart to find that the button attached to the circuit board had completely snapped off.

 

At this point Iw as thinking "hey I'll just solder that back on" but no dice. Unless you have hands as steady as a surgeon and sized like one of nikes sweat shop children, it aint goonna happen. So, the cheap and dirty way to fix it was to clean the contacts on both the board and the switch, press it firmly into place (I had to use a small screwdriver as it's one squirrly little S.O.B. and Hot gle gun it in place. Viola! a working key fob once again!

 

Eat THAT wife!

The spare keyfob for my wife's 01 Outback was really flaky (worked some of the time, not all the time. Had to press the button several times to make it work) so I pulled it apart and found the battery terminal clamp has broken loose at the solder joint. I resoldered it and it works 100% now.

Do you think these things are just not all that durable or that the abuse of being dropped or banging around in our pockets is to blame for the physical failures inside of them?

Ugh, I just bought a brand new oem one a couple weeks ago and it already doesn't work. Haven't changed the battery yet, but damn 12 bucks is rough.

Still on original batteries in both remotes (since build date of November 2004), although my wife's gets much less use than mine. I'm seeing decreasing range on the opening/locking (now less than original 500 feet), and sometimes I have to hit the unlock button 2x just to get the driver door to unlock, so my presumption is the battery is losing it's "stuff". Can't believe a watch battery would cost $12 buxs though...

Meh, I got screwed, I was at sears in the watch dept. and saw it coming. But, I wanted it NOW and paid for it. Such is life...

Do you think these things are just not all that durable or that the abuse of being dropped or banging around in our pockets is to blame for the physical failures inside of them?

 

Keyfobs are designed to handle that type of abuse. But you have to remember that keyfobs are a high quantity item, so some of them are just bound to have flaws.

I guess I'm not the only one to have a key fob break. My unlock button stopped working while all the rest worked so I knew it wasn't the battery. I opened up the key fob and took the rubber cover off the circuit board and almost lost the micro switch for the unlock when it fell on the floor.

 

In theory, using hot glue, or any glue for that matter, to hold the switch in place seems like a good way to repair the key fob. The problem is making sure you don't get any glue on the contacts and you have the contacts lined up just right. I doubt that you can do over if you don't get it right the first time.

 

I hate to think about what it will cost to buy a replacement for this Made In Mexico piece of junk.

I don't suppose that anyone has found an inexpensive fob replacement?

i bought 2 used for ~30 bucks on ebay. just had to program them in

My unlock button sometimes takes 3 or more presses before all the doors will unlock

 

In theory, using hot glue, or any glue for that matter, to hold the switch in place seems like a good way to repair the key fob. The problem is making sure you don't get any glue on the contacts and you have the contacts lined up just right. I doubt that you can do over if you don't get it right the first time.

 

Re-solder the switch onto the board or find someone who can. Glue is a crummy idea.

Re-solder the switch onto the board or find someone who can. Glue is a crummy idea.

 

I agree that glue is not a great idea but the clearances are too tight for hand soldering. The switches were obviously originally attached to the circuit board using a solder bath. These fobs were designed to be replaced not fix when they fail. The cost of trying to get them repaired correctly would probably exceed the cost of a new fob.

The buttons on my 08 don't look that bad. It might not be a pretty fix, but what's in the fob is hidden.

 

It looks like they skipped conformal coating, that's good for rework, but bad for having the solder fail due to vibration.

If anyone has a bad key fob they are going to throw away I'd appreciate it if you would send me the intact circuit board.