Technical brava keys

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Technical brava keys

captsmith

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Jun 6, 2006
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hi i was wondering if someone could help me my girlfriend swapped her car for a fiat brava only for 1week later it to break down. we have since found out that the ignition box was completly broke inside in 3 diff places and superglued back together, we have since been a bought a new steering column and had this fixed but when bought column from scrap yard only had one blue key, this does not deactivate the code for immobiliser as is diffrent key and lock, what we were wondering is there anyway to have the blue key recoded from the old red master key from previous ignition. is this possible or is there any way we can bypass the immobiliser. girlfriend is in bits as only passed test a month ago and is needs car for work. how can someone do such a thing.
 
Do you still have the original blue keys? If so remove the small little black chip carefully from inside the key carefully and swap it with the replacement key you have. This will then deactivate the immobilisor.
 
unfortunately no, when she swapped the car all she got was the master key then a plain silver key with no plastic parts on it.
very annoying i know, i think he saw her coming.
 
I think u can go to timsons or any locksmith and programme u r red key code into that blue key, then it should work. , though I think, the blue key may work as red key. Good Luck
 
You should never used the red key for day to day driving. It opens and closes the cars ECU. This also includes cloning the red key. Your just asking for problems. You need a ECU with atleast one working blue key. Then you can clone the blue key as much as you want.

Take the ECU ask for a refund.
 
oh dear, another unsuspecting buyer stung with the fiat key game. you've got a bit of a problem there.

the easiest (and cheapest) long term solution is to get the ignition lock reset so it will accept the old red key. any lock can be reconfigured to accept any key. you want the ignition to match the door so this is a good thing to do anyway. with the ignition working on the old red key you than have a working car with matching locks all round. as said already using the red key to drive the car isnt advisable. you will need to buy 2 (must be 2 for this to work) blue keys off ebay for cheap, it doesnt matter what codes or keys they have on as long as they are from a bravo/brava/marea/mk1punto. next get timpsons to cut 2 metal blanks the same as your red key. put these blanks on the 2 blue keys you bought. now you have 3 keys that all work every lock. at this point you are ready to program the 2 blue keys into the ecu so that they will start the engine. to do this you insert the red key & switch ignition on, wait for the code light to go out, remove red key and insert blue key one & switch ignition on, wait for code light to go out, remove blue key 1 and insert blue key 2 & switch ignition on, wait for code light to go out, remove blue key 2 and insert red key & switch ignition on, wait for code light to go out, remove red key. done, both blue keys will start car, you now keep the red key safe. this process wont work with one blue key, or 2 blue keys with the same code, or blue keys that have the same code as the red key. you must buy 2 blue keys, any will do as long as they are from a car with the fiat code system.
 
Hi, thank you for everything we're having unbelievable problems with this, missus is in a mess, we have had the old barrel put back into the new housing so we can use the original red key, but for some reason the code light will not go off, is this because the battery has been disconnected for a while. we don't know where to go next on this.
the car starts but has code light on and when we try to steer the car it just locks, but now have just been told a part on the steering column is snapped so now have to change this also, what a nightmare !!!!!!!!!!!!.
Why would someone swap such a car that has all of these problems.
 
it sounds as though the damage may have originally been caused by an attempted theft? someone would swap the car because problems with locks and keys on fiats can be an expensive nightmare if you dont know how to fix it, and people arent very nice in general so they dont care if you get stung. for future reference, before buying a car do some research, a quick look on this forum would have told you to check for a red key and 2 blue keys. you shouldnt buy a brava if it only has one key, but at least you have the most important red key so hope is not lost.

if the steering lock is remaining activated with the key in the ignition it most likely means the barrel has not been fitted correctly or something is broken (the snapped part you have been told about). if it was working and now it isnt then whoever fitted the ignition barrel is to blame. either way this problem can be easily fixed once you identify the broken part and replace it. only buy parts from scrapyards, its much cheaper. a trip to fiat will be a waste of time for problems like this. they'll quote more than the cars worth.

if the code light remains on with the red key its usually a sign that the ecu has lost all blue key codes. this can be caused by many things including driving with the red key, or getting sparks when reconnecting the battery, or repeatedly turning the ignition on and off with the red key, or even hitting the ecu can do it. thats not a problem as you've got no blue keys, and blue keys can be programmed into the ecu anyway. basically all you need to do is:
1. fix steering lock with replacement part from scrapyard
2. buy 2 blue keys off ebay
3. get 2 key blanks cut same as red key
4. fit key blanks onto blue keys
5. program blue keys into ecu using the method i gave earlier
6. enjoy the rewards from your girlfriend ;)

fingers crossed this shouldnt be an expensive or difficult problem to fix. the broken part for the steering lock will most probably be on the igniton barrel, that part will be a fiver if you remove it yourself at a scrapyard. buying 2 blue keys off ebay can be as expensive or cheap as you like. they often go for 99p so keep a look out. getting 2 blanks cut will be cheaper than getting a chipped key because you only need the metal part of the key. worst case it will be 30 quid for the pair. the rest is free so i'd expect you to get all sorted for less than 50 quid. good luck, and let us know if you need any further help. i've seen people with worse key issues than this who lived to drive another day. at least you dont need an ecu, it could be worse
 
hello all, i am captsmithis missus,,
and i just want to say thank you all, you were extremely helpful and i now have my car up and running again. i was devastated to find what some mean b*******ds can do. But at least i am mobile again. we had to put on the original steering column, but put on a new housing for the ignition barrel. so we had to break down the anti theft shear bolts. which was a task in itself. but we did it. then put it all back together. now the original red key works, the light no longer comes on for the code. and the car actually drives again, tomorrow we are getting new keys cut and will then follow your advice and code them as slaves to the red key.
so i just wanted to say a very big thank you for all your help. and i will be popping on every now and again as i don't want to be stuck again so i would like to learn as much as i can about the car.(y) :) (y)
 
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