General key fob saga

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General key fob saga

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Jan 23, 2009
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weston-super-mare
My remote key fob for my 54 plate MJ had seen better days and it was difficult for my arthritic fingers to work the buttons so I bought a shell with blank key from ebay for £7. There were several slight differences inside. The battery contacts fouled the case and the transponder which was not a glass capsule and attached to the circuit board, hit the housing inside where a glass transponder would fit. Unfortunately I did not cut enough of the housing away and when I closed the case it pinched the transponder slightly. The circuit board mounted transponder is very fragile and it broke. Everything worked except the transponder. I took the car, the broken key and backup key into Bristol to Avon Lock And Key (01179 081144) to see if they could clone the good transponder. They cloned using a TPX4 which is about 20mm long. When I got home I decided to fit the long transponder across the fob at about the halfway point, it did not work. Undaunted I removed the remains of the original small transponder housing so that the new one lay inline with the fob with the tip right at the front. It worked! Supply and programming cost £40. I hope this story will warn anyone doing this to exercise great care, still it beats the Fiat price.:)
 
My remote key fob for my 54 plate MJ had seen better days and it was difficult for my arthritic fingers to work the buttons so I bought a shell with blank key from ebay for £7. Supply and programming cost £40. I hope this story will warn anyone doing this to exercise great care, still it beats the Fiat price.:)


sounds a bit of a fiddle - especially if you don't live near a decent key programmer,
may be sensible to buy a good used key , and swap the internals,:confused:

Charlie
 
I was under the impression the Panda keys were only programmable at Fiat for an extortionate fee, however it seems this is not the case. Anyone know who/what is needed to get this done? I'm nowhere near Bristol otherwise I'd go to the same place.
 
I Googled car remote keys and got the specialists in my area and Avon Lock And Key was reasonably near and I phoned them and explained the exact problem. They said they could probably fix it. There are mobile car key experts who could come to you if necessary. I don't know if they could reprogram the remote locking as this is a separate function of the keyfob and mine was ok.:)
 
hi,
you ordinarily need the 4 digit security CODE - unique to your car,
used to be on Credit card type thing in paperwork pack,, not sure about later models,

with the CODE a lot of independent key specialists can do it,
look on Timpsons website for one near you,

Charlie
 
hi,
you ordinarily need the 4 digit security CODE - unique to your car,
used to be on Credit card type thing in paperwork pack,, not sure about later models,

with the CODE a lot of independent key specialists can do it,
look on Timpsons website for one near you,

Charlie
From what I've read the code is not supplied, and Timpsons will tell you they can do it but can't do the Panda type.
 
All I want is a spare key to start the car, not bothered about remote locking.

I had to go Timpsons on Saturday as the immobiliser in my remote key stopped working. They confirmed this and cut me a new key + programed a chip (that i stuck in the remote fob) for £50

You will however need the key that works and the car with you at the time.
 
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