Panda 2012+ water logged remote key

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Panda 2012+ water logged remote key

woodspite

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Hi I did a silly thing and took my remote key dinghy sailing and took a dip ,got ashore took the battery out sprayed WD40 inside ,it still starts the car but does not lock and unlock remote.A £200 cost of replacement seems a bit steep when you look at the size of the printed circuit.Any ideas out there.Sod spending that much to lock and unlock remote.:cry::cry::cry:
 
MES can recode keys

Your circuit board maybe fixable. Mine went in the washer... quickly salvaged reflowed using an hair dryer... worked fine again.

You can always buy a second hand fob and take the good circuit board out and put it in your fob then re-sync it to the car using registered version of MES and your car security codes from Fiat.
 
Could buy this and ask aTimpsons to carefully take your remote to bits. Apparently don't lose the glass phial or you've had it. :bang: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Replacement-Remote-Key-Fob-3-Button-for-Fiat-500-Panda-Punto-Bravo-Uncut-Blade-/272839100900?hash=item3f867a49e4:g:EwkAAOSwg4VZlDVO

I believe there are 2 parts to the key system, a passive chip similar in concept to the type used to tag pets etc that the ECU reads to disable the imobilizer (the glass phial) and the battery powered part which transmits a code to unlock/lock the car.
 
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Sea water is likely to have ruined the remote board. It's very corrosive and electrically conductive. Unless the battery was removed quickly, the board washed in plain water and scrubbed with a toothbrush then properly and promptly dried it will be useless.
Best idea get another remote and code it to the car. You only need the remote board and a used one can be coded to the body computer.
 
One tip when dealing with waterlogged electronics:

Wash the part thoroughly with alcohol (methylated spirit will do just fine); it mixes completely with water (and thus washes it away easily), and evaporates rapidly.

It's the standard priocedure used by mobile phone repairers when dealing with immersed phones; strip down as far as practicable, wash with alcohol and dry with a low powered hair dryer. It works suprisingly often, takes only minutes and nets them an easy £35 or so.
 
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One tip when dealing with waterlogged electronics:

Wash the part thoroughly with alcohol (methylated spirit will do just fine); it mixes completely with water (and thus washes it away easily), and evaporates rapidly.

It's the standard priocedure used by mobile phone repairers when dealing with immersed phones; strip down as far as practicable, wash with alcohol and dry with a low powered hair dryer. It works suprisingly often, takes only minutes and nets them an easy £35 or so.

Meths is water soluble and reasonably effective but after 40 odd years in electronics to remove the likes of coke, other sugary drinks and corrosive things Like acid and sea water the only way is plain water (de ionized is the best) that is warm.
Drying properly is the essence, a good shake, paper towels and an air line if you have access, a nice warm hairdryer does the trick too.
Chemicals like IPA are less effective as the solution needed to dissolve the contamination has to be what the contaminate was based on originally. Sea water and sugary drinks are water based so only water will effectively get rid of it.
I've washed many TV pcbs and n the bath over the years without one single failure, and remember the EHT on these is as much as 25Kv.
 
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Meths is water soluble and reasonably effective but after 40 odd years in electronics to remove the likes of coke, other sugary drinks and corrosive things Like acid and sea water the only way is plain water (de ionized is the best) that is warm.
Drying properly is the essence, a good shake, paper towels and an air line if you have access, a nice warm hairdryer does the trick too.

That's a good point. The best way is to rinse thoroughly with warm distilled or deionized water, then rinse with meths and dry thoroughly. The big advantage of using meths (alcohol) is that it greatly reduces the drying time. Meths & water will mix in any proportion. Ethanol (the primary constituent of meths) binds strongly to water at higher concentrations; at >96% purity it will pull water out of the air.
 
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As a fellow dinghy sailor I can relate to this although haven't actually done this with a car remote, however I have just lost my remote key fob. I am still exploring options but here are my experiences so far, there seems to be a fair amount of BS or misinformation out there.

You don't say the age of your Panda(?) but since you are posting here...

My experience in replacing the fob on a 2013 4x4 is this; the system has been identified as an ID 46 type (have a google) this is done by taking the spare key (assuming you have one) to a locksmith/key cutter who puts in their "magic" key programmer and it reads back the type. Now in my case I have another remote fob that belonged to a written off 500 (another story) I purchased a £3.98 remote case with blank key blade off the internet and swapped out the electronic guts and had the blank blade cut to my Panda key. This will now unlock the car manually and turn the ignition but not start the car nor has any remote functionality.

As a side note I think the glass phial security version that is mentioned above is from an earlier or alternative security system, my 02 Alfa 147 had this, I think ID 46 systems have the encoded EPROM soldered to the circuit board so you need to check exactly what you are working with.

So, to get full functionality and regain control of the BCM (Body Control Module) I now have to find an automotive locksmith that has the correct hardware and this, it seems, where the BS starts. I have had differing opinions/advice, some say that the old 500 fob cannot be reset to the Panda since each fob is a one car device and cannot be reassigned (go down the dealership £200 plus route for a new fob) but they will programme new non-remote ID 46 keys for £90. Others say they need a fob plus the BCM PIN from FIAT (£200plus again??) however, there seems to be folk that will sell a full blank fob for £60 and then apparently can interrogate the BCM via the ODII port and determine the PIN. But, and here's the thing, only if they have one particular piece of kit called a Zed-Full or similar (I'm typing this from memory). No one will commit to whether the old 500 unit will be reprogrammable, although those with the cheaper hardware always say no simply because they do not have the right kit.

I am at the point of deciding whether I want to forgo remote functionality and go with the second manual key or drive 200 miles to go for the full on remote experience. Does anyone else have experience??
 
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I can confirm the key a one car device. I was due spare flat bladed key foc with my 4x4. And despite putting vehicle reg in email the key coded to a previous Panda and they had to order a new one. So ebay listings should be ignored.
 
Your all missing the important words.

Ingress!! Caused by sugars, salts etc.

And jrkitchen is right... im an ex mobile phone technition and used meths in baths for a long time.

If what above doesnt work... its time for a new fob, codes from fiat and a licenced version of MES.
 
Also... regardless of immobilser chip id... the remote will still.work fine once paired

#panda IIs bring your car to me with the Fiat security codes and ill have your fob remotley unlocking the car in no time
 
Also... regardless of immobilser chip id... the remote will still.work fine once paired

#panda IIs bring your car to me with the Fiat security codes and ill have your fob remotley unlocking the car in no time

Ah, but therein lies the problem, you have to get the vehicle PIN.

So, as by way of an update, I found a guy, Mark, in Ossett (Access Fobs) who knows his stuff. New (FIAT) remotes at £35 and can access the BCM to pair new remotes with car. Don't need to speak with Dealer which suits me just fine, it was worth the 2 hour drive to speak to a genuinely knowledgeable auto tech.
 
I used to code keys into the Rovers with their T4 textbook which I had till recently, also a couple of Polish chaps have reverse engineered a system called Toaf that does everything and is even more user friendly. I'm sure that some clever chappies could do the same here too with Fiat. Does the Multiscan not code in remotes?
 
I think you will find technologies have moved on a tad from Rover days.

My understanding, and only my understanding, is that the Panda (Post 2012) generally uses a Delphi body control module (BCM) that is physically located up under the glove box, accessed, sorry, viewed, by laying in the passenger footwell having gently removed the sound felt that is held in place by a clip. I think if you actually wanted to remove the BCM you may have to get the glove box out of the way? Anyway with the right kit (Zed-full in this case) you can interrogate the BCM via the ODII port and derive the PIN required to then set up the new remotes and, crucially, add them to the BCM list, I added two remotes plus the original, non-remote, Fiat key.

In my research, as I stated earlier, there are claims from folk that they could do this with different kit but this was not the case. Also, the guy I dealt with and was successful said you can take the BCM out remove the eProm and reprogram that, this sounded like rather radical surgery and in my view would be a last resort. Also there was a guy out there on the internet on another forum that claimed to have "cracked" the algorithm used by Fiat to create the PIN (apparently relates to VIN) and would take your VIN and provide a PIN free of charge plus 20 positive contributions or a donation to that particular forum... Yeah, I didn't fancy that either :)

One thing that was confirmed was that the ex-500 remote I had could not be reworked; they do appear to be one-shot devices. Although you can swap the blades either by tapping out the roll-pin in the metal blade that is revealed when it is half open (I didn't notice this before) or opening up the whole plastic casing and swapping the assembly.

Anyways my problem is solved for this particular car (63 plate 4x4) that's not to say others haven't been built with Marrelli BCMs etc...
 
Mes can program the BCM but you need the code to do it... i have read about tools that extract the unique pin but not had chance to play with that stuff yet... im too busy!
 
Have you tried re-linking the remote with the car before spending anything on repairs ?

I think this is a good idea. I had a Citroen a few years back and bought some parts fro one touch windows. Relays etc. They had been under water for hours. Electricians at work sprayed them with something that i know was NOT WD40, and they got all the bits working so I would be surprised if drying and reprogramming does not get to the bottom of this. Sorry I don't know what was used but you could maybe google this.
 
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