Good Morning Croma afficionados;
I have recently joined the massed ranks of Croma Owners (just bought a 55 plate Eleganza 16V Multijet for the missus ) and this forum has been very useful to help with a few of the normal maintenance jobs so far.
Anyhoo, she who must be obeyed, is dissing the rubber buttons on the OEM Keyfobs, they have lost their moulded logos and in general just feel Kack/Naff.
T'internet has not shown any OEM replacement rubber buttons being available, the only options seems a complete re-casing of the Electronics into a new Plastic housing with Plastic buttons instead. (Ebay sites in Europe list these)

Has anyone on the Forum got experience of these replacement cases?
Quality Levels?, fitment Issues etc?

As time progresses I will add a few "How To's" as I get stuck into it...

PS: I've got a noticeable high Freq suspension Squeak from NSR corner...which bush/link/joint is normally most suspect?

Cheers,

Peter.

Welcome
I have bought a replacement casing from Italy but the part that inserts into the ignition aperture requires reducing by approx 1mm to fit. The transferral of the innards is straight forward enough. I haven't got around to trimming mine yet so can't comment on that. The casing I bought is the same as the original with moulded buttons.

Hi Halilson,

So the replacement plastic case you got had rubber buttons?
Do you have a link to where you got it from please ?

Thanks,

Peter.

Quote: PS: I've got a noticeable high Freq suspension Squeak from NSR corner...which bush/link/joint is normally most suspect.

Hi Corripeter,

The rear upper radius arms (Banana arms) are a weak point on these cars with the outer rose bush wearing out, you wouldn't want to buy the OE Fiat parts though unless you have very deep pockets, I bought some cheap ones from EBay but they only lasted 12 months, I bought some more from an online Vauxhall parts dealer for a reasonable £70 for the pair, these are Febi Bilstien brand so are a good make, I am not saying this is your squeak though, these bushes tend to knock on uneven surfaces.

I got the key from eBay in Italy. Item no 300727923954 looks the same case, except mine came with a blank metal insert too. But you can just put your old metal key in.

Not that I have purchased, but also a key fob at another italian ebayer:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/cover-key-guscio-chiave-telecomando-fiat-croma-/230809124172?pt=Ricambi_automobili&hash=item35bd4bbd4c

You'll need to translate the listing info, but they make reference to there being 2 sizes as per Halilsons experience.

I always thought it was a SAAB key, and they're a similar idea but different shape and have four buttons.

They're definitely different to any other Fiat. Is the Croma key really unique, or is there any other with the same shape? I know it's not a Vectra key, but just wondering if they used the same key on any other car of the same era.

A SAAB one's about £7 including delivery and a new Duracell battery.

Update from OP.

I got a replacement plastic case from eBay Italy...no issues, quick delivery. The listing does warn about the casing "nose" section being around 1mm larger than our earlier Croma ones.
So I guess the later facelifted Cromas in Europe got a slightly larger key.
I opened up the spare Original Fob, and transferred the PCB, Battery Holder and Mechanical Key sections in to the new housiing halves, without any issues.
Examining the old casings you can see that the moulded rubber detail which is meant to act on the tactile switch on the PCB had collapsed on 2 out of 3 buttons, hence giving rise to the very imprecise feel when you push the old Fob buttons. The New casings have better quality rubber/plastic features so should last longer, and certainly feel a lot more positive when pressed.
The nose section which engages in the lock retainer/collar needs a fair degree of linishing to get it down to the right dimensions to fit the car.
Just take your time, and try to take it off both sides evenly.
I used a vernier caliper to compare dimensions from old to new, you will need to linish over the full tapered length otherwise it still wont fit the car lock.
All in all a worthwhile improvement, she is happier now.....now onto fixing the weeping Fuel filer housing.....it's ruining my drive....

Cheers, Peter

I bought a replacement fob from www.automobilelocksmith co.uk.The old fob is sealed,is it easy to open to remove the electronics inside?

Just to let you know key fob opened and the electronics in new fob are working fine.It took a while to file the end of the fob down to fit in the ignition slot in the car,but beats paying £250 for a Fiat replacement.

Doofer said:

I always thought it was a SAAB key, and they're a similar idea but different shape and have four buttons.

They're definitely different to any other Fiat. Is the Croma key really unique, or is there any other with the same shape? I know it's not a Vectra key, but just wondering if they used the same key on any other car of the same era.

A SAAB one's about £7 including delivery and a new Duracell battery.

Click to expand...

I thought it was a Saab 9-5 key.

Gordon28 said:

Just to let you know key fob opened and the electronics in new fob are working fine.It took a while to file the end of the fob down to fit in the ignition slot in the car,but beats paying £250 for a Fiat replacement.

Click to expand...

As a matter of interest did you look a enlarging the key entry plate on the center console?

I often toy with putting my finger in the key hole to be greeted by the dash message .....

Beyond the front/entry plate there is a lot of room/slack. So I'm thinking that a slight widening in the front entry plate would allow other very similar key bodies to be easily accomodated.

No, I was concened about doing damage to anything inside the slot.

I've just ordered two for £10.56 each including delivery from superpowersale999 in Hong Kong!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Replaceme...r_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d05421ea7

I'm thinking that the ones others have bought from Italy are in fact from Hong Kong. Or I might be really lucky and find that this one fits already, so doesn't need filing down. I doubt it, I bet it's the same one.

We'll see what turns up in about 3-4 weeks. I'm not in a hurry so not a problem. Will report back when I get them.

Flippin eck, that was fast - it arrived today all the way from China. Piccies attached. Note the cheeky Fiat logo, ready to stick on (it is self adhesive but needs a blob of glue).

It is too fat - the central locking all works, but it won't go in the slot properly and won't start the car.

Is this the same as the "Italian" one?

My overall summary is that it's perfectly good, but not as posh as the original one. But as the original is knackered then it's much better. The original buttons are a rubber insert within the plastic body - the new one's buttons are just part of the same moulding. The catch that holds it together on the original is metal, this one is plastic, but it seems tough enough. The buttons are now "clicky" with nice tactile feedback, rather than squidgy and dead as they were before.

You do have to transfer everything - PCB and battery contact spring (which takes a bit of gentle persuasion to remove).

So is it too wide or too fat? I haven't done the comparison against the original yet, but it looks like it may be too fat (across its smaller dimension). Is that right?

It is a known minor issue with the replacement fob cases.

Several people have used them and all to my knowledge have had to take a small file to the end boss and slim it down.

It's alright, you don't have to call me Boss

Which bit of the end do I fine-tune? I don't have any calipers and it's such a blobby shape I can't be sure which bit is the problem.

I suspect it is the blobby sides nearest the fob body as the blobby bit tapers down as you go towards the point.

You will just have to gently lower the key into the slot and circularly wobble the key feeling where it touches the gate surround.

Thanks.

Actually, just looking at new vs old, it looks like that tapering bit that juts out from the body (on the same face as the Fiat badge) is OK, and the correct angle. The whole thing is about 1mm too wide. However, it may well be the case that the thicker body is OK for the slot, it's only the tapering bit that's jamming it.

I'll do as you suggest and do it by feel and trial and error, see what works. I'm very tempted to try widening the slot, but it's mega-bucks if that experiment goes wrong.