Quote:
Originally Posted by jabe
...............I'm still a little skeptical, though. The OEM key should have been the same age as the one in the still-working key -- why totally dead? The "new" battery I tried wasn't so new, but never used. I expect a weak battery to have reduced range, not be totally non-functional like mine was.
I'm a happy camper, though, considering.
Thanks to everyone that replied.
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Sometimes those button batteries don't have a very long shelf life -
And then, sometimes the contact points are so small that it doesn't take much to prevent contact.
Just the other day, I re-discovered a secret compartment in the dash of mrs humfrz's 2007 Saturn Aura XR. Hey, wait one, before ya'll start giggling, that car was chosen as the "North American Car of the Year" back in 2007. -
Anyway, in this secret compartment was a spare key and fob. Since our other one was starting to act up, I decided to try it - nope, it wouldn't open up nutten. How could that be, the car is fairly new? daaaaa -
, the car (thus that fob battery is 12 years old) -
). Time flies when you're older and retired.
So, after I put a fresh battery in it, it worked - sometimes. Then I remembered why I switched them a few years back.
Using @
Ultramaroons special tool, I took it on the back porch and popped it open. With the aid of a magnifying glass and my head lamp, I discovered why it worked just sometimes. The "clip prongs" were bent and barely touched the sides of the battery.
I knew better than to fire up my old soldering gun to try to fix it, so, I just decided to lay a piece of match book cover (cut to fit) over the mechanism, then when I snapped the cover back the prongs on the contacts were forced over on to the sides of the battery.
Yep, it worked, so I put it back into the secret compartment -
If I ever need the spare fob, all I have to do is to remember that there is a secret compartment - and where it is -
(what the hell was wrong with the old keys, stick the key in the lock and turn it, then open the door or start the car - 
)
END OF STORY
humfrz