My friend bought a S reg Laguna from a motor warehouse late last year.
One of his remote blippers has gone on the blink. Apparently it worked when he got the car but a few months later it didn't. He tried replacing the battery but to no avail.
Wanting to get this sorted it out he rang up our local Renault main dealer to see about getting a new one and was quoted £100!!! However they have asked him to bring in his old one for them to test it.
I remember reading somewhere that these blippers sometimes lose their settings when the battery goes flat/battery not replaced following the correct procedure. In this case it may just be a case of resetting the blipper.
He's going down to the Renault dealer this lunchtime. If you can clue him up to what he should ask for/what the technician should try I'm sure he'd be very grateful.
Many thanks in advance.
Phil
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to reporgramme a remotre on fords you put the key in the ignition for a preset time, and then press the buttons on the remote in a certain fashion. i've had to do this several times, and i find it interesting that it's outlined in a fiesta handbook, but not a mondeo one.
perhaps there is a similar procedure for renaults, but i wouldn't be surprised if it's not publicised, so that the main delear can coin some easy money.
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I'm just going through this exercise with my Xantia where one of the remote buttons has failed. The costs are, I think, in the same parish as for the Laguna.
I've got to pay for a remote, and have the folding key from the old one rivetted into the new. Then they need to programme the remote to my immobiliser (about half an hour with the car i the workshop). Quote was about £70 + Prudence Brown's take.
I suggest he takes all his keys with him (that's what Citroen asked me to do).
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Hell guys - buy a Vauxhall. About a minute or two for the dealer to reprogramme a new key to the immobiliser, and about 30 secs to reprogramme the remotes via the procedure given in the handbook!
The key issue here though is that my remotes always lost the programming when I changed the batteries - even if it took a couple of seconds!
Cheers
John
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Ian,
Think you'll find what they do is to hold the old and new remotes near to the roof mounted receiver. Then press both buttons at the same time, perhaps several attempts. Result should be that the receiver feeds through the old remote code to the new remote.
Thats how it happened to my Xantia anyway, free of charge in less than 5 mins.
David
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Thanks, David. I'm now in a quandary. I've booked the car in to have the work done, and then I spent last evening fiddling with the busted remote.
I took it apart, but left the battery on the circuit board, and found a minute micro switch had fallen off the board. Using my smallest soldering iron (it still looks like a coal fire poker) and an eye glass I managed to solder it back - nearly burnt my face, mind!
Despite my worries about not having any anti static facilities at home, the repair works! So do I trust it, or donate £70 to perpetuate Andre's marvels and get a new one?
Ian
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Ian
Sure you could find a better home for the £70
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It does come to mind Ian should keep the old remote and save the £70. Then spend £30 of it on a Citroen Car Club sub for ongoing Xantia advice, the other £40??
Another good thread for you Darcy. What could you get your car for £40. Knowing your luck it may even beat your award winning "what I keep in my boot" one.
Please note the phrase "award winning" is used with full credit the the Golf GTI.
David (ever moderate but irritated sometimes)
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David, you've just shamed me into joining the Citroen Car Club - what a salesman! I browsed their website yesterday and will send off my application tonight.
Ian
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Ian,
You have a different alarm/immob to me. The only problem with mine if the remote goes u/s is if the alarm has been seet and you need to get back in with the key.
Then you need to quickly find the handbook, while the alarm sounds, and find the correct procedure to kill the alarm manually.
For that reason Mary never uses the alarm on our car.
Have a look in your handbook to see what your own system does if you need to get back in with a u/s remote.
David
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Are you guys psychic or wot? I was just thinking about getting the tools out to mend the "no. 1" Xantia key fob, when what should I read...
Ours is the keypad immobiliser model, and the bit of tin plate that they call a spring in the folding key has just folded back on itself resulting in no folding and v. stiff. Any attempted movement causes the spring to gouge the plastic at the base of the key. Only way I see it is to drill out the rivet, mend/replace the spring and replace the rivet or use a micro nut and bolt (1st choice) with thread lock as appropriate. Any other ideas?
You say that Citroen would do the same but replacing the whole of the fob. Dont they give you a new fob and key for 70 quid? This seems poor as the spring in "no. 2 " fob is very weak and may need attention soon ("no. 2" was "no. 1" but was swapped to save it). Seems to have both going floppy/knackered at 65k is a bit poor. The new C5 has a snap out arrangement, so replacing fob is easy - just pop the key out then fold it into a new fob. This would indicate that Citroën know there is a problem either with wear or the fobs.
PS What is it with these transponder immobilisers - nick your keys and they can drive away, whereas different kettle of fish with the old keypad. We had the Xantia in the dealers over a weekend because the muppet didn't put the service code in correctly (however many times is required to lock it up for 24 hours, which I think is 6+!!!) and they couldn't move the thing out of the car park. Apparently they really tried because they didn't put put the keypad back together properly. So if a long standing main dealer can't hotwire the beast then it shows it works!!
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Ash
We're going to be labelled anoraks over this one, but never mind. Sounds like your key fob is the same as my old ZX (that had a keypad immobiliser too) and should be programmable in the manner described by David W (the bit about roof mounted sensor).
As for the busted key folding mechanism, I'd have a go at mending it. I'm a great dabbler at things and work on the basis that I've not much to lose. I bet if you drill the rivet out you'll figure out a way to cobble together some sort of spring.
You might get away with something like a 8BA nut and bolt with a bit of loctite for re-assembly (you would be able to get these in a hobby shop that does bits for model aeroplanes etc). If not, then Citroen actually sell the rivet as part of the repair kit, would you believe? Best of luck.
Ian
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I'll see if I can buy the rivet without the fob. If not I'll find a nice bolt at work (one of the pluses of being in the electronics industry). Alternatively, one of the guys in the mechanical machine shop reckons he may have a doohickey that'll push the rivet out so it is reusable. Worth a try.
Cheers
Ash.
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For the record, I managed quite a passable repair using a 16mm long M3 nut and bolt, with a Torx T10 head which is virtually the same size as the original rivet. The spring had snapped but when I cleaned it up and re-bent what was left it now acts more like a damper so there is resistance all the way through the opening motion. In some ways it is better than the original!!
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We seemed to go through a phase of remote 'plip' (as they are technicaly known) failure. We don't see too many these days but this small little black box attached to your keyring really can strand a car.
Rover (and Lucas, who make the system) were switched on enough to provide a means of manually over-riding the immobiliser system with a simple 4 digit code that is entered by means of locking/unlocking actions performed on the drivers door lock. This is called the Key Access Code and will always mobilise a stranded car. Only trouble is, not many owners know about this code, despite being given the number. I always try to make a point of demonstrating this code to each customer during the vehicle handover.
Total cost to supply and program a Lucas/Rover 5AS alarm plip? About £51 for the plip and £21 for the programming, both plus VAT. No short cuts here mind like the Vectra.
Rgds
David
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