Key out of Battery

[ryanwhite19]

Idling for 2.5 hours ? Did it not overheat ?

[ZeeFore]

Well wrong as ben g says..

and here is said battery.

Very interesting! Hadn't seen inside of one of these things before.
The squiggly trace to the left is undoubtedly the induction pickup "coil".

[cj10jeeper]

Thanks guys so here is what happened.
I left the main Key in the wireless toothbrush charger over night with no luck. I suspect this has something to do with the fact that the keys are 10 years old now and it cant hold charge anymore. I'd say the only thing that would work on it now is to change the energizer inside (panasonic vl2020 ).

So what I did is i went and got the second Key which is dead aswell since its been un-used for 10 years and looks brand new. So I put that in the ignition and let the car idle for 2 to 2.5 hours (is this bad for the car?) and the key was all charged up. It still didnt work though, but I did that programming thing where u turn it 5 times and hold the unlock key and press the lock key 3 times and now it works perfectly. Happy days.

This should last another 10 years, if not, new battery it is.

Thanks

Well you fixed it, which is exactly what was required. I certainly wouldn't idle a car for that length of time. Just isn't the right thing to do with engines.

Next time just take it for a 15 minute road drive and it'll be fine, provided you don't leave it for 6 months untouched.

[benben]

Yeah I hear idling isnt the best thing for the engine. no real solid reasoning behind it though. it was perfectly fine and didn't overheat. Maybe this idling thing is a myth?

[ryanwhite19]

Definately not myth lol my friend left his 206 idling for 2 hrs went outside to steam pouring out and his gasket blown.

[cj10jeeper]

Yeah I hear idling isnt the best thing for the engine. no real solid reasoning behind it though. it was perfectly fine and didn't overheat. Maybe this idling thing is a myth?

Not as myth when it comes to idling for long periods. Idling at lights for a few minutes just wastes fuel, but left for a couple of hours can easily overheat the engine and many components, despite the fan running. Some run rich and wash the bores with fuel causing wear (not likley on Zeds) There are also many comments about engines not working well without load and excessive bearing wear run at low speed at the top and bottom points of the crank bearings.

It's another of those things you can do and if there was no catastrophic failure say 'it made no difference', but who knows longer term what wear was caused.

[DPG]

Well I've just ordered a new battery for my spare key.

It was that or order a new key at £150+ from the stealer.

Better get my soldering iron out.

[Taz]

is there any way to check the battery without taking the key apart?

using an inductive charger sounds great but i'd not be convinced my battery had charged unless i could test it some how

[SUUNTOBOB]

I alternate my keys every month to keep them both charged up

[Taz]

I alternate my keys every month to keep them both charged up

great in theory , some people however only use their cars every so often, quite a few people park them up over winter

[SUUNTOBOB]

Good Point

[cj10jeeper]

is there any way to check the battery without taking the key apart?

using an inductive charger sounds great but i'd not be convinced my battery had charged unless i could test it some how

No way to test it that I know of, other than just pressing it to see if the door unlocks.
Even if flat then all you need to do is open the door by key. Alarm will go off, key in ignition to stop the alarm then drive the car. It'll charge from there.

[bmkeys]

I repair multiple keys per day from owners who have attempted a battery change there self and done more damage than good.

1st tip is, when cutting the key open, try not run t a blade down the sides as the tip usually cuts the small resistors from the board.

2nd tip is, be very careful with copper antenna coil. They are very sensitive and if damaged, your car won't start any more.

And try not to get super glue everywhere inside the key when putting it back together. I use a new case and when repairing a key to avoid the glue.

[Taz]

bmkeys,