Kitchen Table Electronics Repair: 2005 Chevy Malibu Key Fob

[Jacob1986]

these ones are terrible. The previous model one that you have there is really well made in comparison. I had to fix the contacts on the newer one with tin foil and silicon in addition to the soldering of the battery clamp.

[max98138]

Just wanted to say Thanks for all the videos that you take the time to make. It is always fun to see when your able to fix things that most would have to throw out. Wish I could be around to learn some of your computer electronics skills. I've watch many of your you tube videos. Keep up the good things you do.

[13mbangel]

nice video !!! had a ? my unlock,trunk ,and panic button work but not my lock buttom i got to press it kind of hard in order to work or even sometimes it doesnt work. have any idea my friend?

[uxwbill]

@13mbangel The conductive pad on the underside of the button may be worn out. You could try taking the remote apart and using a #2 graphite pencil to coat the pad on the underside of the button. If this makes it start working again, the pad was worn out.

[13mbangel]

@uxwbill yea it did work

thanks

[tbg9172]

my remote has the same problem i was hoping to see how to do the soldering part of the video???

[uxwbill]

@tbg9172 If you need to learn how to solder, you can find some videos of the technique elsewhere on Youtube. I don't consider myself "all that great" when it comes to soldering. You can and should also look up a soldering tutorial online--there are many good ones.

I would also highly recommend that you practice on some junk circuits or solder small wires together before you work on your valuable remote.

[1994005]

my wife remotes didn't work . I soldered the the battery holder , they work now . Thanks

[uxwbill]

@1994005 I'm glad to hear this worked for you. One of these days, maybe various makers of electronics will learn to solder. ;-)

[jazzysister69]

I had this same issue with both of my key fobs. As soon as I opened them, that same piece just fell off...without even touching it. I have a soldering iron but have never used it. I'll look for a tutorial on how to do that. THANKS SO MUCH for this video.

[stydel311]

i believe that this is common right?

[lilgman191]

The fake button at the top are for models with remote start.

[dacdri]

I have ford focus key whose logic board and Siemens and is something very strange one hour it works fine then stops working again then back to work already swapped the battery with a new battery soldered on the board that would penssando poor contact between the card and battery but it did not know what had occurred since ja thank

[yenomeerf]

You would make a great instructor / school teacher if you are not already.

I'm curious what the bill came too? or do you charge? I've been driving a 06 Impala for over a year with 2 key pads that won't talk to the car receiver. It's no fun.

[uxwbill]

@yenomeerf I usually charge just enough to cover my time, gasoline and needed parts. I do this mainly to keep things out of the landfill, to save people money, to prove that more things can be repaired today than people think and because sometimes, the challenge is simply irresistable.

[uknavynige]

A fascinating insight of how a car remote works, my Citroen c4 fob button is faulty and the dealer wants to charge £150. i am going to buy a new casing on ebay for £10. but if i swap the circuit board over and change the battery will it not forget the rolling code as the battery is removed.

[uxwbill]

@uknavynige Most of the time, the buttons are similar to what is found in a TV or radio remote control. They have a conductive pad on the back that touches a pair of traces on the board (these look like "squiggles"). What usually happens is the pad wears out. You can sometimes renew it temporarily with a soft pencil by rubbing the point on the pad.

Also try changing the battery if you did not. The remote will not lose its memory, tho you may need to hold some buttons after installing the cell.

[jazzdrummer420]

@uxwbill Thanks a million, for those that might not have the soft pencil, you can rub a circle on a piece of paper and then rub the contact part of the rubber button on the paper to get it on the button.

Thanks again!

[paranoiagent17]

how easy or hard do you think it would be to build one of these from scratch. what kind of parts would i need. I just want to make one that unlocks the doors, nothing else.

[uxwbill]

@paranoiagent17 From the standpoint of circuit design, it wouldn't be hard. The number of external components would be low, consisting of stuff that's easy to get. The only stumbling block is the IC that transmits the codes. If you can get an appropriate IC, I think that's all you'll need.

You'll also need to "introduce" your vehicle to it. Some vehicles allow the owner to add or delete fobs. Others require a computer that can communicate with the BCM, like GM's Tech II.

[chipsdubbo89]

Can you make a video showing how to fix the other remote in your video? Thats the kind I have.

[uxwbill]

@chipsdubbo89 What "other kind" of remote are you referring to? Although there are various styles with differing numbers of buttons, they all work on the same basic principles.

[sms373]

Awsome my garage door opener is rolling code to.

[JDMowerGuy1998]

I am plannin on sending my Xbox 360 in to Microsoft so they can repair it. My warrenty expired so i'll have to pay but it is a heck of alot better than buying a new Xbox.

[uxwbill]

Sometimes, if you really play your cards right, the person on the phone may be able to pull some strings and arrange a free or reduced cost repair. It never hurts to try, but the one thing to keep in mind is to be as nice as you can, even if it's not going all that well. Good luck!

[JDMowerGuy1998]

@uxwbill

thanks

[fitguru126]

Hello, you didnt' explain how you used the solder iron to put the battery cage back on. is there another way to put the battery back on. I don't have a solder iron. thanks

[uxwbill]

You're going to need one. There are people and sites online who can explain soldering better than I, and offer better advice on doing it. I don't have enough hands to do everything, and my brothers often aren't around to help.

When you solder, you are trying to create a bond between two metal pieces. Done properly, the solder becomes an active part of the connection. But it's not glue, and you don't want to treat it like it is.

RadioShack sells irons that are good enough to start out with.

[naterade21]

keyfob looks just like the one for my 09 malibu

[jazzysister69]

@naterade21 yeah, mine too.

[jazzysister69]

@naterade21 This vid was great because the dealership wouldn't do anything without $50. I told them there shouldn't be a fee of any kind because of poor quality/craftsmanship. Anywho, I followed the instructions here & guess who now has a fully functioning key fob!!

[JDMowerGuy1998]

Do you have experince fixing X-Box 360s?

[uxwbill]

The problem with fixing an Xbox is one of high integration. The major components are surface-soldered and have very fine pins or balls (underneath the chips). I am not equipped for this.

What I can say is that heat kills the 360. Bizzarefurhead and I installed an add-on fan on his, and that has defnitely been keeping it alive. The one we found was branded as a "Nyko Intercooler" and runs after the 360 shuts down to cool it off. It clamps onto the back and cost about $20. It's worth the price.

[JDMowerGuy1998]

@uxwbill yeah i know but my system crashed...... wah!

[uxwbill]

Unfortunately, that's not a whole lot to go on...a "system crash" for an Xbox could be a lot of things...bad hard disk, optical drive, logic board or even a loopy controller. So far as I know, the Xbox doesn't go out of its way to tell you what it might be unhappy with--it just stops dead with an RRoD.

If heat has caused it to fail, there are some suggestions of things to try if you were only going to throw it out. Look for videos on this topic, but think about them before trusting them.

[james42519]

@uxwbill i would be careful with that. the nyko cooler has been known to fail and catch fire. look up nyko interecooler melt on google and you will find stuff. also they used the wrong solder that had a too low melting point and got brittle in the 360. that is the big thing.

[ghtowagon]

I worked at a car dealer and one remote unlocked two cars.. Pretty cool! Also, the older GM key fobs in the late 80s, early 90s that did not have many channels could unlock cars next to them. I had the style remove like your S10 had w/ broken soldering joints. Its a good fix! Its been working for awhile

[uxwbill]

Cool. I can only guess that both remotes were in approximately the same code space or something. My guess is that you could willfully program a remote to match two cars with similar or identical fobs and radios, as the communication protocol is usually one way only.

[pcooney08]

how do you fix one that was under water

[uxwbill]

Uhhhm...well.

Get the battery out just as soon as you can. Seconds count here. Take the remote apart and rinse it in clear, clean water. Then let it dry out for a minimum of several days before attempting to use it again. Buy a new battery (throw the old one away or recycle it if you can) and put it in. Hope.

If it's been wet and had the battery in it for a while now, your odds are not very good.

[uxwbill]

The trunk popper button is hidden away on my remote, but the contact pad is there. I thought it might do something interesting, so I tried shorting it once. Nothing happened.

[WhoSaidTyler]

That am radio tip was priceless

[Buchoass]

Right on!

Keep em` coming.

Very good vid.

~Cheers~

B.Champagne

[MrStelmer]

You could've tried a myth with the keyfob that a TV show here in the UK allegedly succeeded with....

"A man went to his local supermarket and left his keys in his car (don't ask how) so he called up his partner (from his Cell to her Cell) and asked her to click the key fob next to the cell phone so it would work the same way if you did it standing next to the car. He put the receiving phone next to the door and it actually unlocked the door."

However, this show is known for being wrong.

[uxwbill]

I have heard that story in various surroundings. I'm not going to say it's impossible, but it strikes me as extremely unlikely. Keyless entry remotes and cellular phones don't operate in the same frequency ranges. The outer possibility is that the phone had some tuned circuitry sensitive to a harmonic (a multiple of its own operating frequency) near the fob's output frequency, and that it was amplified by said circuit enough to reach the car's receiver.

I think that's really reaching, though.

[MrStelmer]

@uxwbill Yeah, I tested it with no results, though American transponders operate on a different frequency than ours do in the UK.

[vwestlife]

Infrared remote controls also make noise on AM radio... or you can aim them into a camera which picks up infrared light, as most do.

[uxwbill]

@vwestlife Yes! I spent a boring Friday night annoying Bizzarefurhead (his spelling) with a Grundig AM radio and an RCA universal remote. The remote was particularly vocal, producing a kind of loud yodeling sound on the radio.

[moldymac]

I have had to fix the GM remotes on most of my cars, that battery clip always comes loose!

[uxwbill]

@moldymac I honestly don't know how they last. It's supposed to be a through-hole part and it's barely long enough to go through the hole!

[mjmcomputers]

Same thing happened a while back on the fob for my wife's 07 cobalt. I re soldered it and fixed it until my 1yr old son chewed on it and got it all wet. Now only the trunk button works. Gotta see if I can fix it.

[Lukeno52]

I like how puny the car's alarm was :L

[uxwbill]

@Lukeno52 It was surprisingly puny. Clearly the standards to which GM horns are held has fallen from the time my truck and my mother's Buick Park Avenue were made. The Park Avenue is louder than my truck, but you won't ignore either one.

Of course, the horn in my 1984 GMC can't even be heard over the engine, so...maybe it comes and goes?

[Lukeno52]

@uxwbill Maybe, to be honest, I'm surprised its legal to be that inaudible (ie you can't hear it over the engine).

[james42519]

@uxwbill that wasn't the alarm. that was the warning that the alarm will go off. it is to give you time to turn it off before it does go off.

[The88camaro]

cool video Bill!

[gmcnewlook]

or if you have one of those remote control fart machines, a cars  keyless entry remote will activate them (lol) i found this out quite by accident, my dad has one and had left it on and when i went to unlock my car, it went off! my guess is that they use the same frequency car remotes do

[uxwbill]

@gmcnewlook I find that absolutely hilarious! You win the "best comment so far" award. Not that it's much, but at least you will know. :-)

[djkain2007]

used on other models... like remote start, door openers (high trimmed vans). man, i don't have one of those, jealous :-(

[uxwbill]

I wonder, since the computer probably already handles the inputs from the key switch and operates relays to control the starter, if merely having the buttons on the fob is enough. It would seem logical enough that this could be the case. If I'd have known, I might have tried shorting those pads to see how the car reacted.

I did happen to see a fob with all those other buttons populated. It was for some GM minivan.

[djkain2007]

@uxwbill idk

[james42519]

@uxwbill try pushing the hidden ones on yours?