Replacement Key/remote nightmare.....

[farmerboy]

Well, I thought I would be sensible and get a spare key for the LC120. It only came with one key and I am worried about losing it!

so.... much reading on t'internet and scouring of Ebay leads me to find a supplier just around the corner (St Helens UK) who can cut and program keys - joy of joys methinks. A quick phone call and I pop over to see him and he, after examining my remote, informs me that he does not have the internals for a Denso 1512V so I need to go away and search t'interweb again for that particular one. Great thinks I - home I go and fire up the laptop again. My search pulls up an Ebay supplier with the correct item... bit of a coincidence - it is also in St Helens so I mail him and ,yes you have guessed, it is the same chap! Off I go again and he invites me in whilst he goes upstairs to get the new key/remote.... wait in there, as he gestures to the front room (private house). In I go to be met by a very old chap coughing his lungs up with a walking frame and bed in the corner. Are you ok I enquire.... after much coughing and spluttering the old chap pulls out his inhaler and informs me he has a bad respiratory problem..... I nervously sit down and observe an awkward silence... for ages... and ages... and ages... I make an attempt at polite conversion and the old chap is a delight but obviously quite poorly!

Anyway the key man comes downstairs and we proceed to the car to test the new key... it does not seem to work very well so he goes back and re-cuts it and it is a bit better but not brilliant. I am told to search the internet for the re-progamming instructions - they go something like ........ open the door 5 times, put the key in take the key out shake it all about, stand on one leg whilst whistling dixie and howl at the moon... if it does not work just keep doing it......

I am convinced someone it having a laugh....


Needless to say it did not work - I guess my original key is not a "master"? ... and then the "new" key gets jammed in the ignition and will not pull out or turn... after much messing about it comes out and I decide to stick with the original key for now .... so in it goes and I have the same problem - it will not turn... no way will it turn...

I ended up seeking advice from the internet and it seems that the tumblers can be replaced if you press a secret pin somewhere on the barrel so I rip out the lower part of the dash and search for this "pin".... I cannot find anything that remotely resembles a pin to be pushed so I remove a little square solenoid thing that reveals a pin which can be pushed in but that has no effect (I think it is a safety device connected to the auto box selector) so I just try a bit of lubrication and much fiddling about and suddenly it turns and now works fine... everything put back together (easier said than done!) and I am now back exactly were I started 8 hours ago... drat....

If anyone out there can offer sound advice on what has gone wrong I would be eternally grateful....

Anyway I shall be going back the the key man tomorrow and seeing if he can sort it out for me....

Moral of the story - ALWAYS get two keys when you buy a car!

 

[silvercruiser]

use some graphite spray in the lock to keep it nice and free. look at the blade of your new spare key i bet you find its slightly thicker than your original. and ive only ever programmed a colorado key which is a sequence of ignition on off, lock button pushed etc. and you have to be very quick and precise.

 

[StarCruiser]

Anything like that, dip it in diesel, pop in the lock and withdraw a few times then wipe the rest away. Works wonders, if you keep wiping it for a bit it won't mess up your clothes.

 

[farmerboy]

Cheers guys.... the original key is working fine now after a bit of lubrication and a good dousing with electrical contact cleaner... the "new" key works (ish) in the door locks (I need to pull it out a wee bit and the wiggle!) but will not work in the ignition... I am nervous of trying it too much in the ignition because it got stuck last time. I have to say it "looks" like a perfect copy but it obviously is not!

Hopefully the guy that did it can sort it tomorrow... I shall make sure it works ok in the doors before putting it anywhere near the ingition switch.

ps - I had a Jeep Cherokee once with the same problem and it needed the key tumblers cleaning and one dodgy tumbler had to be removed completely - has anyone removed the key barrel on a LC 120.... I am told there is a pin to push but I could not find it!

Thanks in advance.

 

[farmerboy]

Update...

I took the key back and we discovered that each side of the key was slightly different and he had to rotate the original key in his machine and do a separate copy of each "side" of the key - worked perfectly after that and he simply "cloned" the transponder code to the new key with his computer thing. So far - so good and I am now attempting to program the new key to the remote lock/unlock.... I found the instructions which involve putting the key in and out and opening and closing doors but it goes fine as far as entering "programming mode" but it refuses to accept the new key... I am guessing it may have too many keys already programmed? Not sure where to go from here but at least I have a spare key that works now and I can unlock the car via the door locks without using the remote.... what a palaver!

Thoroughly recommend the guy (Phil) who has done my replacement key by the way - he was determined to get the job done and is very knowledgeable. Whole thing cost £30 which seems very reasonable.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/st-helens-keys

 

[silvercruiser]

Glad you got it sorted out. That's a good price too.