HOW TO change Car Key Battery
Car key batteries..one of the great mysteries of the motoring world. It’s one of those jobs that can seem really hard, but actually, most of the time it’s simple. The problem comes from years ago, around 1990. Lots of cars were being stolen, so immobilisers were installed to prevent this, controlled by a remote fob. When you needed to change the car key battery, sometimes the car wouldn’t start afterwards. Then the stories started the you only had 5 secs, or 10 secs to change it, or Venus needed to be in Jupiter, and the legend grew.
On the early cars, this may have been true, but these days, you’re generally safe to take the battery out and swap it for a new one. We change them every day and very seldom do we have any problems.
IMPORTANT
These days, we don’t see many cars where the buttons are needed to start the car. Most modern cars have a back-up system that allows us all to use the car, should the car key battery fail. After all, one day it’s going to stop working. So, don’t worry, even if you mess this up, you should still be able to start the car and drive home!
Do’s and Don’ts when changing a car key battery
Some really simple stuff here.
- Try and find out what type of battery your car key takes, before you start opening it up. If you don’t know, just Google it!
- Get a good car key battery. We change around 50 batteries every month. Most of the problems are because owners, or the garage that looks after them, have fitted a poor-quality battery. We recommend a car key battery with English writing on such as popular makes such as Maxell, Sony, Duracell, Panasonic.
- If you need to remove a screw (such as a Toyota, or Honda) find a small jewellers screwdriver that fits the screw. We see so many rounded off screws because the wrong screwdriver has been used. When the screw head is rounded off, it cannot be removed and therefore the only way to change the battery is to break the key open and replace the case. This is pretty drastic, just to change the car key battery, but is the only way it can be done.
- Remember which way up the key battery went. We see lots that have been put in the wrong way up!
- Does your door lock work? Lots of people we meet have no idea that the door lock of their car is faulty. Unfortunately, they find out once the car key buttons stop working. When changing the battery, check you can get back in, if the buttons stop working for any reason.
Research how to open the key. With YouTube, there are so many good videos made to help you. As well as our channel, click here, there are lots of good channels to help you.
Does it need programming afterwards?
If you change a key battery and the central locking stops working afterwards, then there’s normally a simple reset procedure, such as the Ford method as follows. Click Here to see how Ford car key batteries are changed are re-synched. Other keys such as Peugeot and Citroen just need the ignition turned on and the button held for five seconds, again, find a video to explain this.
The important thing here is, don’t panic. If you can, plan for the day your car key battery gives up working, then you’re halfway there.
Good Luck!
Find your Make and Model below for a clear HOW TO Guide
Nissan Teardrop Style Proximity key Click Here
Ford Fiesta 2009 – 2016, Ford Focus 2005 – 2010 Flick Key Click Here
Vauxhall Astra 2004 – 2010 Flick Key Click Here
Ford Mondeo, Focus 2011 – 2016 Click Here
Ford Fiesta 2002-2008 Click Here
Standard Ford Remote Key
Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta Proximity Teardrop Key Click Here
Mazda Flip key Click here
Hi their i have changed my car key battery but i think i put it in the wrong way and know the car wont turn on and the security alarm wont work please reply asap
Hello. Can you tell me which car you have and what year of manufacture?
Mitsubushi Colt 2008.
Hi James, did you need a video for this?
Hi my keys have a code I need to put in for the immobiliser, how do I do it?
Hi Charlotte, what car have you got ?