Keyless entry car keys are becoming commonplace on most new cars. The idea is very simple. The car has an electronic keyfob supplied with it. Unlike a conventional car key, it doesn’t have a metal blade that is visible. Therefore, all the owner needs to do is walk up to the car and it will sense that the key is close by.
The car will automatically unlock allowing entry, without the need for the owner to press any buttons. Can it get any easier?
Well yes it does, because unlike a conventional car key, the owner doesn’t even need to take the key fob out of their pocket or handbag. The car senses that the owner is inside the car and they just need to press a button.
On paper, these are really clever, attractive features that make life very easy. However, these features come at a cost, far beyond that of the key fob.
Every week we hear stories and meet people who are having problems with keyless entry car keys. This is to be expected, given that we handle lots of problems with traditional keys. However, when the problems arise with key-less cars, often no-one knows what to do, simply because the idea is new and there is a lack of general experience.
There are also some serious security issues that we will talk about in another blog, but for now here is the most common problem.
Ford keyless entry car keys. Where’s the key?
This type of fob is now very common, among models such as Ford Focus, Fiesta, Mondeo, B-Max, C-Max, Galaxy and Kuga. There are many thousands of these on the roads and yet most of the owners we meet are not shown how to handle a few simple problems, such as :-
Help – I left my lights on, the battery is flat and now I’m locked out. How do I get back in?
Inside the fob should be a small key blade.
By squeezing the edge of the key-fob, a cover pops open and it exposes the blade. This blade is then inserted into the lock and a slot in the key-fob is used to turn the blade.
So hopefully that’s helpful. It’s also really important to check that you have a blade in your key-fob. Many people find out it’s missing, just when they need it the most. We can supply and cut these if you need further help.
i have recently bought a 2010 ford mondeo and have discovered that there is no key blade inside any of the two remotes.can i get a replacement key blade even though i do not have the key number?
Hello Trevor, you’re not alone! The reason it’s missing is usually because when the car sales get a new fob key made, they save money by not also supplying the blade and we see this a lot. You have a couple of options.
You could contact the original selling dealership and see if anyone noted the key number down. It happens sometimes, it really depends on the culture within the dealership. If you don’t have any joy then you have two options.
You can either pay an Auto-Locksmith to decode the lock, work out the key number and blades, which in Lincoln we charge about £70 for the job. Or option two is to buy a new door lock that will come ready built with two new key blades. I’m not sure of the price but I can’t imagine they are that much. Then it’s a case of swapping the locks over which is straight forward to do , or get a garage to do it.
WATCH OUT because before you pay for a door lock, make sure it doesn’t come as a kit from Ford, that you have to build up like a meccano set! So it’s just worth checking with the parts guy.
However, no, without a key number, it’s not easy to get a new blades cut. A good local Auto-Locksmith should be able to do it. I hope this helps.