Peugeot Car Key Problems

Where to start? Every week we talk to local customers, struggling with Peugeot car key problems. We’re sent emails, tweets and Facebook messages, all having problems and asking for help, or just having a rant! So, what’s causing these Peugeot car key problems?

The trouble began around 2004. For years before that, Peugeot used the standard car key microchip that was pretty much indestructible.

Old Style Peugeot transponder chips

Looking like a piece of broken plastic, you could easily dismiss it as rubbish. However, this chip was utterly reliable. When these chips were used, we very rarely had Peugeot car key problems. However, in 2004, a new type of key was introduced to the range. We first saw it on the Peugeot 407.

This key introduced four major problems that have caused so much stress for Peugeot owners. Even though the 407 is no longer produced, this same key design is STILL used fourteen years later!

Problem 1 of 4 Peugeot Flip key blade wobbles.

To come in line with VW etc, they designed a flip key. Quite frankly ‘designed’ is the wrong word, because whoever in the office signed this off surely hadn’t even looked inside it. The blade assembly is cheaply made, with just a thin slither of plastic keeping everything in place and working.

Commonly, as soon as the key is more than a few years old, the internal plastic assembly cracks and a key blade wobble starts. Once the blade becomes wobbly, this leads to more Peugeot car key problems.

The silver button stops flipping the mechanism out, which means that the blade is limp, with no ‘spring’. Eventually the blade detaches from the body of the key, getting lost and causing customers to become stranded. All this, sometimes after 3-4 years of use.

When you think about this, most of us consider a 3-year-old car to be new, a real treat. The last thing I’d imagine having to do is to buy brand new car keys. However, this has been the case with many Peugeot car keys of this era.

Problem 2 of 4 Perishing buttons

We all want a nice soft key button to press, I get that. However, with this new key design came a new material. With a feel of soft latex, the buttons were extremely easy to press and to use, when new they were great. However, after a few years the material wears through and either splits, or a hole appears.

Once the buttons wear through, then this exposes the electronic circuit board and leads to damage of the small switches. The damage happens because when the owner digs in a nail to try and get the key to work, the electronic switch gets damaged.

Eventually it drops off and a new key is needed. So once again, Inferior component design is responsible. Customers have to spend extra money on something that should have a much longer life. So, can it get any worse? Read on.

Problem 3 of 4 Faulty Immobiliser chip.

This is one of the major Peugeot car key problems. This is what stops cars starting, and it’s all because of a new type of chip design that was introduced. Instead of the dependable type of carbon encased transponder chip, they adopted a new design.

This was first seen in the Renault Laguna key cards and we all know how much trouble they’ve been. Instead of an actual chip, (the ones that never go wrong), they placed a series of electronic components on a circuit board. When all these tiny, delicate components worked correctly, they generated a chip signal. This is great when brand new. However, fast forward a few years and things change.

The wear and tear that car keys suffer from is the main reason for the Peugeot car key problems we’re seeing today. Once the keys get to five years old, the circuit board has been dropped, thrown, got boiling hot and freezing cold. Eventually, tiny hairline cracks appear, and things start to go wrong with the transponder signal.

At first, it seems like it’s an intermittent problem. The car doesn’t start first time, but then just fires up, so off you go.

But then it happens again, then twice a month, and before you know it you’re sat on your drive with ‘Immobiliser fault’ on the dashboard. There are several fairy-tale beliefs on how to fix this problem that are simply wrong, and we’ll cover this at the end of the article.

Problem 4 of 4 Worn key blades leads to worn locks.

Finally, this is one of the most serious of Peugeot car key problems. This is simply because, as the key blade wears, it then doesn’t move the lock parts correctly. Then the lock doesn’t turn as smoothly as it should and so wears the lock parts.

This causes more damage to the blade, the mouth part of the key. The mouth of the key is the part that goes into the lock first and its job is to feed the rest of the key in correctly. Then the key stops going into the lock at all. This is very common on door locks of Peugeot Partners, 107’s and 407’s and alot of the Citroen range.

How to fix these Peugeot car key problems

Before you spend any money, it’s important that you are sure that the key is faulty. Click here to follow our simple checklist. However, when you’re sure it is the key, you’ll start to read various fairy-tale of how to fix the problem. Here is our simple advice to help you.

Fixing a Peugeot key blade that wobbles.

We’re often asked if we sell the springs that go into the keys, or just the blade part. Unfortunately, because of how the key is manufactured, a completely new case is needed. This is a simple job once you’ve found the correct case, and there are over twenty varieties! Click here read our guide on choosing the correct case.

Rather than buy your own case on eBay, we recommend visiting a local Car Key Man Auto Locksmith, and let an expert fit the correct case, change the battery and cut the blade. If you try and swap the key blade from one key to the next you may have further Peugeot car key problems, and this is covered in the article.  But this is an easy fix, so don’t suffer too long, other with the blade may get lost altogether!

Fixing key buttons that are worn out

By the time we normally see the key, it’s past repair. The switches under the buttons are missing or damaged. However, if the buttons still work, great news. Again, you simply need a new case and you just need to treat it as if you have a wobbly blade, above

Fixing faulty immobiliser chip

No good news here. Once you start to get the message ‘anti-theft fault’ or ‘immobiliser active’, then it’s the beginning if the end for the key. You may find it will work sometimes, but it will gradually get worse and eventually fail. You simply need a new key. When you choose where to buy this key watch out. With Peugeot keys there are around twenty varieties. They all look similar but only the correct one will work on your car. Click here to read our guide to buying car keys on-line.

Fixing worn key blades and locks

This is a tricky one. In a perfect world, you’d replace all the locks, and these would come with new key blades. The reason we recommend a fresh start is that if you just get a new key, but the locks are faulty, then the new key will wear quickly. Likewise, if you just buy a new lock and use the old key, then you may be wearing out the lock quicker than normal. This is simply due to your old key not sliding in and out of the lock correctly.

However, we know that it’s expensive to change everything. Therefore, it may be worth trying a new blade, cut correctly to code. What does this mean? There’s a big difference between buying a key cut to code, and one that is copied from an old worn out key (which just gives you a new worn out key). A key cut to code is cut on an expensive machine, controlled by a computer that moves the blade precisely as the blade was when brand new in the factory. However, a blade copied from your old key will follow the same pattern of wear and will not give you a true shape. In turn, it will not slide in and out of the lock correctly. We’d recommend a key cut to code every time.

But will a fresh blade solve your Peugeot car key problems?  Maybe, the only way to find out is to try it. Ask your local Car key Man Auto Locksmith for a quote to fit a new blade to your key and see if this improves things.

Summary

As you can see, there are lots of Peugeot car key problems and they compound each other. What I mean is that when the buttons wear out, the key then is used in the lock, and this ears quickly and gets jammed. The best way to avoid the lock problems later, is to keep a good working button key, rather than put the key in the door. good luck, Peugeot make nice stylish cars, but the keys and locks can be a real pain. We hope this has helped.