dodger542000

Hi guys. was wondering how I can fix my remote entry gizmo? When I bought the car, it came with one. It's been working fine for about a year. Now it will only open the doors. It will not lock the doors or remote start the engine like it used to? I changed the battery for the device. No change. A replacement is about $35 online, but it says you have to have a dealer or locksmith program the new unit. This will now jack up the cost to probably $100 or more! Is there a better way to fix this problem? Thanks
dodger542000

db/sb

You could try this. I worked on the remote we were having problems with:
www.keylessfix.com

oneton

I have three HHRs a 06 & two 07s. I went on line and ordered new pads and it fixed all of my key fobs. Try here

http://www.keylessfix.com/

or try this


Both worked great

db/sb

Your first link is the same link I posted......there's also a thread here on fixing it yourself:

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-tutorial-library-21/repair-key-fob-remotes-worn-out-contacts-30813/

Doc brown

One other issue that comes up from time to time is loose battery contacts. A replacement keypad will not fix this. I fixed mine by using a pen type soldering iron to just put a small drop of solder on each of the pins where the battery holder attaches to the circuit board.

RF2

It sounds like the conductive paint used on the back side of the buttons has worn off. Open your key fob and take out the rubber button part. It is made out of nonconductive rubber right? Look on the back side (side with no pics on it) you will see little dots of a gray paint. That is the conductive paint and the thing that makes the contact. If it is damaged or worn off there will not be any contact. Cut out (I used a 3 hole punch) aluminum foil dots and glue in place over the missing conductive paint. Let dry and put everything back together. It should work just as before.

db/sb

Sounds like just another variation of the same thing.......

hhr06NJ

of course, make sure you have power from the soldered battery case pins.

as the buttons themselves go, i made the repair 3 times:

once by glueing a new contact on taken from a calculator. It was a lot of work. Worked for awhile until the adhesive came unglued.

a 2nd time with the tin foil 'dot' over the contact. Easy repair and worked for awhile until the adhesive again came undone

finally, a few days ago, i cut a piece of tin foil the exact size of the triangular cavity where the 'dot' contact is located. The tin foil seems to stay snuggly in place WITHOUT glue / adhesive and works perfectly so far.

whopper

fyi - You just tagged onto a year-old thread.

"The tin foil seems to stay snuggly in place WITHOUT glue / adhesive and works perfectly so far" - until it pops loose and starts locking/unlocking the doors with every jiggle of the remote, which will really annoy your neighbours if your horn is set to beep and the lights flash when the locks are activated, as it wears down your battery.

If you use glue, you need to use the right glue, as in the how-to item - silicone adhesive.

LVJJJ

About a year ago both fobs stopped working. Took them apart and could see that the battery connections had broken. soldered them back together but still didn't work so I though the circuit board was shot. Put them in the junk drawer. After jumping onto this great network, I learned that the contacks were probably bad. so went to Auto Zone, bought the replacement covers and rubber button insert and now they both work! ($14 each, well worth it to me).

Now we are noticing that the yellow lock light on the dash comes on when locking or unlocking, but it never did before (its an '08). So is this good or bad? And why now?