Hi, I have a very old focus estate and my key fob suddenly stopped working, changed the battery as I have done so before but it still will not work, tested the new batteries in my bathroom scales and they work fine, so am assuming it is the battery terminal. Does anyone know please if it is relativley cheap to get the key sorted or if I would have to purchase a whole new remote key going through getting it registered to the car etc as that would not be an option. Obviously if I go to Ford even to get it looked at I will be looking at alot of money.

Many thanks.

If the fob is knacked then the easy option is to buy a replacement fob off eBay, swap over the blade and immobiliser chip then reprogramme the central locking circuit which is very easy.

New complete keys are available for £30.

The transponder chip is the small glass tube inside a rubber sleeve to one side of the fob, carefully slide it out with a small screwdriver.

Programming the new locking circuit takes less than a minute and will cost nothing.

First though have you checked that the battery terminals inside are actually making contact with the battery? Sometimes they just need a nudge with a screwdriver.

Many thanks for your response, yes I have checked the battery terminals for contact and had a good fiddle but still not working am quite sure it is the terminal.

Thanks gain. :-)

The new fobs are readily available and for far less than from Ford.

By the time they add labour and diagnostics which they insist on you'd be looking nearer £200 so any saving is a bonus.

This looks like just what you need-

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=251289435237

Thank you, yes I am sure they would charge me that much.

Ford have this fuzzy idea that all cars coming in for any work at all must have a diagnostic done on them for which they charge about £80 (just to plug in a reader then bog off for a loooonnng tea break).

I have a good friend who is a mobile Auto Locksmith (i get him to do my keys and also suggest him to people I may have to deal with in the course of my work if they have problems with car keys/lock themselves out of cars etc.).

Apparently (at least down here) it's common practice for a dealer to charge upwards of £350 to supply the key, cut the blade and programme the central locking/immobiliser, whereas they call him out for a flat £75 fee.

He does the job in 5-10 minutes and they keep the car for about 3 hours to bump up the labour costs.

they do take the mick a little, my dealer wanted £150 for a tibble key, I got a flip key for £110 all in from a local auto locksmith. The pleasures of living near london, or within a stone throw anyway!

I got one of these cases from ebay and built one for myself a while back

I've also done one for someone else on another forum I belong to, he's well chuffed with it