Fun fact for you Andy put your key on your temple metal part to side of head it makes your range a good 3rd longer lol it turns your head into an antenna. seen it on top gear years ago and it works lol.
The fix has always been obvious to me. The 3 sprung fingers from the battery contacts are nothing to do with the 3 functions of the remote. They are all a single battery +/- supply, just with contact redundancy. If you look at the ENIG surface pads on the PCB you can see they have been worn away and so present a high resistance. They just need contact cleaning to remove oxidation. When they get bad then bending the fingers to contact another area is a good move. The remote distance aspect always needs a decent battery and clean contacts. However I do sometimes need more distance than normal, like when I forget if I double locked the car on the street and I am in the house. The way to extend it is that the fob with the key blade can be placed against your head to act as an antenna which doubles the range while you look like a nutter 🤣 Also just like using a mobile phone camera to check if an IR remote control is working, for keyfobs if you have a radio/scanner that can tune to 434MHz you can hear when it is transmitting easily as a way to rule out the GEM/CLM. 😉
It's not obvious when you've never had this issue before, but examination always rules out stupid issues, I think this is a classic example. I had a feeling those 3 fingers weren't actually part of the 3 functions just a direct permanent battery connection but wasn't sure so thanks for correcting me. That is a clever tip on tuning the radio to the frequency of the fob.
The rear lights on a mk3 mk 4 Ford escort had them prongs you had to close them together as they would all squash in causing tail brake indicator lights to stop working or all flashing together like a Xmas tree 😂😂
The same fix applies to the 4/5/6000 radios security button panel. Those ENIG surfaces wear. Cleaning with cotton buds and IPA or electrical contact cleaner as well as the sprung contacts from the radio is the way to go. Scraping oxidation away is not good because you will lose the ENIG surface and end up with bare copper which quickly oxidises. If your buttons are too worn then gently prising up the springs from the radio will help with that contact.
My distance is kind of short too around 5-10 meters, but when battery low it will get less and less. To compare mk3.5 I can use it from 4th floor lol. Fun fact: if you put your remote close to your head it will increase distance! And my early 2003 has glass looking chip (I think). Also I would like to know where to get that logo on fob because mine is missing too :(. And as for my key was not clicking too (I think I mentioned to you, Andrew) it could be broken solder so button was not connected to board. All I needed is re-solder it and wholia!
Ah that is interesting, I always thought the switch from glass to plastic chip was mid-2003 ish. I reckon the button was starting to break on its solder hence no click!
At this point I saw the video and I opened my key fob revealing 2 things, a lot of crust and the thingy was pointing right on top , I went ahead and cleaned all of the dirt inside it including the glass transmitter and I have to say it gained about 5+ meters meters of distance , as I saw it was never bean cleaned
aparently you can double range by sticking key to your chin, it does work, but i dont botherm also i wish the mk1s would flash the hazards when unlocking as wel as locking
Checked my 2 keys one has terrible range and the other is massive range, bent the pin up but no difference, also one key is a glass chip and the other is the plastic type, both start the car no problem
I think the circuit board may not be in it's first flush of youth if you have changed the battery and have poor range. Yep at that point you would have a plastic one.. this has stumped me. You cannot programme a Glass 4D60 chip to an ECU transponder which is designed for a Ceramic 4D63 chip. It's one or the other, this is very strange how both work. I must admit this is a new one on me!
@@usuallyfixingtinkeringI will try that since i have no spare anyway! Also i noticed my car doesn't flash the hazards even when using the key on the door, and i know you can activate/deactivate on forscan but when i try to configure the GEM i get an error. Maybe it has something to do with it since i can't even get the first beep.
Fun fact for you Andy put your key on your temple metal part to side of head it makes your range a good 3rd longer lol it turns your head into an antenna. seen it on top gear years ago and it works lol.
Spot on I've done that in the past!
This is something I'll keep in mind for future. Glad another successful fix is done 👍
Cheers buddy
Nice 1. I had this issue for a while on my 2005 focus 1.6LX, same key and the fix worked. 👍🏻
cheers buddy!
The fix has always been obvious to me. The 3 sprung fingers from the battery contacts are nothing to do with the 3 functions of the remote. They are all a single battery +/- supply, just with contact redundancy. If you look at the ENIG surface pads on the PCB you can see they have been worn away and so present a high resistance. They just need contact cleaning to remove oxidation. When they get bad then bending the fingers to contact another area is a good move.
The remote distance aspect always needs a decent battery and clean contacts. However I do sometimes need more distance than normal, like when I forget if I double locked the car on the street and I am in the house. The way to extend it is that the fob with the key blade can be placed against your head to act as an antenna which doubles the range while you look like a nutter 🤣
Also just like using a mobile phone camera to check if an IR remote control is working, for keyfobs if you have a radio/scanner that can tune to 434MHz you can hear when it is transmitting easily as a way to rule out the GEM/CLM. 😉
It's not obvious when you've never had this issue before, but examination always rules out stupid issues, I think this is a classic example. I had a feeling those 3 fingers weren't actually part of the 3 functions just a direct permanent battery connection but wasn't sure so thanks for correcting me. That is a clever tip on tuning the radio to the frequency of the fob.
Where can you get the fob ford badge?
I believe it was an ebay advert with someone who's made them up near to originals
The rear lights on a mk3 mk 4 Ford escort had them prongs you had to close them together as they would all squash in causing tail brake indicator lights to stop working or all flashing together like a Xmas tree 😂😂
Oh gosh that is a similar issue with a different component! That would have been quite a sight!
@@usuallyfixingtinkering sure was you needed a thin screwdriver and close all the lugs in the wiring loom and put them all back into shape
The same fix applies to the 4/5/6000 radios security button panel. Those ENIG surfaces wear. Cleaning with cotton buds and IPA or electrical contact cleaner as well as the sprung contacts from the radio is the way to go. Scraping oxidation away is not good because you will lose the ENIG surface and end up with bare copper which quickly oxidises. If your buttons are too worn then gently prising up the springs from the radio will help with that contact.
That is a great tip for a small nagging issue some owners have with their radios being "intermittent" when driving or hitting a pothole!
My distance is kind of short too around 5-10 meters, but when battery low it will get less and less. To compare mk3.5 I can use it from 4th floor lol. Fun fact: if you put your remote close to your head it will increase distance! And my early 2003 has glass looking chip (I think). Also I would like to know where to get that logo on fob because mine is missing too :(. And as for my key was not clicking too (I think I mentioned to you, Andrew) it could be broken solder so button was not connected to board. All I needed is re-solder it and wholia!
Ah that is interesting, I always thought the switch from glass to plastic chip was mid-2003 ish. I reckon the button was starting to break on its solder hence no click!
At this point I saw the video and I opened my key fob revealing 2 things, a lot of crust and the thingy was pointing right on top , I went ahead and cleaned all of the dirt inside it including the glass transmitter and I have to say it gained about 5+ meters meters of distance , as I saw it was never bean cleaned
Glad I could help!! They do get crusty and need cleaning every so often!
aparently you can double range by sticking key to your chin, it does work, but i dont botherm also i wish the mk1s would flash the hazards when unlocking as wel as locking
I've got news... the hazard flashing with locking is a feature you can switch on by using Forscan to get into the GEM module!
@usuallyfixingtinkering thanks thatd help a lot ill look into thar
Checked my 2 keys one has terrible range and the other is massive range, bent the pin up but no difference, also one key is a glass chip and the other is the plastic type, both start the car no problem
What year is your Mk1?
@@usuallyfixingtinkering it’s a 2003 zetec tdci. The plastic chip key is much newer looking than the glass one
I think the circuit board may not be in it's first flush of youth if you have changed the battery and have poor range.
Yep at that point you would have a plastic one.. this has stumped me. You cannot programme a Glass 4D60 chip to an ECU transponder which is designed for a Ceramic 4D63 chip. It's one or the other, this is very strange how both work. I must admit this is a new one on me!
Mine doesn't even beep when i try to program my keys with the 4 quick turns in the ignition. So basically i unlock my car through the doors.
That is either a faulty circuit board in the key fob or faulty GEM module. I'd go with another 2nd hand fob and go from there!
@@usuallyfixingtinkeringI will try that since i have no spare anyway! Also i noticed my car doesn't flash the hazards even when using the key on the door, and i know you can activate/deactivate on forscan but when i try to configure the GEM i get an error. Maybe it has something to do with it since i can't even get the first beep.
That sounds like the GEM module may be faulty