Broken key on your NC?

Technical Area Electrics & ICE
#1

Hi all,

Those of you with NCs may be familiar with the rubbish keys that tend to break because the little tab that hold the two halves together often gives up and you end up leaving one half in the ignition.

If you have this issue, check out this: For Mazda 3 5 6 MX5 RX8 CX7 CX9 4 Button Remote Key Fob Case Repair + Battery | eBay

I swapped over all the internals from my broken key this morning and it works perfectly, including the blade so you don’t even have to get the new one cut!

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20210222_1304171908×4032 2.6 MB

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20210222_1304211908×4032 2.47 MB

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20210222_1304241908×4032 2.46 MB

A very cheap solution to a really annoying problem!

5 Likes
#2

Wow thanks thats just what I need. Both my remotes are looking worn and I just snapped a tab replacing one of the batteries. I will order and see how it goes!

1 Like
#3

Just ordered one to try it out, thanks

1 Like
#4

Well, I’ve just received mine.

The badge is missing, there’s a small screw in the recess that presumably holds it all together.

The buttons frankly are trashy - you press the lock or unlock button and the whole button panel bends down, and similar with the boot lid/alarm off button which disappear under the edge of the casing.

About the only thing about it is it shows how I could repair the original one assuming the positioning of the screw is the same.

UPDATE - The little screw doesn’t hold the two parts together after all, so I’m not sure what it does unless its something to do with the blade retention - ideas anyone?

#5

I bought similar around 5 years ago, probably a different supplier. My original key had deteriorated.
Everything worked fine but I found I needed to press hard on the buttons to make them work. Solved by padding out the contacts inside that button pad (it’s a gel like substance) my wife’s a crafter, she had minute stick on gel pads, I stuck one on each of the contact points. Key been used and working great ever since. I was going to get another key as the spare back up but I did the same to the spare I already had.

#6

I received one of these yesterday and like Mick found the buttons needed a lot of force to press. I’ve padded mine out slightly too.
The key spring mechanism on my original key was fine and looked OK so I just used the whole top assembly rather than swap the key part over.
The battery in mine was put in upside-down. I realised before I put the electronics board in. I expect the board is reverse-polarity protected but best not to test it.

#7

I’ve not had to replace my key fob, possibly because I put them in silicone cases as soon as I got the car (something I’ve done for all my cars). The silicone adds almost no extra size or weight, protects the key fob, and has a nice grip.

They are only a couple of quid each, and you can use different colours to differentiate between “main” and “spare” or “his” and “hers”. I especially like the luminous one.

Silicone Flip Key Fob Cover Case For Mazda