- My model of MX-5 is: NC
I bought a new key on eBay for about a fiver that came with no electronics, as my old key was falling to bits (but still worked).
The electronics and battery that work the doors were easy to swap over, but the transponder was a bit of a pain.
To get to the transponder the front half of the key also splits in half - but you need to remove the little screw hidden behind the Mazda badge. I couldn’t get the badge out and ended up forcing the thing apart with the screw still in there.
The picture below shows the screw location on the new key.
The second picture shows the transponder in position in the new key, it is the little grey brick at the top.
The third picture shows the state of the old key after I had retrieved the transponder…
I worked with pointed pliers, snips and ultimately a Dremmel to get it out. I recon it was glued in, and the Dremmel was needed to grind away the surface it was glued to. I simply pushed it into place on the new key without glue as it was a snug interference fit.
And it still works… Phew…
Hope this helps someone.
