Has anybody here replaced the internal push button switches on the key fob circuit board? On my '02, the lock and unlock switches gave up the ghost, and are stuck in the depressed position. By comparison, the trunk and panic switches see much less use, and spring back promptly when released.

I've got the switches soaking in contact cleaner, in hopes they are just gummed up and not broken. If they don't come back to life, I'll have to replace them. I'm hoping somebody has a part number, as these are probably common items from an electronics supplier. If unavailable new, I may be able to rob them from another fob. IIRC, the fob internals were common to many Fords of this era.



You can see the four switches with their octagon bases.

 

As a temp solution ;perhaps swap the little used switches for the ones you do use.
If a switch is always 'on' the others will not work.

 

The contact cleaner helped, but the two buttons still feel mushy. I've ordered replacements that I THINK should work:

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/...7565-1/5400326


Fingers crossed. Should be here in about a week and I'll update then.

Also found some kits on eBay, but nothing in the US, so shipping might take a while from Slovenia. The shell is different, but I'd only need the switches:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/32438025477...6d8%7Ciid%3A14


I found some kits located in the UK, but can't find the listings now.

 

That switch looks good to me! I do hope you are ok with soldering.
Mellow

 

I had the same problem with the lock and unlock switches, same fob for a 2001 S Type, both stuck as they were presed with the same green thing. I watched a video of how to take apart the switch without unsoldering. The guy on the video after taking apart the switch said that there's nothing to do inside (he didn't had to clean anything, as his switches where clean) but for me worked perfectly as inside it had a lot of that green thing and that was the cause of both been stuck. Inside there's a plastic film that in my case it stayed in the part solder to the chip and I had no problem, in the case of the guy in the video it stayed in the part he took apart, so he had to take out and put again in place when finish. I use a toothpick to clean all the green thing, and alcohol to finish the cleaning. Be carefull when you take it apart, because that part is really two parts, one with the upper casing and the second one the moving button.

To reinstall I think is better to do it the way he did in the video, as he put the plastic film in the part he took out, that way when you turn the part to reinstall the plastic film will maintain the moving part in place.

This is the link to the video. let us know how it went.

 

i have a wierd issue where the lock button works only if pressed hard, and the lights button doesnt work (has worked twice in the past)
contacts/buttons were clickking , but i still changed them and they act the same. i have to press hard on them.
is it a transmitter issue? thanks

 

Where did you get the replacement switches?

1) Are they new, from a reputable source?

2) New, but who knows where they were made? China, etc?

3) Used, robbed from another fob?

From your description, it sounds like the replacements were no better than the existing ones.

You could also carefully inspect the circuit board for cold solder joints. Could be a bad joint only makes a proper connection when the board flexes while you press hard on a perfectly good switch.

 

The repair is done. The switches linked above were a perfect replacement.

The only tricky part was removing the old switches. They are surface mount (not through hole) and are held tight to the board. I tried using a small screwdriver to break the switch free while melting the solder, but all that did was pop off the cover and leave the base. Then I tried the tip of a utility knife blade, and that was able to get under there.

One other consideration is how to hold the circuit board. I held mine gingerly in a small drill press vise. You’ll need a small tip soldering iron for working in such close quarters. A magnifying glass is handy for inspecting the finished solder joints, too.

 

yup, good microcontacts , and i tested continuity on light pressure. Very sensitive.
soldering done right, shiny and solid.

what do you mean by cold solder joints?

 

That’s a solder joint that wasn’t heated properly, or moved while cooling. It will typically have a coarse or dull appearance. They are prone to cracking.

Even if the soldering you did was fine, some of the others could be bad. That’s why I suggested looking over the whole board with a magnifying glass.

 

If you do the job again I would recommend the use of a solder sucker/desoldering pump.
This would remove all the solder making it easy to then get under the switch.

They are very cheap to purchase and commonly available.

Mellow

 

who still uses the 4 button ford remote go get a flip key lol

 

I recently bought the PCM, cluster, key cylinder with one key, my mechanic is changing that parts to start the car again. As I bought it with one key i'm thinking of buying a flip key for daily use and keep Secure the original key and fob just in case I need it

 

so i swapped my engine and needed the 3.0 ecu and someone cloned my old immobiliser to the new ecu and i can run the same setup without changing keys , cluster and door module, and most important same door barrels and ignition

 

I have a 2001, couldn't find a person who can do that. I bought the pcm, cluster, and all barrels and ignition with key. What i have in mind to avoid changing all the barrels is after they get the car to start again I will make a copy of the new key that came with the kit and program it to the car, change back ignition cylinder to the original one and change the chip inside the key that I made the copy to my original key (i tryed just to swap the chip in the key, but the chip that came with the key in the kit won't come out, that's why I need the copy).

 

you could just keep the old blade whick openes the doors like a keychain to your new ignition key

 

less in my pocket, better for me 😉

 

UPDATE
Hi!
i have good news, and i will post the same on my topic as well since there are a lot of people with this type of problems that include hard working buttons or specific dead buttons, even though they replaced their micro contacts.

Today i dropped my key and i had to change a microcontact (button) that ceased to work.
While i was there i applied flux on all connections and used a 40W soldiering iron to refresh all connections including the chips, resistors and other small parts.
i had problems with my panic/lights button so i bridged the bottom left connection to its trace on the board, next to it.

key works wonders now. All buttons work and they work soft and with ease.
so my problem was some bad connection, most likely a cracked soldier point? Maybe.
but if you have those aforementioned problems with your fob, just reflow the board and voila

 

A little update, in case the vendor link (in post #3) goes dead in the future. The switches I used:

Alcoswitch (TE Connectivity) #8-1437565-1

Manufacturer link:

https://www.te.com/usa-en/product-8-1437565-1.html

Multiple vendors carry these switches. Search by the manufacturer part number above.

 

Thanks all for sharing, the switches can be bought off aliepxress as well:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005881540001.html

For that new remote feeling grab a new rubber pad :

Early S-Type 3 button
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005576140139.html

Late S-Type and X-Type 4 button
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004827871332.html

I recommend giving the board a thorough clean with rubbing alcohol. Also from the pics above you may need to add some flux which will assist the solder to flow better for a more reliable join. Here's a few that I've repaired ready for new owners: