Member Since: 07 Aug 2010
Location: Essex
Posts: 42
LR DIII Ignition key rechargeable battery - just replaced
Hi all,
I just replaced the rechargeable battery in my LR DIII remote key fob as it was not holding charge & thought if anyone is interested I can put up some text on what I did along with some pics of the process.
It's not rocket science but it does need a bit of skill & technical ability but it works fine for me & has saved the aggro of buying a new remote, driving 20 miles to the dealer & getting fleeced by them for 5 mins work to pair the new remote to the car.
Like I said, if people want to read it & see the pics let me know & I will post.
Cheers
11th Mar 2011 12:23 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72740
Please post.
11th Mar 2011 12:38 pm
D3fella
Member Since: 07 Aug 2010
Location: Essex
Posts: 42
LR DIII Ignition key rechargeable battery - just replaced
OK, here goes, hope this is of use.
I just replaced the rechargeable battery in my LR DIII remote key fob as it was not holding charge & thought I'd share a few points & pics with other members incase anyone else needs to do the same thing. I've also added a couple of gallery pics for people to see & hopefully understand the points I have highlighted.
Firstly, the remote key fob is sealed with a waterproof resin/glue so I started by running the blunt edge of a butter knife around the groove that separates the 2 halves to get all of the dirt, grease etc out & to give me as much purchase in terms of sliding an edge into the groove as possible.
Then, by flicking open the key itself I put a flat blade screwdriver into the end of the fob where the key protrudes & worked the blade into the gap. It is very well sealed & feels like it won't open but if you are careful, take your time & work the edge in gradually it will result in the key casing starting to open as the resin seal splits.
Once this had happened I then ran a butter knife edge (smooth, rounded, no sharp edge) around the entire case where the 2 parts join & this started to separate the 2 halves, eventually after working it back & forth I opened the key without damaging the casing at all.
When the 2 halves separate you will find that the spring cam mechanism that "loads" the tension on the key shaft to make it spring out when the button is pressed will rotate 360 deg & lose it's tension. This is not a probelm as when you reassemble the key all you have to do is make sure you reassemble in the exact same way then rotate the key against the spring tension to "re-arm" it so that it springs out when actioned.
Battery Replacement.
I looked online and found the replacement battery, a Panasonic VL2330 1HFE & purchased it from www.cellpacksolutions.com, cost me incl postage around 8 quid. This arrived 4 days later.
Removing the old battery
If you look at the pic of the printed circuit board (PCB) within the key fob in the gallery you will see 2 soldered legs at 10 o'clock & 2 o'clock positions (PCB labelled C16 & C15 in white writing underneath the legs). These hold the battery terminals into the board & give it it's power connectivity. To remove the old you need a good quality, fine tipped soldering iron &, I would suggest a solder sucker. Heat the solder points & remove the old solder using the sucker being careful not to place too much heat on the board & doing as fast as possible to avoid any damage. Once both legs have the solder removed you can gently ease the old battery out of it's holder & discard it. To fit the new battery simply reverse the process & re-solder the legs in position.
This exercise took me approx 5 mins & providing you are comfortable with a soldering iron & haven't got hands like boxing gloves you should be fine.
Then I cleaned the key casing edges of all old glue & residual dirt, reassembled the key mechanism remembering to tension the spring on the pop out key function & tested the new battery. This worked without any problems, no need to be reprogrammed & I have noticed immediately the difference in arming range when locking compared to the old battery.
To seal the key fob casing I then ran a very fine bead of waterproof silicon around the inner edges & then placed glue spots every few millimetres around the casing edges before pushing the 2 halves together. Then I added a couple of strong cable ties around the casing for an hour to give the casing a good squeeze whilst the glue set & that was it, job done.
For me personally a very easy job to do as I am fairly engineering/electronically minded but some others may prefer to go the safe route & pay for a new fob & then for the dealer to programme it.
I am sure there are people out there who have different views on this exercise & whether it should or shouldnt be done & how best to do it but this is how I've completed it for under 10 quid & with less than 45 minutes effort.
There is also the arguement that my key may not be waterproof as per factory standard, all I can say is it is sealed, robust, works absolutely fine for my use & as I am not going swimming with it in my shorts it's not an issue for me. Horses for courses as they say.........
Happy to answer any questions on it if asked but I think the above description should cover just about all relevant points.
Well done; I just hope you won't have my experience, which is that the fault was in the charging circuit, so that I had to replace the entire fob a few months later, when the new battery had discharged.Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana
Member Since: 14 May 2012
Location: gwent
Posts: 11
just followed your link on the remote and have oprdered a new battery £8.88. just hope my hand is steady enough. cheers guys.
9th Sep 2012 9:56 pm
PerthDisco
Member Since: 21 Jun 2010
Location: Perth
Posts: 85
Many thanks as I have a dead key also.
Can you confirm if you have to glue when putting back together or does it just 'click' into place.
Thanks
10th Sep 2012 1:59 am
maplecottage
Member Since: 01 Feb 2011
Location: Norfolk
Posts: 3171
Afraid you'll have to glue it
Did mine some 18 months ago, been perfect ever since. Just be aware that you will lose the water ingress integrity so don't drop it down the loo (dunny !)
Steve
10th Sep 2012 9:07 am
MrHolloway
Member Since: 06 Jun 2013
Location: Margate
Posts: 134
Hi.... I did this today... The car locks and unlocks like before so now working. Although it won't start the car any ideas? Seems an immobiliser issue
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