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Key in the washing!!

1423 Views 13 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  Top Down, 
samlcampbell
My wife has just put the spare key through the washing. I dried it out as best I could but it will not work. Any suggestions?:rolleyes:
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M
Key Repair

AutoLocksmith.uk.com repaired my wifes Panda electronic key for about £35. very good service, you can phone them on 0333 444 0644
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Elfred
Train her to check and empty your pockets before doing your washing.:p

Oh and put the key in a tupperware box filled with dry rice for 24 hrs.
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JON156VELOCE
Might be time for you to take out seperate key insurance for about £30, then in a few months time, should you 'loose' your keys, maybe at a beach, leaving you with only your spare they will pay the £400 bill for a new one....;)
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samlcampbell
Thanks for suggestions, and thanks to the hot weather on holiday the key is now recognised and starts the car. It also unlocks it and opens the boot, but won't lock the car again. Any new bright ideas before I have to spend money?
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coxy1
Not tried it myself but,

If you press the unlock again and don't open the doors for 30 seconds it may lock the car, the same way it does from locked.

Not a long term solution I know, but it may give you more time if it works before you have to bite the bullet
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beau_147
can you strip the key down at all?

in the past i have removed the battery, sprayed lots of electrical contact cleaner all over the components inside, left it to dry for a long while, then put it back together with new battery, and its worked fine
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coxy1
HaHa !

It does relock the car by pressing the unlock button, but it takes about 2.5 mins. However it does not appear to turn the alarm on though.

It does on mine anyway, but knowing Alfa who knows. Not ideal I know.
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samlcampbell
Worse now. I followed a helpful guide by Zagatom in this forum to dismantle and clean up any contacts. One of the wee black square components with lots of legs had a lot of green dirt around which I brushed off. Seems now one of the legs has disintegrated and now it wont lock or unlock or open the boot. It does still start the car. Not sure what will happen if I try to unlock it manually after locked and alarmed by the working key. Will try in the morning.
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coxy1
samlcampbell said:
Worse now. I followed a helpful guide by Zagatom in this forum to dismantle and clean up any contacts. One of the wee black square components with lots of legs had a lot of green dirt around which I brushed off. Seems now one of the legs has disintegrated and now it wont lock or unlock or open the boot. It does still start the car. Not sure what will happen if I try to unlock it manually after locked and alarmed by the working key. Will try in the morning.
Click to expand...
It will shout at you.
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jack_mccain
ha - been there, done that. Mine (super clean one) sits now away from the car without the battery as it was (is?) opening it by itself. Have not tried to clean it or exchange.
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samlcampbell
OK so it shouts and needs the good key to shut it up. Next bright idea, is it possible to copy the lock unlock signal from the good key on to any other sort of key, and the broken key can still be used to start the engine?
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coxy1
samlcampbell said:
OK so it shouts and needs the good key to shut it up. Next bright idea, is it possible to copy the lock unlock signal from the good key on to any other sort of key, and the broken key can still be used to start the engine?
Click to expand...
It needs to be brand new key not a second had eBay jobbie, don't waste you money.

Buy all accounts its quite a cleaver or tricky system to copy keys to, I have found someone who says they would try. This involved removing body computers and the like and still no guarantee I would work, all in theory stuff.

£400 ish from the dealer or key insurance, bit off a wait and he prosto I lost my key or bugger me its gone through the washer.
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Top Down
samlcampbell said:
My wife has just put the spare key through the washing. I dried it out as best I could but it will not work. Any suggestions?:rolleyes:
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You think you have a problem, friends husband put both their iphones in the washing machine last week!:lol:
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