Not So Fob-u-lous

 

Not So Fob-u-lous

 

My 2018 Honda HR-V has a keyless start system.  As long as your key fob is with you, all you need to do is press the start button.  To enter the car, the door will unlock when you pull the handle, also as long as the key fob is with you. It is a very nice system.

Except.

What happens when the battery on the key fob runs out?

Today I tried to open the door, but it remained locked.  Pushing the unlock button did work, and the car did start, but I suspected the battery was running low.  I tested with the spare key fob, and everything was dead on that fob. 

I googled and found the key fob battery generally only will last 2-3 years. 

My battery was way overdue.

Not wanting to get stuck unable to enter or start my car due to a dead key fob battery, I ran to the internet again. 

It turns out the battery I need is the same as the one in my bathroom scale, so I figured I would just swap out batteries until I could buy a new one.

I consulted the internet on how to change the battery.  It seemed simple enough, pop open the key fob, pop out the battery, replace it and close-up the key fob.

Mrs. C was at work, so I decided to try the battery switch on the spare fob so if I case I screwed something up, she would not need to know. 

Mrs. C thinks I am incapable of simple fixes. 

She may be right.

I popped open the fob and popped out the battery.  When I did this, all the fob innards, buttons and such also popped out.  This was not good. I had no idea how to put all the pieces back together again.

Back to Mr. Google.

I found a tutorial on how to put a Honda key fob back together.

The tutorial started,

“Often people when changing the battery will not hold the fob together with their thumb…here…like so.  If they don’t do that, pieces will all fall out and you will have a mess!”

Why did the first tutorial on battery changing not specify that little piece of information?

With the help of this tutorial, and with much fumbling and cursing, I was able to put the backup fob back together with the bathroom scale battery, and everything worked as it should.

Now I need to purchase another battery for the main key fob.  I’ll know how to change it, but Mrs. C will not trust me to not screw it up.

Should I admit that I already screwed up on the backup key fob and was finally able to put it back together so I now know how to do it correctly, or should I just take it to the dealer and pay someone to do it for me?

It might seem like a waste of money to take it to the dealer, but I think I would prefer to not admit to screwing it up on my first attempt.

I may be incompetent, but I am not stupid!