Just thought I would share this little write up in case anyone else has a RKE (Remote Keyless Entry) that is driving them bonkers.

So my wife's 2000 had a somewhat useless at best RKE fob. You could sometimes get the thing to work by mashing the button and holding for 5 second, sometimes you had to barely touch the buttons to get a response, but the other 90% of the time you were button mashing like a 10 year old playing Mortal Kombat.

Last week I picked up one of those Autopartzone store knockoff housing kits that comes with new batteries and new rubber buttons. To put it mildly, it sucks and was a waste of money. The rubber buttons were a different thickness than the original, and it just seemed quirky to mess with. Plus it doesn't have the super cool Jeep logo embossed on it.

So today while at my favorite junkyard I found a 99 XJ and poked my head in to scope out the future parts purchases. First thing I noticed was this slime grungy fob laying in the passenger seat. So I snatched that bad boy up like a winning power ball ticket and ran off to give the clerk my $5 before anyone else could discover my evil plans.

The plan was to clean both my wife's original fob, the new dirt ball fob, and use the best of both to make one working fob.

The parts Jeep also had the dome light with the corresponding receiver for the RKE in it as well, so I will go back for that soon. I'm confident after all of today's cleaning that I can use the second setup to retrofit my XJ with RKE since it did not come with it originally.

So enough jibber jabber. I'll try to walk you through the process.

First thing find a nasty old factory key fob. It helps to do this job on an old towel or washcloth. Makes things easier to see and keeps small parts from bouncing into the twilight zone.


Next, look for the wide slot on the plastic housing to seperation the two halves. Insert a large flathead or thick coin like a nickel and gently pry the two halves apart.


Carefully pull the rubber button boot out along with the motherboad. Give special care not to rip the rubber, as it is quite thin and can be stuck in due to the years of junk buildup.


Next up, simply remove the motherboard assembly from the rubber button boot.


The clear plastic sheet that goes between the motherboard and rubber boot should just slide right off. If it doesnt, you may have to coax it off with a few drops of rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip.

Next step, carefully pry the two batteries out of the battery slot. The three plastic tabs that hold them in are usually pretty forgiving, but try not to snap them off. Also give care not to tweak and bend the metal spring mechanism the rests under the batteries and contacts the motherboard. There is absolutely no need to remove the spring clip, so just leave it in place.


Lay all the pieces out on the cloth and inspect for things like cracks and chips. Rust or missing parts.




To clean things up, use some mild dish soap like plain Dawn to clean the plastic housings and the rubber boot. Let them sit for a long while to dry out or use some canned air to blow them dry.

Use Q-tips and rubbing alcohol to clean the motherboard and the clear plastic contact sheet. Let them sit and dry for a while too or hit them with a little canned air.

You can also use the Q-tips and alcohol to clean out the small nooks and crevices that were missed by the dish soap scrub.





Once everything is clean and dry, assembly is just a reverse process of the disassembly. Carefully fit all the pieces back together how they came apart and don't force things. You'll be amazed at how much better your "new" factory RKE fob works compared to your "old" one.

 

Excellent write-up with photos and a good reference for many to see.


Thanks for posting!

 

No problem at all. I love doing "how to" write ups like this.

I will definitely do some more. I'll be doing a bunch of heater work soon, so I'll make sure to get a good how to with tons of pics when I start that job.