I have a Skoda Ambiente Estate 2004 plate. The remote control key fob or central locking key fob stopped working and I had to open and start the car with the key.
To repair, I dismantled the whole key fob until I was left with just the PCB (printed circuit board) part of the key. This is held in with two little "knobs" of plastic in two of the corners. You can cut the tops of these off with a blade and pop it out of the key housing. You should be left with a green piece of silicon board with a few very small grey box like components on one side and two micro buttons on the other. To the more technically minded, this is the PCB.
I then wrapped just the printed circuit board in tin foil tightly to ensure that any electronic components that were loose or could come loose were held in place. I then heated an oven to 190 degrees centigrade and put the tin foil package in the oven for 8 minutes.
After it cooled, I assembled all the parts back together. I had to bend the metal contacts for the battery out a little bit as they were not making proper contact with the circuit board. These are easy to find as they are on the opposite side of the key to where the PCB goes. Get a small knife underneath and bend both sets of wire out a few millimetres.
The alternative to this was a new key for £130 from the stealers….errr I mean dealers.
Hope this works for many MANY more people
Alan from East Midlands
Billysmart69(at)hotmail dot com
Alan, April 2010
