Moonhowl
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2020
- Threads
- 5
- Messages
- 109
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- 245
- Location
- Western NY
- First Name
- Gordon
- Vehicle(s)
- 2020 GT Premium, 2018 Nissan Frontier, 2000 Harley
- Thread starter
- #1
Back in 2016, Libertos started a brilliant thread on how to reduce the size of the Mustang key fobs. Ford engineers designed the Mustang key fobs to be easily found at the bottom of a lady’s purse. They did not seem concerned that they would not fit in a man’s pants pocket.
Libertos’ solution was to remove the pc board and battery from the case, disable the push buttons, throw away the case, and wrap the battery and pc board with electrical tape and carry it in his wallet. Others took his idea a bit further, and designed 3D printed cases that were much more compact than Ford’s obese monstrosity.
I got my hands on the .STL files for the compact case, and had a friend 3D print on for me. I bought a spare key fob on eBay for $55, programmed it following the instructions in the owner’s manual, then after verifying that it worked, I cracked it open and removed the pc board and battery. That’s when I discovered that the board and battery would not fit in the mini case.
It appears that they changed the key fob design for 2018 - 2020. The board is bigger, and the new design uses one larger CR2450 battery instead of the two smaller ones in the previous design. The new design has both battery terminals attached to the same side of the circuit board. The old design had one of the terminals attached to the case.
I proceeded with my modification, even though I am not sure what I will do for a case. I removed the four surface Mount push buttons by grasping them with needle nose pliers from above and giving them a firm twist. I know I took a risk, but I was certain that they were simply normally open contacts and they were not completing any circuits when not pressed. I was right. I held the battery in place on the circuit board and my Mustang started right up.
Now that I know it works, all I have to do is figure out how to package it. If anyone has already done this and has a slim case designed, I would love to see it.
here are some pictures.
Libertos’ solution was to remove the pc board and battery from the case, disable the push buttons, throw away the case, and wrap the battery and pc board with electrical tape and carry it in his wallet. Others took his idea a bit further, and designed 3D printed cases that were much more compact than Ford’s obese monstrosity.
I got my hands on the .STL files for the compact case, and had a friend 3D print on for me. I bought a spare key fob on eBay for $55, programmed it following the instructions in the owner’s manual, then after verifying that it worked, I cracked it open and removed the pc board and battery. That’s when I discovered that the board and battery would not fit in the mini case.
It appears that they changed the key fob design for 2018 - 2020. The board is bigger, and the new design uses one larger CR2450 battery instead of the two smaller ones in the previous design. The new design has both battery terminals attached to the same side of the circuit board. The old design had one of the terminals attached to the case.
I proceeded with my modification, even though I am not sure what I will do for a case. I removed the four surface Mount push buttons by grasping them with needle nose pliers from above and giving them a firm twist. I know I took a risk, but I was certain that they were simply normally open contacts and they were not completing any circuits when not pressed. I was right. I held the battery in place on the circuit board and my Mustang started right up.
Now that I know it works, all I have to do is figure out how to package it. If anyone has already done this and has a slim case designed, I would love to see it.
here are some pictures.
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