if you have to get one programed you might do as I did and had them do it when it was in for other stuff and they did not charge me to program them. And yes I no I got lucky but it worth a try.

 

I asked the Chevy dealer how much to do my new keyfob when they did the airbag SDM, they said $50 extra. The Buick dealer said n/c he's in there anyway. Guess who gets my business.

 

i bought this car in april 2012 and the 2nd fob has never worked. since the previous owner stated that they went to the dealer and they couldnt fix it i just 'assumed' yeah i know never do that, i just dealt with one fob. then i ran across this how to and i fixed another cars fob issue. THANKS! and i just didnt get to fix this one. i FINALLY DID IT TODAY!! it needed all the fixes you suggested. i soldered the battery holder then cleaned the contacts. it worked when i rubbed the contact with alcohol then i put the fob together i had to press REAL hard for it to work so apart it came again. i added some tin foil and folded a few times, did not use glue, and it works perfectly now!!

THANK YOU ALL!!!!

 

Part of me wonders if this is a form of "planned obsolescence". The contacts don't break until you separate the key fob, and when they do, the battery "holder" snaps apart.

Not to make it acceptable, but a number cruncher somewhere thought it was an acceptable tradeoff. And you wonder why GM went bankrupt?

(BTW: This happened to me with my second key fob. I managed to get the battery re-seated and attached at the top of the "U".)

 

Yes, it's all a conspiracy - all part of the master plan.

 

the thing is that we now have sites like this to retain some of our money!!!

 

Here's a couple of questions for those that are in the know...........

My first FOB stopped working (2009 HHR) and my other one doesn't seem to have that good of range anymore. I pulled the first one apart and had to re-solder (thanks for this thread), but here's the question.

Since the first one wasn't working (and still doesn't work), do you have to get them reprogrammed since things were disconnected for a while?

My last question is this....... since my 2nd FOB seems weak, I'm thinking it's a low battery, but has anyone replaced their battery without seeing the low battery display in the DIC? and did it help?

Thanks in advance

 

After the solder fix with battery removed you DO NOT have to reprogram. The key fob should work.

I have had low range in my key fobs without any low batt warning on the DIC and a new battery has restored my range, but I would check the solder connections while it is apart as that may be adding to the low range.

 

After repaired the solder joints (which were separated in two places) and replacing the battery, it all works great.

A big thank go out to those of you on this forum, that post up helpful info like this!

 

Had one fob that worked only intermittently. Found one bad solder joint, the one to the left of center as you look at it. Repaired that one, the other two appeared to be pretty solid, so I didn't touch them. Put a new battery in while I was there, works great now.