I noticed the aftermarket offers "upgrade" or "modified" key fobs that accept our key blanks and circuit boards, so I decided to give it a try to replace one of my fobs with crumbling buttons.
They come in a few different styles, 2, 3, 4, and 5 buttons, with or without circuit boards, and with recess for either Chevy or Buick logos on the back.
They don't come with the logos. You have to pry that off of another or the old fob to glue onto the new ones.
The one I got didn't come with a circuit board, but did have an uncut key blank installed.
The original fobs are glued together, so you have to very carefully cut/break it open to pull the circuit board out.
Just be sure not to damage the circuit board.
This will destroy the original fob housing.
The new housing is held together with 3 screws.
The new fob is slightly longer and thicker than the original, about the same width.
It's also noticeably heavier than the original because of the much larger chromed metal section on the right side.
The roll pin that holds the key blank in was a bit tougher to remove and install on the new fob, compared to the original. I did have to shave a small bit of metal off of my original key blank to allow the pin to more easily reinstall.
They don't appear to offer this "upgrade" shell with a remote start emblem on the 4-button style, it has the trunk release symbol instead, but if you swap circuit boards it still functions the same as the original.
The key ring loop at the bottom is considerably thinner than the original, which is nice.
The new style housing seems to have better quality buttons that hopefully wont crack and tear out like the originals do, and it has a small raised lip around them, to possibly help prevent accidental triggering.
Overall, I like it. We will see how it holds up long-term.
Not bad for less than $10 spent.
Got mine from Ebay.
They come in a few different styles, 2, 3, 4, and 5 buttons, with or without circuit boards, and with recess for either Chevy or Buick logos on the back.
They don't come with the logos. You have to pry that off of another or the old fob to glue onto the new ones.
The one I got didn't come with a circuit board, but did have an uncut key blank installed.
The original fobs are glued together, so you have to very carefully cut/break it open to pull the circuit board out.
Just be sure not to damage the circuit board.
This will destroy the original fob housing.
The new housing is held together with 3 screws.
The new fob is slightly longer and thicker than the original, about the same width.
It's also noticeably heavier than the original because of the much larger chromed metal section on the right side.
The roll pin that holds the key blank in was a bit tougher to remove and install on the new fob, compared to the original. I did have to shave a small bit of metal off of my original key blank to allow the pin to more easily reinstall.
They don't appear to offer this "upgrade" shell with a remote start emblem on the 4-button style, it has the trunk release symbol instead, but if you swap circuit boards it still functions the same as the original.
The key ring loop at the bottom is considerably thinner than the original, which is nice.
The new style housing seems to have better quality buttons that hopefully wont crack and tear out like the originals do, and it has a small raised lip around them, to possibly help prevent accidental triggering.
Overall, I like it. We will see how it holds up long-term.
Not bad for less than $10 spent.
Got mine from Ebay.
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