Hello all.
I am the (justifiably) proud owner of a 1999 Xantia which I love. However, I am less than fond of the key, whose rubber remote locking buttons are gradually disintigrating. I can still lock the car thankfully, but it's beginning to hurt my finger tips!!!! A Citroen dealer (the bigger, the more useless) has told me that the whole thing needs replacing and reprogramming blah blah blah, and that this is going to cost me over £80!
Does anyone know of a cheaper way of getting round this? Is it possible to get hold of a new key outer 'case' and then transfer the innards?
Any info would be gratefully received!
Alex.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 03/12/2008 at 10:14
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My old Xantia's keys disintegrated - although the circuit boards fell apart too and they stopped working. A friend of mine who is a superb technician resoldered all the tiny joints and brought them back to life.
The perished rubber is something else! You do actually get key fob cases to buy. CPC the big components firm in Preston (www.cpc.co.uk) have some in their catalogue and Maplins might do something similar. You might find it difficult getting everything to fit though. Again, a friendly technician who is good with a fine soldering iron should be able to sort this out for you.
I landed up tearing off all the rubber from the plastic case and very carefully filled around the 'button' with 'Plastic Padding'. A touch of black paint finished it off. Unfortunately, I didn't keep the car long after that so I'm not sure how well it would have stood up.
Graeme
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"A Citroen dealer (the bigger, the more useless) has told me that the whole thing needs replacing and reprogramming blah blah blah, and that this is going to cost me over £80!"
Absolute Rubbish!!!!
Whoever told you that wants a good slapping with a wet trout!!
For about a fiver, my local Citroen Dealer - Yeomans of Plymouth (01752) 226633, changed the outer casing of mine. It was like having a brand new key!
All they did was change the blade and put the electrical bits to the new case.
Go and tell them from me that if they can't get it right - should pack up and go home!
H
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I never thought to ask the Cit dealer - you get so brainwashed into thinking ££££££ you eventually don't even bother to ask!! Too bad - sold the car last year :-)
That's right though, Hugo - the whole innards just slide out and in the case. If the shells are available, changing the electronics would be a doddle.
Graeme
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The rubber surround on my Xantia key also disintegrated a while back leaving the circuits exposed. When I contacted my local dealer (in Watford) they went through the £80+vat scenario, so I left it.
I'll call them again and just ask for the "outer casing" and see what they have to say - if 1 dealer can sell them, then surely they all must do?
Chad
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Thanks very much for the advice people. I was a bit hesitant to take the key apart, since I'm annoyed that it wore out so easily in the first place (I'd probably have smashed it to bits with a hammer in rage!). But after calls to four seperate dealers to source a new case, I did just that anyway (not 'smash it to bits' but 'take it apart'). And I have managed to find one more garage who seem to think they'll be able to help (I think me insulting the others persuaded them!). I'm going tomorrow morning to force them to sell me the bits I want, after all, if I lost the dust cap from one of my tyre valves I wouldn't want selling a whole new axle would I?!
Alex.
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hello AlexD,
i have same problem. here in Greece independend original citroen parts dealer sells only rubber cover. each bag contents 2 covers (original). did not ask price. Whole key costs euro88.00. sure you can find parts shop to buy them. good luck. Nikos
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