REPLACING THE KEY-FOB BATTERY & SPARE KEY

1

The key fob is opened by using a small flat-blade screwdriver and twisting – the battery casing will slide sideways and away. Ours has clearly been opened before, judging by its slightly butchered look. The battery was completely flat.

2

Here’s the battery casing showing the old CR2032 lithium battery, available from most places for less than £3. These batteries are 3-volt and, even with a new one fitted, the lock/unlock function is still a bit hit-and-miss.

3

You can see here the two contacts where the 3-volt battery sits. Before fitting the new battery, tweak the contacts out slightly and give them a wipe with a bit of contact cleaner on a rag.

4

Compared to the remote-locking key-fobs from other makes, the Fiesta remote fob isn’t that good, requiring you to hold down the button as you walk up to the car. It doesn’t just instantly lock or unlock the doors – we generally just operated the key manually into the locks!

5

Our Fiesta came without a spare key. We could have paid a fortune for a new one at Ford, but we had one cloned from the existing key at a High Street locksmith for £45. Worryingly, no ID is needed for copying a key when doing this, just like a set of house keys.