In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote:

2008 Impala.

Hard to believe that the standard "double twist" of the key in the
driver's door doesn't unlock them all.

On 02/10/2011 11:21 PM, Smitty Two wrote:
In ,
Nate wrote:

2008 Impala.

Hard to believe that the standard "double twist" of the key in the
driver's door doesn't unlock them all.

How would that work if the battery's dead? (I don't know if it does at
all; I usually use the fob and don't remember anything about that in the
manual)

actually have had dead battery in car once when something went bad in
shifter mech and key would not turn past "acc" - drained batt. in a
couple hours

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote:

On 02/10/2011 11:21 PM, Smitty Two wrote:
In ,
Nate wrote:

2008 Impala.

Hard to believe that the standard "double twist" of the key in the
driver's door doesn't unlock them all.

How would that work if the battery's dead? (I don't know if it does at
all; I usually use the fob and don't remember anything about that in the
manual)

actually have had dead battery in car once when something went bad in
shifter mech and key would not turn past "acc" - drained batt. in a
couple hours

nate

Completely dead, no, but I've never had a battery go so dead that an
accessory item like an electric lock wouldn't work. Usually when someone
says "dead battery" in a car, they mean too weak to supply cranking
current to the starter.

zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Thu, 10 Feb 2011 10:02:56 -0600, Jim Yanik wrote:

" wrote in
:

On Wed, 09 Feb 2011 07:07:56 -0500, mm
wrote:

On Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:45:10 -0600, "
wrote:

On Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:29:16 -0500, aemeijers
wrote:

On 2/8/2011 12:40 PM, Neill Massello wrote:
wrote:

Fancy. Just un-screw the ball.
Which gradually occurs by itself over time until, one day, the
keys fly all over the place when you pull the ring out of your
pocket. Not fun in a dark parking lot.

I'll repeat the advice that others have given the OP: get another
copy of your car key; put it on a small, plain ring by itself with
a tag listing the make, model, and color of your car; and use that
whenever you need to hand over your car for service, cleaning, or
parking.

Good solution for an older car, but anything recent, those damn
smart keys are expensive.
At least Ford smart keys aren't all that expensive as long as you buy
the spare while you still have at least two others. I think the last
one I bought was $12. With only one it they can get $75, or so.
Weird. Is this in person? Can you borrow a neighbor's second key so
it looks like you have two?
No. If you have two, you can reprogram the third yourself using the
car's computer (it's somewhat of a pain, but the instructions are in
the owner's manual). They just cut the keys (blanks aren't
expensive). If you only have one, they have to do it and they'll
likely ding you for an hour labor.

I don't believe that is true for all makes of autos.

I said, Ford. I'm sure some screw you over worse.

Some locksmiths can now program chipped key blanks,again for certain makes
only.

With a Ford, anyway, it's not the key that gets programmed. The car's
computer has to be told that the key is valid. Two keys or a third party (the
dealership) is how it determines "programming rights". Maybe Ford allows
locksmiths to have the secret handshake that allows single key (or no key)
programming, don't know.

By coincidence there is a thread on alt.locksmithing with info on Ford
transponder keys
http://preview.tinyurl.com/4bverq7
message 4
The message will not be archived and will disappear Feb 17

--
bud--

On Fri, 11 Feb 2011 04:55:28 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote:

On 02/10/2011 11:21 PM, Smitty Two wrote:
In ,
Nate wrote:

2008 Impala.

Hard to believe that the standard "double twist" of the key in the
driver's door doesn't unlock them all.

How would that work if the battery's dead? (I don't know if it does at
all; I usually use the fob and don't remember anything about that in the
manual)

actually have had dead battery in car once when something went bad in
shifter mech and key would not turn past "acc" - drained batt. in a
couple hours

nate

Completely dead, no, but I've never had a battery go so dead that an
accessory item like an electric lock wouldn't work. Usually when someone
says "dead battery" in a car, they mean too weak to supply cranking
current to the starter.

I have. Once I mistakenly installed two burglar alarms in the same
car.

Another time, I think I had a constant load of some kind for a a
month. I tried half-heartedly to find it but before I did, it went
away on its own.

How could I mistakennly install two burglar alarms you might ask. I
thought the second was just an attachment to the first, to radio a
beeper to tell me the alarm had gone off. It turned out to be an
entire alarm with that level of battery drain, but I didnt' notice
that until I started having battery problems.

But for the last 10 or more years, I've used a Battery Buddy, which
disconnects the battery before it discharges too much. They don't
make them anymore but the Battery Brain is very similar. I just open
the hood, press the big red button, and the car will start.

The Battery Brain has a more expensive model that will let you reset
the Brain from inside the car, and will also let you disconnect the
battery when you leave the car, if theft is a concern. I always have
a way of disabling the hood release if I have to leave the car a long
time in one place I don't want to leave it.

On Thu, 10 Feb 2011 21:32:25 -0500, Nate Nagel
wrote:

On 02/08/2011 06:33 PM, mm wrote:
On Tue, 8 Feb 2011 10:20:10 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Feb 7, 11:26 pm, wrote:
On 2/7/2011 10:21 PM, mm wrote:





On Mon, 7 Feb 2011 10:57:45 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Feb 7, 1:41 pm, wrote:
On Mon, 7 Feb 2011 08:57:11 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

86805T39
Zinc-Plated Steel Split Ring, 1.159" ID
In stock at $8.61 per Pack
This product is sold in Packs of 25

the pic shows the kind I don't like, the heavier gauge wire with only
2 turns, that tend to get "sprung" easily

OTOH how about a spare for the mechanic?

might just have to ask him next time I take car in, but the ones they
use are pretty small in diameter unlike a "normal" key ring of 1" or
1.25" or so

I know they exist as I have *one* but it came with car

So buy another car.

I've been using the ones you don't like for 50 years and I've never
had one come close to springing. Just stop putting big coins with
holes in the middle on them and use them for keys only.

Some of my keys are similarly large, is the problem. I can't stop
carrying those. For some reason auto mfgrs. in particular seem to
like to make keys have goofy big plastic heads with the holes in them
far away from the edge of the key.

I have a car too, with a big key.

Have you actually sprung a second key ring, or do they just look like
the one that broke? If so, buy a third one somewhere else and it
maybe be different.

Drill another hole closer to the edge. Make sure you won't hit an
electronic chip.

nate

Ooh! A pet peeve of mine! Those idiotic combined-key-and-remote-fob
monsters Chrysler used in mid-80s. They musta thought only people
carrying purses bought their minivans. Damn thing is so big (almost like
a serving spoon), and the ring loop is in such a bad spot, there is no
way for a normal male to keep a ring with that on it in his pants pocket.

A previous dealer/lienholder had kept the 2nd fob key somewhere in the
chain, so I had to waste 130 bucks on the way home getting 2 more keys
with normal size heads. (If you only have one chip key, ya hafta get the
magic number from dealer, and go to a locksmith with the machine.)

Of course, since they assume everyone will carry the silly huge key with
the buttons, they only put a lock cylinder on driver's door and hatch,
which is a constant PITA. I automatically hit the 'unlock' button when I
get out now, so I can load stuff when I come back to car, without
setting stuff down on the (usually wet around here) ground.

Never understood the appeal of button key fobs. You are standing at the
car door anyway. Is sticking the key in the lock such a difficult process?- Hide quoted text -

Apparently. My company car has no lock cylinder for the trunk lid,
and to make matters worse, the buttons for the rear doors are at the
rear of the doors not the front, so if the battery goes dead, here is
the procedure for retrieving the jumper cables:

1) unlock driver's door with key
2) climb into back seat
3) unlock rear door
4) climb out again
5) fold down rear seat back
6) pull out milk crate with emergency supplies
7) retrieve jumper cables

really? This is progress?

nate

What make and model??

2008 Impala.

Bummer. I like Impalas. (At least the '66 Impala. I've sort of lost
track since then.)

I'll be sure to avoid it, and check other cars to make sure they're
not made this way.


nate

On Wed, 09 Feb 2011 23:06:12 -0600, "
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Feb 2011 07:07:56 -0500, mm wrote:

On Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:45:10 -0600, "
wrote:

On Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:29:16 -0500, aemeijers wrote:

On 2/8/2011 12:40 PM, Neill Massello wrote:
wrote:

Fancy. Just un-screw the ball.

Which gradually occurs by itself over time until, one day, the keys fly
all over the place when you pull the ring out of your pocket. Not fun in
a dark parking lot.

I'll repeat the advice that others have given the OP: get another copy
of your car key; put it on a small, plain ring by itself with a tag
listing the make, model, and color of your car; and use that whenever
you need to hand over your car for service, cleaning, or parking.


Good solution for an older car, but anything recent, those damn smart
keys are expensive.

At least Ford smart keys aren't all that expensive as long as you buy the
spare while you still have at least two others. I think the last one I bought
was $12. With only one it they can get $75, or so.

Weird. Is this in person? Can you borrow a neighbor's second key so
it looks like you have two?

No. If you have two, you can reprogram the third yourself using the car's
computer (it's somewhat of a pain, but the instructions are in the owner's
manual). They just cut the keys (blanks aren't expensive). If you only have
one, they have to do it and they'll likely ding you for an hour labor.

Thanks. My little mind would never have come up with something this
complicated.

On Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:52:08 -0500, mm wrote:

On Wed, 09 Feb 2011 23:06:12 -0600, "
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Feb 2011 07:07:56 -0500, mm wrote:

On Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:45:10 -0600, "
wrote:

On Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:29:16 -0500, aemeijers wrote:

On 2/8/2011 12:40 PM, Neill Massello wrote:
wrote:

Fancy. Just un-screw the ball.

Which gradually occurs by itself over time until, one day, the keys fly
all over the place when you pull the ring out of your pocket. Not fun in
a dark parking lot.

I'll repeat the advice that others have given the OP: get another copy
of your car key; put it on a small, plain ring by itself with a tag
listing the make, model, and color of your car; and use that whenever
you need to hand over your car for service, cleaning, or parking.


Good solution for an older car, but anything recent, those damn smart
keys are expensive.

At least Ford smart keys aren't all that expensive as long as you buy the
spare while you still have at least two others. I think the last one I bought
was $12. With only one it they can get $75, or so.

Weird. Is this in person? Can you borrow a neighbor's second key so
it looks like you have two?

No. If you have two, you can reprogram the third yourself using the car's
computer (it's somewhat of a pain, but the instructions are in the owner's
manual). They just cut the keys (blanks aren't expensive). If you only have
one, they have to do it and they'll likely ding you for an hour labor.

Thanks. My little mind would never have come up with something this
complicated.

It's not really that complicated. To keep a valet, for instance, from
duplicating a key, two keys are needed (the owner isn't likely to turn two
keys over to the valet) or a trusted person (the dealership or locksmith) to
validate the key to the ignition. Validating a key is sort of a pain because
the user-interface is pretty bad (turn signals, heater controls, and check
engine light, IIRC), but it's just a matter of following directions.