MESO Minimalist Key fob

I had my flip fob key stuck in the closed position yesterday, try as I might pressing the flip button would only move it about an 1/8", I removed the set screw for the key, removed it and then followed MESO's video to disassemble the fob. I was at work and my tools in my truck, mainly my Allen wrenches to disassemble it. I couldn't find what caused the key to get stuck, I can only think that a piece of debris was stuck in between the fob and flip key mechanism. I didn't have the tin that came with the kit so I used what I had laying around at work, I got a staple, yes a single staple to hold the spring mechanism in place to reset it after winding it back. Assemble back together and now working again. From now on I'll carry the tin kit in the console in case this happens again. I did notice that the + on the fob body had some wear on it and the male nub inside had snapped off. There was some lube inside the spring mechanism, I'm going to use silicone grease in there to lube it since it does not feel as snappy as it did when I had it first assembled.

I had a Buick Verano that has a pretty similar flip fob and from what I can tell there is always some slop when the key is deployed so I was expecting some play when it is opened.

 

I did some investigating last night, which ultimately ended in me stabbing myself about 1/2” into my right thumb with the wire used to hold the spring mechanism in place. I could have done without that part of the process, but I think I got to the bottom of the spring issue.

I can tell you that the rewinding process of the spring mechanism is part of the issue. There IS such a thing as over-winding, and turning the female ‘+’ of the mechanism too far. The other part of it that I think SOME folks will experience is when the spring mechanism skips or hops over the male ‘+’ inside the case itself, the byproduct of misalignment and not tightening the center screw enough.

I think an important take-away for anyone assembling one of these keys is the following:

The buttons WILL fall out during assembly, which will make you insane as you try to balance the spring mechanism and key blade and try to get everything aligned. What I did was loosely thread the center screw with the button side of the fob facing down so the buttons don’t fall out. Once loosely threaded, I flipped the fob over and placed the spring/blade mechanism in place, careful to align it properly on the +, then snugged the center screw fully, placed the keychain ring in place, then installed the other two screws.

It’s easy to disorient the spring mechanism during final assembly, I’ve found. Then you pull the safety wire, everything seems fine, until you collapse the blade and press the button again, only to hear a slingshotting *SNAP*.

Cool product, no regrets, just takes some fineness and fine-tuning. Austin at MESO has been great about supporting the product post-sale so far, so I wouldn’t tell anyone on the fence NOT to buy the flipfob... even as someone who has both stabbed themself during the build process, AND cut myself, in addition to having destroyed one transponder, but more on that to come.

Matt
AuslanderVLV.com

 

Regarding the transponder...

I know I’m new here, but I’m the MESO to the Volvo community, both making parts and restoring vintage Volvos; Jay Leno often refers to me as “The Volvo Whisperer”.

With that out of the way, I made some calls yesterday to some of my key suppliers because I too make a key product for Volvos, basically an OEM style with a vastly improved design. Of the 30 or so calls I made, the best option I found was UHS Hardware, a wholesale to the public locksmith parts supplier. A genuine H Chip: https://www.uhs-hardware.com/products/chip-4d74-h

What I found is that a lot of locksmiths carry our keys, but they don’t carry that chips separately. Like I’ve mentioned before, as someone who has both stabbed and cut himself in the chip removal process, not to mention broken a chip, I could really do without that again, So I elected to buy a bare chip. UHS is legit, so I recommend them as a source. I’d highly recommend anyone in need of a reprogrammed transponder chip call around for a locksmith that handles Toyota keys. If you’re nice enough, most of them will agree to letting you bring a free-balling chip in and they will program it for you, from my findings, with the only requirement being that you bring your working keyfob in so they can program off of it.

 

I called around to a few locksmiths in my area. One locksmith harvests chips from used keys. He wants $20 for one if he can find one.

Another guy I spoke to had them in stock. He wanted $100! I told him "No thank you."

This other guy has generic chips that he can clone with one of my existing keys. He wants $23.

Anyways, if the chips from UHS-hardware.com are good to go without cloning, I'll just order one of those and program it to my truck myself. If they need to be cloned, then I'll just go to the $23 guy.

 

I ordered an oem H chip TOY44H key from ebay and plan to harvest the chip from it and program with techstream. The key was $14 shipped. My local locksmith wanted $75 just to program a chip i provided. Don't get me started on the dealer's greed

 

What's the PN on the key you ordered? The key I looked up for my truck lists for $27.67.

PN 897850D170

 

Same here, I needed to take it apart to file my unlock down a bit more. You just got to wiggle both the pin and the key around until it finds the slot and slips into place. Seems way easier than messing around with winding that spring.

 

I bought this guy. The description claims it works, we shall see.

 

Made some edits to my original post regarding the transponder chips... learned far more about key programming than I ever cared to.

Evelyn at UHS can be very helpful in lining you up with the correct part, so if you prefer the human touch, I’d recommend giving her a call: 800-878-6604, ext: 1512

Here’s a link to the correct, genuine, chip: https://www.uhs-hardware.com/products/chip-4d74-h

 

Yes... 4D74 is the chip I looked up. Well, ID74.

I just got back from a long walk to pick up a chip from the nearest locksmith to me. LOL! He charged me $20 +tax.

 

I just bought a used OEM key off eBay, going to try to use the transponder chip from that.

I'll probably try to program the FOB part as well, although I'm not sure if you can reprogram a FOB from another vehicle.

Funny how much we've all learned about programming keys and getting keys cut.

 

Yes you can. I successfully programmed the remote buttons to work on my truck using TechStream as well as the transponder for the immobilizer (though that was from a "new" fake key with lousy electronics which for the most part totally broke on me).

Make sure the battery is good. I had replacement batteries which didn't work, swapped back to the battery it came with and it was good to go. There's a diagnostic mode in TechStream which confirms that the signal is received and whether or not that remote is registered to the vehicle.

 

Nice, I only bought one, and if it works then I'll splurge on another. I really just wanted to get a known 'should work' transponder chip. If I can also get an OEM FOB to work then well worth the money.

 

Will UHS sell to an individual? Online checkout is asking for locksmith info...

 

I was able to find it at locksmithkeyless, and was able to checkout without needing locksmith info. I'll report back in a few days if I'm successful.

https://www.locksmithkeyless.com/co...ducts/texas-id-4d74-letter-h-128-bits-ceramic

 

@MESO when can we expect a refill of the regular (non-flip for smart keys) minimalist fobs in voodoo blue? I see most of the other colors got restocked last week.

 

Ok, here’s my second version of the painted buttons. Posting both here. I prefer the red button as I like the contrast. I like the way it turned out so it was worth the time and effort.

 

Definitely red FTW

 

Oh, also, put me down for another successful attempt at using the set pin before disassembly. It actually wasn't hard at all and you just need to insert it at an angle. Once you get it to go down, you'll know. You might not be able to get the pin to insert into the bottom hole but having it go through just the first hole will trap the spring set screw in place and will allow you to remove the blade assembly w/out having to reset the spring.

 

Yeah I was wondering why people weren’t inserting the pin before taking apart the fob. I’ve done it numerous times with ease.