2002 Chevrolet Malibu
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in San Diego

2002 Chevrolet Malibu Remote Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

A guy visiting family in the Santaluz area of Rancho Bernardo flagged me down on a Saturday afternoon. He had a 2002 Malibu and his fob had stopped locking the doors reliably. Sometimes it worked, sometimes nothing. The key still started the car fine.

First thing I asked was when he last swapped the battery. He said never. It was the original CR2032, still reading some voltage but not enough to transmit consistently at range. That alone explained the intermittent lock behavior.

New CR2032 in, and it came back about halfway. Better range, but the trunk release button was still dead. That told me the battery wasn't the whole story. I opened the fob housing on the hood of my van. One of the button contacts had a small tear in the rubber pad, right at the trunk button. Classic wear point on a fob this age.

Swapped the housing, transferred the board, confirmed all four buttons. Walked the car, tested lock, unlock, trunk, and the panic button from about thirty feet. Clean on every function.

He asked whether he should have gone to the dealer first. I told him what I tell everyone: the dealer would have sold him a new fob and programmed it, which would have worked, but cost him a good chunk more and required a trip across town. His original board was fine. It just needed a new home.

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