Yep, most Honda key fob battery replacement (and Toyota Prius' as well) work in the same way. the door key is the wedge to open the fob. I replace the batteries in both fobs at the same time. As you stated, you can buy two to a pack. Its cheap insurance. I have not checked, but if the fob works like Toyota's then you can still start the car by touching a dead key fob to the start button.
Key fob battery replacement
After two and a half years my key fob battery needed replacement. It still worked but there was a message on the dash whenever I started the car telling me that it needed to be replaced
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I drove it for a few days with this message, but I didn't want to push my luck so I used my spare fob for a few days until I had a chance to replace the battery.
The owners manual has fairly adequate instructions about replacing the battery:
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Yes it's pretty simple, but these fobs are expensive and I wanted a better idea what to expect when I took the fob apart to avoid accidentally damaging it. I looked online and I found some general YouTube videos for Honda key fob battery replacement and that gave me a better picture. After changing my battery I decided to post some photos and my experiences to help anyone who might be hesitant to do it themselves.
You will need a new CR2032 battery, two of them if you will be changing batteries in both fobs at the same time. These type of batteries have a long shelf life so you can save some money by buying a multipack.
You will also need a small screwdriver to pry out the battery.
The first step is to remove the emergency key by sliding the little switch to the right.
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As a side note, as probably most people know the emergency key is used to open the driver door in case your 12V battery is dead. But it also can be used to open the trunk using the lock behind the driver side rear passenger headrest. Good to know this when your 12V battery is dead and your portable jump starter is stuck in the trunk!
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After removing the emergency key, the instructions say to use a coin to split the fob into halves. And to wrap a cloth over the coin to avoid scratching the fob (???)
It's not as clear in the instructions but what you do is insert the coin between the tabs that stick out, as highlighted with the yellow arrow in the photo below. The 2D photo doesn't really show the tabs very well, it's easier to see what I am talking about if you pull out the emergency key on your fob and take a look at these tabs.
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Something I found online pointed out that instead of a coin you can use the emergency key. In fact the key fits perfectly between the tabs, so clearly it was designed this way. I doubt if it harms the key as it didn't take that much force to open the fob. But if you are worried about using the key go ahead and use a coin (and be sure to wrap the coin with a cloth LOL)
After splitting the halves you now have access to the CR2032 battery.
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The instructions say to "Remove carefully to avoid losing the buttons". That's kind of an odd statement. I found out what this actually means is that when you are digging around with a small screwdriver trying to pry the battery out, it's pretty easy to accidentally start pulling out the circuit board that the battery is connected to, because the circuit board is not attached to anything. The buttons are connected to the other side of the circuit board, so if you accidentally lift the circuit board it starts to pull the buttons out of their holes. I guess that's what they mean by "losing the buttons", maybe the buttons will fall off the circuit board if they are completely pulled out of the fob.
To avoid this, instead of holding the fob in your hand while removing the battery, which is what I tried to do at first, instead keep the fob laying flat on a table while you are removing the battery. That way you can hold the fob against the table with one hand while you use your other hand to pry out the battery with the small screwdriver. This helps hold the circuit board in place and keeps it from lifting up out of the fob when you pry upwards with the screwdriver.
As seen in the next photo the yellow arrows are pointing to two tabs that overlap the battery. The green arrow shows the best place to insert a small screwdriver under the battery and pop it out. Pretty simple and straightforward, but I prefer to take this step slowly considering how much a replacement fob costs.
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After removing the old battery, insert the new battery first under the two tabs highlighted by the yellow arrows, then press down and it should easily pop into place past the two smaller tabs on the other side (the two tabs closest to the green arrow in the photo.
Getting the two halves to snap back together took more pressure than I expected which made me a little nervous. I wondered if maybe I didn't have it aligned correctly, and I was worried about breaking the locking tabs if I pressed too hard. But it seemed to be aligned, and with enough pressure the two halves snapped back together. But I found a better way to do this when I changed the battery on the second fob. After getting the two halves exactly aligned, I squeezed first on the "top" end of the fob, the end on the opposite side of where the emergency key goes. When that half came together, I then squeezed the end of the fob where the emergency key goes, and the two halves snapped together with much less pressure this time.
As another side note, the outside of my fob was starting to get scratched up (as you probably noticed in the first photo) so I bought a cover for it on Amazon, you can search for Coolbestda Silicone 6buttons Smart Key Fob Remote. You get two of them for $11.00
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I drove it for a few days with this message, but I didn't want to push my luck so I used my spare fob for a few days until I had a chance to replace the battery.
The owners manual has fairly adequate instructions about replacing the battery:
Yes it's pretty simple, but these fobs are expensive and I wanted a better idea what to expect when I took the fob apart to avoid accidentally damaging it. I looked online and I found some general YouTube videos for Honda key fob battery replacement and that gave me a better picture. After changing my battery I decided to post some photos and my experiences to help anyone who might be hesitant to do it themselves.
You will need a new CR2032 battery, two of them if you will be changing batteries in both fobs at the same time. These type of batteries have a long shelf life so you can save some money by buying a multipack.
You will also need a small screwdriver to pry out the battery.
The first step is to remove the emergency key by sliding the little switch to the right.
As a side note, as probably most people know the emergency key is used to open the driver door in case your 12V battery is dead. But it also can be used to open the trunk using the lock behind the driver side rear passenger headrest. Good to know this when your 12V battery is dead and your portable jump starter is stuck in the trunk!
After removing the emergency key, the instructions say to use a coin to split the fob into halves. And to wrap a cloth over the coin to avoid scratching the fob (???)
It's not as clear in the instructions but what you do is insert the coin between the tabs that stick out, as highlighted with the yellow arrow in the photo below. The 2D photo doesn't really show the tabs very well, it's easier to see what I am talking about if you pull out the emergency key on your fob and take a look at these tabs.
Something I found online pointed out that instead of a coin you can use the emergency key. In fact the key fits perfectly between the tabs, so clearly it was designed this way. I doubt if it harms the key as it didn't take that much force to open the fob. But if you are worried about using the key go ahead and use a coin (and be sure to wrap the coin with a cloth LOL)
After splitting the halves you now have access to the CR2032 battery.
The instructions say to "Remove carefully to avoid losing the buttons". That's kind of an odd statement. I found out what this actually means is that when you are digging around with a small screwdriver trying to pry the battery out, it's pretty easy to accidentally start pulling out the circuit board that the battery is connected to, because the circuit board is not attached to anything. The buttons are connected to the other side of the circuit board, so if you accidentally lift the circuit board it starts to pull the buttons out of their holes. I guess that's what they mean by "losing the buttons", maybe the buttons will fall off the circuit board if they are completely pulled out of the fob.
To avoid this, instead of holding the fob in your hand while removing the battery, which is what I tried to do at first, instead keep the fob laying flat on a table while you are removing the battery. That way you can hold the fob against the table with one hand while you use your other hand to pry out the battery with the small screwdriver. This helps hold the circuit board in place and keeps it from lifting up out of the fob when you pry upwards with the screwdriver.
As seen in the next photo the yellow arrows are pointing to two tabs that overlap the battery. The green arrow shows the best place to insert a small screwdriver under the battery and pop it out. Pretty simple and straightforward, but I prefer to take this step slowly considering how much a replacement fob costs.
After removing the old battery, insert the new battery first under the two tabs highlighted by the yellow arrows, then press down and it should easily pop into place past the two smaller tabs on the other side (the two tabs closest to the green arrow in the photo.
Getting the two halves to snap back together took more pressure than I expected which made me a little nervous. I wondered if maybe I didn't have it aligned correctly, and I was worried about breaking the locking tabs if I pressed too hard. But it seemed to be aligned, and with enough pressure the two halves snapped back together. But I found a better way to do this when I changed the battery on the second fob. After getting the two halves exactly aligned, I squeezed first on the "top" end of the fob, the end on the opposite side of where the emergency key goes. When that half came together, I then squeezed the end of the fob where the emergency key goes, and the two halves snapped together with much less pressure this time.
As another side note, the outside of my fob was starting to get scratched up (as you probably noticed in the first photo) so I bought a cover for it on Amazon, you can search for Coolbestda Silicone 6buttons Smart Key Fob Remote. You get two of them for $11.00
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Yes you can. Although I tried it and there is a quirk that is not mentioned in the instructions, which is that it doesn't work until the car has completed its 30 second "welcome" phase. When you first get in the car, even without the key fob, the power button starts to pulse in white color. It doesn't blink, it's more of an undulation. Then on the dash the Honda logo comes up for a few seconds then turns off, but the power button continues to undulate for another twenty seconds or so then turns off.
I removed the battery from my remote to simulate a dead key fob. During the entire 30 second welcome phase I tried holding the remote up to the start button but it did nothing. I had to wait the entire 30 seconds for the power button to stop pulsating and go dark. Then I could press the power button and get the message "To Start, Hold Remote Near Start Button"
You can try this yourself by not having the fob with you and getting in the car, wait until the 30 second pulsating period is over then try pressing the power button and you should get the message.
I was able to start the car even though the fob had no battery in it, so even if the fob battery is completely dead this method will still work.
Clearly so, it's odd that they don't mention this in the instructions.
Actually it was the key cover that I said came in a two-pack. But yes I always buy multi-packs of batteries because it is cheaper and batteries have long shelf life. In fact I sort of overkilled on CR2032 because Costco had them on sale in a 12-pack, and more or less reflex action I bought it since 2032 is a common size. Then I got home and I thought what I am going to do with a dozen 2032 batteries? After almost a year I have only used three of them, including the two key fob batteries that I just replaced. Nine more to go, but shelf life of lithium coin cells is 8-10 years so probably I will eventually use them.
At first I wasn't going to because the driver 2 fob has not been used. But after reading your post I got curious and I decided to test the batteries. I have a nice battery tester made by ZTS that tests under load, unlike most battery testers that only test voltage. Some cheaper testers claim to test under load but they don't work very well.
It's a bit pricy, I got mine on sale for $85, normally it's over a hundred dollars. Clearly you won't save money using this, but I use batteries in so many things including rechargeable batteries that it's worth it to me to know the condition of a battery that I am putting into something, and while no battery tester is perfect this one works pretty good. They have a smaller model for $50 that I bought several years ago and still have, and even though it has less capabilities it works good also, but I have to change the batteries on that one more often since it uses four AAA batteries. The larger model uses four AA batteries which last a lot longer. It's just sort of annoying when you need to test a battery but you can't because your battery tester's batteries need replacing!
Anyway the new 2032's tested at 100% as expected. The battery that I took out of my driver 1 fob tested at 20%. Interestingly the battery in the driver 2 fob also tested at 20% although I didn't get the low battery message when using that fob, so probably the driver 1 fob was just a bit lower and that triggered the message.
The question is why would driver 2 fob drop so much when not used. Probably parasitic loss since it was installed in the fob. But still it's surprising that it would wear out nearly as fast as a battery that is in a fob that is used every day.
$93.30 currently on Amazon. I find that the cost-benefit doesn't pencil out for me right now. Nifty device, though.
ZTS Inc. MBT-1 Multi-Battery Tester for More than 30 Different Battery Types - - Amazon.com
ZTS Inc. MBT-1 Multi-Battery Tester for More than 30 Different Battery Types - - Amazon.com
smile.amazon.com
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