2001 S40 - Remote fobs' snapping!

[BigT]

Hi everyone, I own a 2001 S40 1.8 SE - my pride and joy (despite having a Renault engine)!

I do have a problem with the car though - the two remotes I got with the car have awful build quality - the little plastic loops that you can use to put them on your keys have snapped off on both of them. This means that I now have to carry the fob around in my wallet, and mess about getting it out of my pocket each time I want to get lock and unlock the car.

The part number for my remotes is '30857614'. I understand I can buy some from eBay - but the build quality will be the same (I don't want the plastic loops snapping off again), however the remotes do seem to have had a pretty hard life and have probably been dropped a lot. The plastic casing has cracked in two places on both remotes, or could this have been done when trying to prise them open to change batteries?

I want to be able to keep a fob on my keyring without them snapping off! Could I get any Volvo remote fob, or even a switchblade key/fob programmed for my car? I read an article that I found in one topic about converting keys to switchblade keys but my remote looks nothing like that in the picture.

Also, how do you open the cases for the 30857614 remotes? If I bought two off eBay then surely I could just swap the circuit boards over to save reprogramming the fob.

Thanks for the help, and seasons grettings
Tom

[Kerry_T-5R]

Originally Posted by BigT

Hi everyone, I own a 2001 S40 1.8 SE - my pride and joy (despite having a Renault engine)!

I do have a problem with the car though - the two remotes I got with the car have awful build quality - the little plastic loops that you can use to put them on your keys have snapped off on both of them. This means that I now have to carry the fob around in my wallet, and mess about getting it out of my pocket each time I want to get lock and unlock the car.

The part number for my remotes is '30857614'. I understand I can buy some from eBay - but the build quality will be the same (I don't want the plastic loops snapping off again), however the remotes do seem to have had a pretty hard life and have probably been dropped a lot. The plastic casing has cracked in two places on both remotes, or could this have been done when trying to prise them open to change batteries?

I want to be able to keep a fob on my keyring without them snapping off! Could I get any Volvo remote fob, or even a switchblade key/fob programmed for my car? I read an article that I found in one topic about converting keys to switchblade keys but my remote looks nothing like that in the picture.

Also, how do you open the cases for the 30857614 remotes? If I bought two off eBay then surely I could just swap the circuit boards over to save reprogramming the fob.

Thanks for the help, and seasons grettings
Tom

Hi Tom,

I bought a fob from ebay. The plastic gets brittle with age, thats why they all seem to snap! A trick I found was to but a small key ring on the plastic loop and then the regular key ring on to the small one - this puts less strain on the plastic.

The ones from ebay are exactly the same as yours, and are just sold by people who have one spare - you simply flip them apart with a screwdriver and swap the internals over!

Also, no S40 petrol engined cars have renault engines! All 100% Volvo (the diesels are not made by Volvo) the 440/60/80's shared engines with Renault not the S40! Lots of people think S40's have renault engines!

Kerry

[BigT]

Thanks for the response Kerry! The tip about the small key ring sounds good.

On a side note, my mechanic said that the engine was the exact same engine found in the Laguna, and when I had my cambelt and water pump done, on the side of the box from GSF, it stated that the part number applied to 'Renault/Volvo'.

I've looked at specifications for the Laguna and S40 on Parkers, and came up with the same torque and bhp (and cc) figures.

Laguna
S40

My mechanic also said that he knew of the 440 having Renault engines. I was surprised to discover the sharing of engines between these two companies!

Tom

[spangoolies]

not sure about the engine, but some s40's are fitted with ****ty renault gearbox's.

[Kerry_T-5R]

Originally Posted by BigT

Thanks for the response Kerry! The tip about the small key ring sounds good.

On a side note, my mechanic said that the engine was the exact same engine found in the Laguna, and when I had my cambelt and water pump done, on the side of the box from GSF, it stated that the part number applied to 'Renault/Volvo'.

I've looked at specifications for the Laguna and S40 on Parkers, and came up with the same torque and bhp (and cc) figures.

Laguna
S40

My mechanic also said that he knew of the 440 having Renault engines. I was surprised to discover the sharing of engines between these two companies!

Tom

The engine is made by Volvo and shared by Renault! The 2319cc (T5 block) can also be found in the Safrane!

Before Ford bought Volvo, Volvo had a large share of Renault (around 20% of shares) These were sold off when Ford took over Volvo's ownership!

Out of interest, the S40 is on a mitsubishi platform and a lot of parts are shared on the S40 model between Volvo and Mitsubishi! I have even put Mitsubishi Evo 3 twin piston calipers on my T4.

Kerry

[Hezi]

Hi

Yep the build quality of the remotes are very poor to say the least, i think everyones is destined to fall apart, i've got two held together with tape lol.

Ebay is a solution and swap the internals,but i have seen them go for silly money on occasions.For reference i have just got a new one from the dealer £90, give or take including programing.

Steve

[BigT]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I wonder if Volvo obtaining Renault shares might have been part of the utilisation of engines deal ie. Volvo receive a stake in Renault in return for letting Renault use Volvo engines? Would be interesting to know.

On another note, I'm bidding on a fob and watching for another one to have as a spare. I will be using another 'ring' to try and save the plastic (thanks Kerry - nice car btw, if only I could insure it). Thanks again all

[Ex Bmw owner]

I bought 2 new fobs from Volvo and they already had the small metal rings through the fobs.Still doesn't justify the chuffing price though!. Although Marshall Volvo of Melton Mowbrey Leicestershire only charged me 0.2 of an hours labour to reprogramme 2 fobs which I thought was pretty decent of them. They seem much more helpfull than Sturges's of Leicester or Bells of Northampton