key fob teardown?

angelarm1110 said:

Looking for photos of the interior of an MS key fob, ring any bells?

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Do it yourself. Pop off the battery cover door. Remove the battery for safety (and remember which way it goes in). The 2 long side pieces with the white window outlines pop off from the sides with a small flat bladed screwdriver. There will then be top and bottom pieces. The circuit board then falls out. Reassemble in reverse order. Be careful with the small inserts for the 3 buttons on the top of the fob that contact the circuit board.

How do I know??

The small loop/slot for a key ring or lanyard on my fob broke, and instead of driving in, I had my local SC just mail me a repair kit (stock item), which comes with all of the covers. I had instructions from the lead tech and it was a piece of cake (but be careful to not damage the side pieces when prying them off).

JPP said:

..., I had my local SC just mail me a repair kit (stock item), which comes with all of the covers. I had instructions from the lead tech and it was a piece of cake (but be careful to not damage the side pieces when prying them off).

Click to expand...

Good to know. My fob was proactively "re-sheathed" at my last minor service. I guess they noticed that the top button was about to break loose.

I will have them send me a kit for my other fob. Thanks for the tip!

JPP said:

The small loop/slot for a key ring or lanyard on my fob broke, and instead of driving in, I had my local SC just mail me a repair kit (stock item), which comes with all of the covers. I had instructions from the lead tech and it was a piece of cake (but be careful to not damage the side pieces when prying them off).

Click to expand...

My keyfob got tape treatment (by myself) because the plastic buttons were getting loose. Did not realize there was a better way to solve this.
Now noted on my service to-do list. Thanks for the information!

angelarm1110 said:

posted about this a while ago, but my thread topic got diverted, so I'm asking again: does anyone know what the inside of one looks like??

to clarify, I am not an owner, and I don't have one of my own to take apart

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I have had my fob apart to replace the black plastic shell (the small eyelet on the end broke). I had the local TM SC send me a 'repair kit' which came with the 4 plastic shell parts. The 2 long side pieces snap on/snap off with careful prying with a very thin flat bladed screwdriver. The top and bottom plastic pieces then snap off. You are left with a small circuit board that has 3 buttons on it (with 3 round rings that can fall off if you are not careful). The circuit board is nothing special. You could theoretically mount/install it into some other case/device (as long as it was not an object acting like a Faraday cage).

...time for you to buy an S and get a free pair of fobs...

You should look into the silicone holder for the key that one of the guys sells in the classifieds here. They work fantastic.

Amazon.com: Silicone FobPocket (key holder) for the Tesla Model S (Metallic Silver): Automotive

I bought mine from a member who made them from and I this is it. Had it for almost a year absolutely flawless so far.

JPP said:

I have had my fob apart to replace the black plastic shell (the small eyelet on the end broke). I had the local TM SC send me a 'repair kit' which came with the 4 plastic shell parts. The 2 long side pieces snap on/snap off with careful prying with a very thin flat bladed screwdriver. The top and bottom plastic pieces then snap off. You are left with a small circuit board that has 3 buttons on it (with 3 round rings that can fall off if you are not careful). The circuit board is nothing special. You could theoretically mount/install it into some other case/device (as long as it was not an object acting like a Faraday cage).

...time for you to buy an S and get a free pair of fobs...

Click to expand...

1windy said:

You should look into the silicone holder for the key that one of the guys sells in the classifieds here. They work fantastic.

Amazon.com: Silicone FobPocket (key holder) for the Tesla Model S (Metallic Silver): Automotive

I bought mine from a member who made them from and I this is it. Had it for almost a year absolutely flawless so far.

Click to expand...

I know all about Pete's fob holders...just received a couple of black leather ones for our new S on order. Me, I like to carry my fob 'naked'. I had been using a small metal snap ring through the eyelet on the fob, but it would eventually cut through the plastic. I now use the small black threadlike cell phone lanyards with the tiny snap rings on the ends. But I had become rather expert at replacing the black plastic shell on my fobs...