[Flyyte]

Our i30 1.6 Premium CRDi Estate (Wagon, SW, whatever it's called internationally) will be 5 years old in August this year and has covered 25,000 miles from new. It has been main dealer maintained throughout its life. It is still under the manufacturer's 5-year warranty.

About an hour ago, we emerged from supermarket shopping, went to our parked i30, took out the remote fob, thumbed the shiny little button  on that fob to spring open the key blade and, wowee: away it flew. Gone.

The current weather where we are in England is somewhat less than equatorial so trying to find a vanished blade (the bit that goes in the ignition slot to make the car actually start) in a Force 8 gale and driving rain is not to be recommended. And especially not in a crowded supermarket car park.  Luckily for us, we eventually found it: a tiny sliver of steel that could easily have fallen down a nearby grate or lodged underneath any of the neighbouring parked cars, albeit lost in puddles of water.  We inserted the blade back into the holding slot of the fob, but it  merely wobbled about a bit so we weren't optimistic of it working at all. However . . . We gingerly pushed it into the ignition and, yes, managed to turn it and start the engine and come home. Trying to get the damn thing out of the slot was another matter, but somehow, we managed -- and without resorting to pliers.

Examination of the key in its entirety shows no damage at all. No wear. No tear. The blade is as-new. The fob with its remote controls is likewise as-new. All that's happened is that something, somewhere, inside the fob -- something that grips the bottom of the blade?? -- no longer, er, grips. The failure was as sudden as it was unexpected. In all the years I've had motor cars, I have never, ever, had a key blade abruptly fly off into space at the press of the release button.

A call to our main dealer -- J Edgar & Sons of Workington, Cumbria -- elicited a fast response from its excellent service team, viz: the fickle flying blade is not altogether unknown in Hyundai circles. Ah. The dealer is, therefore, immediately ordering a new key, which should be here within a week to 10 days, and will configure it to function with our car's electronics. There will be no charge for the work; the dealer will file a warranty claim.  Kudos, then, to J. Edgar & Sons -- but this really has been an unnerving experience: it takes but little imagination to contemplate the prospect of a key blade flying off into space in a different environment (an airport car park, for example.) It also shows our stupidity in not carrying a spare with us all the time. . . but then: who does? Moral of the story, then -- with a question to follow:

1) NEVER thumb the release button of a key blade when OUTSIDE the vehicle. Generally speaking, we don't. Why we did so today is beyond me: not thinking, I guess -- but then, who expects a Hyundai remote key to suddenly disintegrate like that? If the darn thing is going to fail, then better it fails inside the vehicle rather than out;

2) NEVER go anywhere without a spare ignition key. The potential for disaster arising from the sudden separation of the key blade from a remote -- and that blade could very easily have been lost entirely this afternoon -- is a darn sight greater than I'd ever thought. (Yes, the remote controls worked fine; but there ain't much point in being able to get into a car that you can't, um, move . . .)

Questions:

a) Do others here keep a spare ignition key readily to hand in the event of loss of the original?

b) Has anyone else here experienced the sudden separation of the key blade from the remote fob??

Oh, and a final question for older members (er, really old members, actually): though I do not wish to return to the days of carrying around a starting handle -- Mrs F was an absolute genius with it, but then, she was well used to spinning the prop of a Spitfire so it could go off and stuff the Luftwaffe; I must remember to ask her how old she is -- I really am fed up with the all-electronic this, that and t'other of this modern era. Back in the day, after we stopped bothering with starting handles, a key wuz a key wuz a key (as indeed was a hammer, which we took everywhere so that when emerging from a shop or even a holiday hotel, I could crawl underneath our Anglia 105E and repeatedly smash the underside to free up the starter: ah, simple joys!)

On which basis, then, does anyone know if it's possible to get a simple, straightforward, non-remote ignition key for an i30? Or even .  .. a starting handle? 

PS: And a Happy Mew Year to all. 

[Flyyte]

Which of course should've read: A Happy New Year to all. I think I've been traumatized. Must be worth a few bob from Hyundai if there's a compensation lawyer out there??

[asathorny]

My key separated from the fob and luckily, everyone here says I was very lucky and I trust there judgement, I found it next to the car door when I hastened back to search for it.

A panel pin was a temporary fix till I got home, then the same panel pin some ingenuity not to mention contact adhesive and viola, it's still in use like new.   My spare key is very handy for days like today, today I dropped my car off for service and MOT and asked the nice fella to drop me off to which end I gave him to the spare key.  Then when my vehicle was ready he text me saying "I'll be outside your front door and five...'   (top service.
I he drove us both back to the workshop, I asked the techi guy was there any probs and he said, 'Nope, still like a new car'

excellent

[Lorian]

I don't carry my spare key, would hate to loose both. I'd call the AA and recover/relay the car back home I guess. I think dealers can just order new pins (but I think lots of things, not always right)

I have to say I walk around flicking it all the time (fnar) , and I often use it to open parcels and I've been lucky so far, I know I'm doomed now.

[Talking Hoarse]

I have heard mention of the key issue, but not experienced this .....yet. 
Unhappily the key seems to me like the only part of my i30 that hasnt broken or failed in its 4½ years of life.

[Phil №❶]

@Flyyte,

A crank handle would require you to stand in the path of oncoming traffic due to engine orientation, so counterproductive to you, unless you particularly like nurses.

Some members have a spare blank key to use when swimming etc. However, not sure about your insurance cover if you leave a fully functional key inside the vehicle.

[Shambles]

I only want to know who Flytte is, in your title

[Flyyte]

I only want to know who Flytte is, in your title

Oh wot a bummer. I told you I'd been traumatized by the experience. Now, I don't even know my own name. Hyundai has much to apologize for.  Thanks, Sahmlebs, for pointing this out, even though I'm now mortified. Actually, Mortified would be an even better name, come to think about it. All best -- Mort.

[Flyyte]

@Flyyte,

A crank handle would require you to stand in the path of oncoming traffic due to engine orientation, so counterproductive to you, unless you particularly like nurses.

Ah. Never thought of that.  . . 

[Flyyte]

@ asathorny: I just wonder if there's a non-remote key version for our i30s? Mrs F's  new Fiat Panda arrived with two keys, one a full remote, t'other just a, well, just a key. Obviously, this latter doesn't allow for remote access or closing at all, but has the virtue of not falling apart. Or, well, I'd hope it wouldn't.  . . Glad you mended yours!

[asathorny]

@ asathorny: I just wonder if there's a non-remote key version for our i30s? Mrs F's  new Fiat Panda arrived with two keys, one a full remote, t'other just a, well, just a key. Obviously, this latter doesn't allow for remote access or closing at all, but has the virtue of not falling apart. Or, well, I'd hope it wouldn't.  . . Glad you mended yours!

I thought someone had answered that for you, YES, we have several members who have had blanks cut in which the transponder has not been programmed.

The point of them doing this is so that that can leave their fob key locked in the car and then go surfing/swimming with the NON fob key without worrying about getting water on the transponder.   

[Lakes]

I'm another victim of the key fob , pin coming out & the key coming away from the fob.
i was lucky as was at home so got spare fob out to use.

[The Gonz]

Never had the problem, don't carry the spare.

An engineer's perspective is that the axial rotation of the blade when acting as a key is mechanically weakly supported mainly by the pin so that, while flicking the blade open is not a major stress on the mechanism, turning the key while inserted is.

A broader blade base and tighter fit around the pin while preserving free movement would result in a longer lasting mechanism. In the absence of redesign, preventive maintenance of examining the key for excessive play and preemptive pin replacement is recommended.

[Phil №❶]

Perhaps a nice Titanium one. 

[The Gonz]

 

[eye30]

When i bought my first i30 in 2007 it came with 1 remote key and a non remote key,

I and also shambles who received the same 2 keys wrote to the md of hy uk and received another remote foc, detailed on this forum at the time.

So the answer to your question is yes non remotes can be provided but i would guess at a cost.

It may be worth checking at key cutting shop if they have the same blade and get one cut.

Also many years ago there was a magnetic box you could buy which you attached to the underneath of the car with spare in just in case the person holding the spare remote isn't with the key holder when it fails or springs away...

[The Gonz]

That magnetic key box is still a constant presence at the $2 shops.

[Dazzler]

That magnetic key box is still a constant presence at the $2 shops.

and a nice "present" for potential car thieves! 

[The Gonz]

 

[Phil №❶]

Not impressed, Gonz 

I'm going to have to watch that movie now.

[Surferdude]

I'm assured that,  as long as the car is locked,  insurance is valid.
Also I'm pretty sure someone else on here confirmed that a while back.
But not if you have a key secured under the vehicle.

[Phil №❶]

That's reassuring. 

[cruiserfied]

Pin is not the problem.
Pin location is the problem.
I believe the FD key has the roll pin on opposite side of the blade (picture is of my MD key) over time turning ignition on and off a crack forms from pin to edge parallel to the key blade if that makes sense.
Not common. Seen mostly on company vehicles that are turned on and off a bunch of times everyday.

[Phil №❶]

* Cuiserfied's fingerprint now stored on NSA database.

[cruiserfied]

UNDO UNDO

Jokes on them. My finger prints change regularly due to cuts and scratches

[Phil №❶]

"Abby" from N.C.I.S. will get a match. 

[cruiserfied]

"Abby" from N.C.I.S. will get a match. 

Won't complain about her coming for me lol

[Surferdude]

Opened my key a couple of times today and realised I have always sub consciously opened it into the palm of my hand so it doesn't spring all the way out in one go.

[The Gonz]

I do like you (yes, and I do like you ), never liking mechanical impact on even the tiniest scale. Perhaps that's why I've had no wear, tear or failure in the last 5+ years of owning Firty - not even as much as a light bulb.

[beerman]

I do like you (yes, and I do like you ), never liking mechanical impact on even the tiniest scale. Perhaps that's why I've had no wear, tear or failure in the last 5+ years of owning Firty - not even as much as a light bulb.

Now he has done it......