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I did not observe him continuously.

He did not look the type who could work on electronics. He surely did not have any multimeter or other tools.

Whatever he did, is working even today.

Thanks, lalu.

Look up the team bhp directory for bangalore and chennai.If you decide to go to Honda and if they quote something expensive please get a second opinion.

Let me share my experience of getting a duplicate key(with remote) done for my Civic. As all Civic owners know the Civic comes with two keys of which only one has remote lock/unlock facility. I was very particular about having two keys with remote akin to my Esteem which came with two remote keys (albeit the key and remote as separate pieces 10 years back).

I approached H.A.S.S on this one and they wanted photocopies of few things and most importantly the key code of the car that can be found in the user manual boolket supplied with the car. I was told that a request would be placed with Honda along with the key code and that they would ship the appropriate key which I could readily use in my car. However, when the key was received I came to know that it did not match my car. All possible reasons were cited as to what could have gone wrong. Finally, I was told that they would order a blank key from Honda (which supposedly had to come from Japan) and then cut it to suit the lock(s) of my car. I was quite surprised such a thing could even be done. Eventually, that was what it turned out to be. A blank key was received and the mechanic at the H.A.S.S took it to a shop in Egmore (as the dealer in GP Road was not working that day) and got it done for me. The entire thing costed my 6.5k INR. Now I have two keys for my Civic, with remote and a third key that is a plain one.

IMO making the key for the car should involve two things:
1. Programming the key to car so that it accepts the key as genuine when inserted.
2. Cutting and shaping the key to match the lock of the car.

Exactly.

The blank keys can be trained for the codes by OEM. Best bet is the Key code handed out to you so that it's pre trained before sent to you. Probably the Q team would have blinked an eye while checking the code of your key when your first key was sent out :)

Is it that it is only the key he built with out electronics and you are using the key as a manual key to operate?

Maybe that or I am not sure if the key code captured in my owner's manual is the correct one. Could be either of the possibilities.

I was handed a key code, attached to the Key chain of the second key(the one without the remote) while taking the delivery of the car.

The key is a remotely operated key and is working perfectly well.

What could be the inside story?

I am intrigued now :)
Guess he have access to Honda Blank Keys which he shaped it out for you. We must interview this gentleman to learn a few techniques :)

Bhpian FrankMehta had his Civic remote key made locally.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2923544

I guess both the car and the key making machine need to be present at the same time to at-least start the car.

You are right, Sumeet.

These two are the basic requirements.

The Amaron Pro finally gave way yesterday night as a result of some 'stress testing' on the Civic. It was over 3 years old and I decided to go for a new battery instead of recharging the Amaron. Mine is an AT so don't want to tun the risk of getting stranded.

Got an Exide Matrix (truly maintenance free/sealed) installed for Rs.6200/- (MRP 7000-800 for the old battery) from the nearby Exide authorized store.

The 'stress testing' went like this: I turned on the blowers at medium speed, played a CD, turned on 2 cabin lights, charged my phone through the car charger, turned on my high beams (for a few seconds only though) and engaged all the four power windows at once simultaneously without starting the engine.

Result after 15 mins? The car will not crank as all the remaining juice in the Amaron was drained away. stupid:

I did this because I was noticing signs of a weakening battery and wanted to prove my hypothesis:

1. Remote lock and the blinker indicator working intermittently during lock/unlock
2. CD player refuses to load/play CDs. Buttons on head unit became unresponsive sometimes. Even changing radio stations or selecting AM/FM/CD was iffy on when it was running on battery only
3. The red blinking light on the speedo console(alarm system) had a mind of its own.

The Exide was recommended to me by the Honda Service Advisor. Also not so sterling reviews about Amaron Pro had me lean towards the Exide. Let's see how this Matrix performs.

The A-star has among the better EPS implementations on the market, by the way, if my short TD sometime back in early-2009 was anything to go by.

HPS is in a different league. Some of the better cars in terms of steering feel (at least to me) other than the Civic are the Fiesta and Logan. I didn't find the Punto's steering feel as earth-shattering as people make it out to be, compared to these 3 cars at least. What stood out in the Punto's for me was the balance and rigidity offered by the chassis and the predictable chassis + suspension behaviour. The steering feel in and of itself wasn't extraordinary.

Regards,
spadix

I've been using the Amaron Pro with no complaints. But I guess there's hardly any difference between different brands nowadays.

I'm facing a problem guys. Today, for the 2nd time, when I got into my car, a yellow light was blinking. When I put the key in the ignition, the horn and blinkers started up automatically. I guess it was the alarm. I thought I'd blown a fuse nd opened the hood. Couldn't figure things out. then I unlocked the Car from the remote key. that silenced the alarm.
I guess the battery in my remote key has become weak? My civic is 6+ years old.

When you lock the car, the theft alarm gets armed. In the event that nothing occured and you unlocked, it will behave the way we know with single blink and open. In the event that the vehicle was tampered with, and it went through the reaction for that and timed out, while unlocking the user is notified of the same with a different behavior that it was tampered. In this case hey did not like the key in ignition - probably due to the tamper state he was previously in. Once you overrode all previous states, he is back to normal :)

Thanks for the explanation. But couldn't it be due to the remote key battery being weak due to which the car doesn't detect it in the first instance?