Ford Mustang Fusion Key!
2/3/07, 11:07 AM
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Ford Mustang Fusion Key!
Dateline: Indianapolis, Indiana -- From Alanco Industries, the company that brought you the Oil Filter Diaper (http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=57525), now brings you a Ford Mustang Fusion Key.
I was reading a thread about getting a company to combine the Ford Keyless Remote and the factory Transponder Key (http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=59251). I thought to myself, if only someone could combine the keyless remote and the transponder key I already had. I looked at my keyless remote and my transponder key, and thought, why don’t “I” combine my keyless remote and my transponder key. Hmmm …
The challenge was on!
My first attempt was not so successful. Needless to say hot glue and duct tape does not produce an esthetically pleasing result.
Searching for a more eloquent solution, I decided look inside the Ford factory keyless remote to see what I had to work with (that would be a Kahless remote for you Klingon Mustang owners). The photo below shows the separated keyless remote pieces, the circuit board / keypad in one half, and the battery in the other half. There seemed to be a fair amount of space below the battery to work with. And even though the circuit tracks are clearly visible, they are on the opposite side of the circuit board, with only the fiberglass board exposed to the outside - no exposed electrical connections. Hmmm again …
So, with sharp X-Acto knife in hand, and perhaps more curiosity than sense, I started to carefully carve into my spare PATS transponder key. I do not recommend doing this to one of your only two keys. I had ordered a third spare on eBay. The PATS II system takes TWO keys to program a third. Muck up one and you’re in trouble. I didn’t know what was inside the key body, so I SLOWLY and CAREFULLY carved the plastic away, until I uncovered the inner shape of the brass key, and discovered the transponder chip. The photo below shows the relationship to a normal key, and what I carved away. Note the orientation of the transponder chip and the molded dot as a reference point. It is important to keep the transponder chip in the same relative orientation, as it is highly likely the RF characteristics are directional. Size may not matter, but direction does! (That’s DI-rection!)
I then pulled the plastic carcass (with transponder) away from the metal key.
I continued to cut out the transponder chip (note close-up view). It is very small. My idea was to modify the brass key and insert it and the transponder into the open space within the keyless remote.
But first, I needed to do some testing to understand the operation of the PATS system. I took the brass key and the transponder chip to the Mustang. When inserting the brass key alone into the ignition and keeping the transponder chip away, the vehicle would not start, of course. I held the chip near the same location as it would have been if the key was whole, and it worked. Then I made some further observations. With the transponder chip not present, turning the key to “ON” caused the theft icon to blink, and the starter did not engage when turning the key to the “START” position. (This is different than my 1998 Mustang - a non-PATS key will turn the starter, but the engine won’t fire). I then held the transponder in the proper position as I first turned the key to “ON”. The theft icon did not flash - AND, even if I took away the transponder, the car still started and continued to run - sans transponder. So to me, it seems as if the transponder chip communicates an authorization to start within the first second, but doesn’t have to be present to for the car to start or run after such authorization. Interesting observations, perhaps meaningless as I would permanently incorporate the transponder into my Frankenstein fusion key, but knowledge nonetheless. I decided I would try to position the transponder as close as possible to the same relative position as in the actual PATS key.
A more meaningful physical observation, is that the PATS key is more rounded and not as wide as the keyless remote. The receiving ignition switch is a bit recessed within the steering column, and there is a small rubber ring surrounding the perimeter. I measured and found what clearance I would need for the larger keyless remote body to still clear all the obstacles. It must be able to be fully inserted and allow for turning. This turned out to be a crucial observation - if I made the key blade exit at the same point as the PATS key, the larger body of the keyless remote would not have allowed the Frankenstein fusion key to fully seat.
Now back to the design shop. My plan was to cut down the brass key to clear the battery compartment. I would need to cut a slot in the keyless remote housing, and affix the key in the housing, allowing room for the transponder chip. The photo below shows the modified brass key.
I figured I’d need a fixture jig to hold everything in place. I measured the brass key and remote plastic case, drew the outlines, and made a foamboard holding fixture. Now was the time to test fit my pieces. The pieces fit as if by design. The curved portion of the brass key I cut would clear the battery, and the transponder would fit right up against the corner of the remote plastic case, as near to the ignition switch as possible, in the same relative orientation. The photo shows the marked edges for the key slot to be cut. Also very important, as you can see, the brass key blade sticks farther out of the remote plastic case than the actual PATS key. This is due to the before mentioned clearance needed. This made for a rather odd slot to cut. I hate cutting odd slots!
After entirely too much time spent in carefully cutting and filing, cutting and filing, I had a slot shaped to accept the modified brass key. The key slot has to be shifted totally towards the “battery” side of the remote plastic case because of the position of the circuit board in the “button” side of the remote plastic case. This means the brass key will not exit the exact center of the Frankenstein fusion key. Oh well.
I decided to use my favorite all-purpose moldable liquid-to-solid potting material - fiberglass resin. By adding way too much hardener, I will get a thick liquid state, a gel state, and a hardened state within a short time. This would let me to dry fit the pieces in place - held by the fixture - and allow me to very controllably pour in a thick liquid that would turn rock hard. Also, the point in time where the mixture sets up like a gel, it is quite trimable with a sharp X-Acto knife. I covered the opening in the battery holder with black electrical tape, perpendicular to the floor of the remote case. I used some grease to “seal” the slight gap between the electrical tape and the remote plastic case so the resin would not leak out and flood the remote plastic case floor. I also ground down the brass key a bit on both sides to give the resin something to “bite” into, and to allow more resin thickness.
The photo below shows the results of the potting process. You can see where the battery compartment has not been encroached (and a 5-yard penalty avoided). While the resin was in its “gel” state, I cut away a compartment for the transponder, which needed a little final trimming once the resin hardened. Why the transponder compartment? I did not want to mold the transponder permanently within the case. This way, I can replace the transponder, or more importantly, easily remove it if I need to create another key side assembly some day.
Now, with the key side completed, it was a simple fit-and-mark for the button side trimming. I did not cut the rubber key slot as deep because the rubber keypad also formed the seal, and is compressible.
Time for assembly. I slipped the transponder into its cubbyhole and inserted the battery. I aligned the front slot of the key-side cover and snapped the two pieces together. What a satisfying click I heard.
And there you go. One homebuilt Alanco Industries Ford Mustang Fusion key. All buttons work, and the vehicle starts and runs. I would rather have the buttons positioned at the other end as to have a solid no-key surface to grasp as I turn the key, but I was limited as to what I had to work with. I’ll just have to see how often I lock/unlock the doors, pop the trunk, or worse, set off the panic alarm as I start the car.
Now for the disclaimer. I did this, not so much to have and to use, but to see if I could do it - the engineer’s demon in me. I have yet to test this in actual day-to-day use over a long period of time. I was willing to risk the destruction of a perfectly working PATS key and a keyless remote, and accept the expense of replacing them if I screwed up. There was a painstaking amount of cutting, trimming, and working with a X-Acto knife with several blades used. That said, however, some of the challenges involved breaking new ground along a path that had an unknown outcome. As I said earlier, if anyone wishes to try this, GET A THIRD PATS KEY - do not try this with one of your only TWO keys - a PATS II system needs TWO keys to program a third. If you only have one spare and need to program another, it’s time for a trip to the dealer to grab your ankles. I also cannot know what is inside other aftermarket PATS keys, and even if it is from the same source as mine, that some internal differences may exist. I cannot attest that there is not an inherent flaw in the idea or design, and I cannot take responsibility if you get stuck when your Frankenstein fusion key fails to work. I will be carrying a second PATS key with me for some time, until I am assured that no problems occur - and that will be awhile, since Indiana finally decided to have a winter (i.e. snow), and that Redfire puppy ain’t gonna go anywhere until the streets are friendly again. So the most I can do is sit in my garage and pop the locks, start the car .. pop the trunk, start the car, etc.
I was reading a thread about getting a company to combine the Ford Keyless Remote and the factory Transponder Key (http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showthread.php?t=59251). I thought to myself, if only someone could combine the keyless remote and the transponder key I already had. I looked at my keyless remote and my transponder key, and thought, why don’t “I” combine my keyless remote and my transponder key. Hmmm …
The challenge was on!
My first attempt was not so successful. Needless to say hot glue and duct tape does not produce an esthetically pleasing result.
Searching for a more eloquent solution, I decided look inside the Ford factory keyless remote to see what I had to work with (that would be a Kahless remote for you Klingon Mustang owners). The photo below shows the separated keyless remote pieces, the circuit board / keypad in one half, and the battery in the other half. There seemed to be a fair amount of space below the battery to work with. And even though the circuit tracks are clearly visible, they are on the opposite side of the circuit board, with only the fiberglass board exposed to the outside - no exposed electrical connections. Hmmm again …
So, with sharp X-Acto knife in hand, and perhaps more curiosity than sense, I started to carefully carve into my spare PATS transponder key. I do not recommend doing this to one of your only two keys. I had ordered a third spare on eBay. The PATS II system takes TWO keys to program a third. Muck up one and you’re in trouble. I didn’t know what was inside the key body, so I SLOWLY and CAREFULLY carved the plastic away, until I uncovered the inner shape of the brass key, and discovered the transponder chip. The photo below shows the relationship to a normal key, and what I carved away. Note the orientation of the transponder chip and the molded dot as a reference point. It is important to keep the transponder chip in the same relative orientation, as it is highly likely the RF characteristics are directional. Size may not matter, but direction does! (That’s DI-rection!)
I then pulled the plastic carcass (with transponder) away from the metal key.
I continued to cut out the transponder chip (note close-up view). It is very small. My idea was to modify the brass key and insert it and the transponder into the open space within the keyless remote.
But first, I needed to do some testing to understand the operation of the PATS system. I took the brass key and the transponder chip to the Mustang. When inserting the brass key alone into the ignition and keeping the transponder chip away, the vehicle would not start, of course. I held the chip near the same location as it would have been if the key was whole, and it worked. Then I made some further observations. With the transponder chip not present, turning the key to “ON” caused the theft icon to blink, and the starter did not engage when turning the key to the “START” position. (This is different than my 1998 Mustang - a non-PATS key will turn the starter, but the engine won’t fire). I then held the transponder in the proper position as I first turned the key to “ON”. The theft icon did not flash - AND, even if I took away the transponder, the car still started and continued to run - sans transponder. So to me, it seems as if the transponder chip communicates an authorization to start within the first second, but doesn’t have to be present to for the car to start or run after such authorization. Interesting observations, perhaps meaningless as I would permanently incorporate the transponder into my Frankenstein fusion key, but knowledge nonetheless. I decided I would try to position the transponder as close as possible to the same relative position as in the actual PATS key.
A more meaningful physical observation, is that the PATS key is more rounded and not as wide as the keyless remote. The receiving ignition switch is a bit recessed within the steering column, and there is a small rubber ring surrounding the perimeter. I measured and found what clearance I would need for the larger keyless remote body to still clear all the obstacles. It must be able to be fully inserted and allow for turning. This turned out to be a crucial observation - if I made the key blade exit at the same point as the PATS key, the larger body of the keyless remote would not have allowed the Frankenstein fusion key to fully seat.
Now back to the design shop. My plan was to cut down the brass key to clear the battery compartment. I would need to cut a slot in the keyless remote housing, and affix the key in the housing, allowing room for the transponder chip. The photo below shows the modified brass key.
I figured I’d need a fixture jig to hold everything in place. I measured the brass key and remote plastic case, drew the outlines, and made a foamboard holding fixture. Now was the time to test fit my pieces. The pieces fit as if by design. The curved portion of the brass key I cut would clear the battery, and the transponder would fit right up against the corner of the remote plastic case, as near to the ignition switch as possible, in the same relative orientation. The photo shows the marked edges for the key slot to be cut. Also very important, as you can see, the brass key blade sticks farther out of the remote plastic case than the actual PATS key. This is due to the before mentioned clearance needed. This made for a rather odd slot to cut. I hate cutting odd slots!
After entirely too much time spent in carefully cutting and filing, cutting and filing, I had a slot shaped to accept the modified brass key. The key slot has to be shifted totally towards the “battery” side of the remote plastic case because of the position of the circuit board in the “button” side of the remote plastic case. This means the brass key will not exit the exact center of the Frankenstein fusion key. Oh well.
I decided to use my favorite all-purpose moldable liquid-to-solid potting material - fiberglass resin. By adding way too much hardener, I will get a thick liquid state, a gel state, and a hardened state within a short time. This would let me to dry fit the pieces in place - held by the fixture - and allow me to very controllably pour in a thick liquid that would turn rock hard. Also, the point in time where the mixture sets up like a gel, it is quite trimable with a sharp X-Acto knife. I covered the opening in the battery holder with black electrical tape, perpendicular to the floor of the remote case. I used some grease to “seal” the slight gap between the electrical tape and the remote plastic case so the resin would not leak out and flood the remote plastic case floor. I also ground down the brass key a bit on both sides to give the resin something to “bite” into, and to allow more resin thickness.
The photo below shows the results of the potting process. You can see where the battery compartment has not been encroached (and a 5-yard penalty avoided). While the resin was in its “gel” state, I cut away a compartment for the transponder, which needed a little final trimming once the resin hardened. Why the transponder compartment? I did not want to mold the transponder permanently within the case. This way, I can replace the transponder, or more importantly, easily remove it if I need to create another key side assembly some day.
Now, with the key side completed, it was a simple fit-and-mark for the button side trimming. I did not cut the rubber key slot as deep because the rubber keypad also formed the seal, and is compressible.
Time for assembly. I slipped the transponder into its cubbyhole and inserted the battery. I aligned the front slot of the key-side cover and snapped the two pieces together. What a satisfying click I heard.
And there you go. One homebuilt Alanco Industries Ford Mustang Fusion key. All buttons work, and the vehicle starts and runs. I would rather have the buttons positioned at the other end as to have a solid no-key surface to grasp as I turn the key, but I was limited as to what I had to work with. I’ll just have to see how often I lock/unlock the doors, pop the trunk, or worse, set off the panic alarm as I start the car.
Now for the disclaimer. I did this, not so much to have and to use, but to see if I could do it - the engineer’s demon in me. I have yet to test this in actual day-to-day use over a long period of time. I was willing to risk the destruction of a perfectly working PATS key and a keyless remote, and accept the expense of replacing them if I screwed up. There was a painstaking amount of cutting, trimming, and working with a X-Acto knife with several blades used. That said, however, some of the challenges involved breaking new ground along a path that had an unknown outcome. As I said earlier, if anyone wishes to try this, GET A THIRD PATS KEY - do not try this with one of your only TWO keys - a PATS II system needs TWO keys to program a third. If you only have one spare and need to program another, it’s time for a trip to the dealer to grab your ankles. I also cannot know what is inside other aftermarket PATS keys, and even if it is from the same source as mine, that some internal differences may exist. I cannot attest that there is not an inherent flaw in the idea or design, and I cannot take responsibility if you get stuck when your Frankenstein fusion key fails to work. I will be carrying a second PATS key with me for some time, until I am assured that no problems occur - and that will be awhile, since Indiana finally decided to have a winter (i.e. snow), and that Redfire puppy ain’t gonna go anywhere until the streets are friendly again. So the most I can do is sit in my garage and pop the locks, start the car .. pop the trunk, start the car, etc.
2/3/07, 11:21 AM
#2
I really wish someone (FORD!) would make something like this. I haven't seen the Fusion key but I'd love an integrated remote/key combo!
When you have two cars with keys and remotes - that's too much to carry in your pocket. And I usually leave the keys to my wife's car at home and that has burned me before. I've needed something in her car while she is somewhere and can't be reached.
When you have two cars with keys and remotes - that's too much to carry in your pocket. And I usually leave the keys to my wife's car at home and that has burned me before. I've needed something in her car while she is somewhere and can't be reached.
2/3/07, 02:15 PM
#10
Legacy TMS Member
Job well done! 
I like them seperate because sometimes when its 5 degrees out and -14 with the windchill like it is today, Ill run out, start the car, take the transmitter with me and lock the car running for a few minutes.
I like them seperate because sometimes when its 5 degrees out and -14 with the windchill like it is today, Ill run out, start the car, take the transmitter with me and lock the car running for a few minutes.
2/3/07, 02:34 PM
#11
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2/3/07, 05:18 PM
#13
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That's Ingenious!
Well done! I'm not an engineer but I've done a bunch of classic Mustang fabrication over the past dozen years or so - so I'll bet I wind up building one of these soon.
One question though - what do you use for the fiberglass gel? What brand and who sellls it? The only gel I'm familiar with is the body repair fiberglass and it doesn't stay transparent.
Thanks, Chris
One question though - what do you use for the fiberglass gel? What brand and who sellls it? The only gel I'm familiar with is the body repair fiberglass and it doesn't stay transparent.
Thanks, Chris
2/3/07, 06:22 PM
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2/3/07, 06:27 PM
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2/4/07, 01:49 PM
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