Leaderboard

It worked! Thanks for all the pointers. All I did was reflow the old solder so I left the rear deck cover off for now, the cover was very sun damaged anyway. But at least I have a working key fob now. IMG_7474.mov

I originally did the 2 ICs, but then had to do it again not too long after (can't remember if months or years). So I ended up just reflowing every single joint and that kept it working well over a decade. I added flux to every joint and added a little new solder, but I didn't remove any old solder. If you plan to desolder first, then I'd recommend finding vintage 60/40 solder (with lead). If all you can get is RoHS solder, then it'd be a good idea to keep the old solder as it still has lead. Leadless RoHS solder are famous for solder joints going bad over time. Checking the caps is a good idea. I didn't do that at the time, but I've had to change out enough electrolytic caps to know they have a finite life.

Basically the 2 big ICs are the biggest areas of concern. For me over the long run reflowing the joints is a temporary fix, I've had more success in adding some good solder. Recently I've purchased a proper desoldering tool and I'll just clean out the solder and start over with fresh

That's a daunting swap! Wish I had the balls to do it, but I draw the line at cutting away at a unibody frame that likely wouldn't have won any 1995 IIHS safety awards in the first place. You're all good BCM-wise, there isn't one.