Owners of other Honda or Acura vehicles such as the Civic, CR-V, Element, Fit, Insight, Odyssey, Pilot, Ridgeline, RL, TL, TSX, ZDX, MDX, and RDX may also find this guide to be useful.

We recently noticed that the combination car key and keyless entry remote control for our 2009 Honda Accord was not working well.

It seemed like the signal was weak and the little red LED indicator light on the remote was alternating between being dimly lit or not lit at all.

I read online that the problem lies with a bit of dielectric grease placed on the battery by the manufacturer that can sometimes prevent it from making good contact with the remote's circuit board.

A replacement coin cell (A.K.A. "button" or "watch") battery is part number CR1616 from various manufacturers such as Panasonic, Energizer, Duracell and Sony.

To remove the one screw on the back of the Honda Accord key fob, you'll need a tiny # 0 Philips head screwdriver. A jeweler's screwdriver kit should contain one of these.

The screw is secured in the remote with blue "medium strength" Loctite Threadlocker adhesive.

If you attempt to remove the screw with a screwdriver that doesn't fit perfectly, you run the risk of stripping the screw.

If necessary, you may need to secure the key fob and apply plenty of downward pressure and torque to remove the screw without stripping it.

To open the remote control unit, gently pry apart the black plastic retaining clip located above the large "Lock" key on the remote.

You should immediately notice some clear dielectric grease on the "-" terminal of the Panasonic CR1616 3V watch battery.

Pry out the battery with a small flathead screwdriver.

Then very gently clean the four raised metal contact prongs with another cotton Q-Tip.

Once everything is clean, re-assemble the square remote control unit and test it.

If the small red LED light illuminates brightly when you press the buttons, you should be good to go.

If the light is still dim or doesn't light up at all, double check the polarity of the battery or replace the battery with a new CR1616 3V coin battery.

For more, check out my other 2008-2012 Honda Accord Repair & Maintenance Guides.