I figured I contribute my DIY mod I did with my door chime. I usually sit in my car with the key in the ignition and got tired of the door chime. I didn't want to completely disable the chime due to side effects. So I added a little to switch I hit to temporary disable when I want to sit with the door open.

I first opened the side panel and removed the little black plunger that is on the door frame.



I then cut the wire that the door trigger connects to:



I drilled a hole through the plastic panel on the inside of the car



I mounted the switch in the newly drilled hole and soldered each end of the cut wire to the switch. After that put everything back in place.



Now you have a push button switch that you can easily enable/disable the door chime when ever you want to sit the car with the door open and the key in the ignition. I picked up that switch from radio shack and it was the smallest one they had that didn't intrude out that much. If you look around you may be able to find an even smaller switch to use if you want.

Well I'm not much for writing DIY but I've been searching high and low trying to figure out a way to disable that door chime and could not find anything that would work for me easily and without any side effects.

Simple and effective!

Hope this is helpful!

 

OK once I do this how do I get door open after I have locked the keys in the ignition?

 

You use the second key the car came with... which you were smart enough to leave with someone you can call to rescue your embarrassed butt. Or you call AAA and hope they don't butcher anything.....

 

This mod is completely voluntary and I'm not going to be responsible for you leaving your keys in the car or messing something up. If you think you are going to do that, then DON'T do this mod. I posted this in hopes that this would be helpful to others that like sitting in there car with the driver door open.

 

Ah the second key. Now where the hell is it?

I was just pulling your chain but could see it happening. I recall years ago on an old car I wanted to disable dome light when the door was opened for a long time. It did not have a switch. I just screwed a piece of metal loosely beside the button and I could move it over the button when I wanted the light off.

 

You can use a "Hide-A-Key" and mount it under the car somewhere.

 

leave the window down ?

 

That would work

 

Why not just trick the seat belt "female" connector to think it always has the seat belt inserted in it?

That's what Element owners do and what I have done in our two Elements. Works perfectly and takes seconds to do.

 

Bet a lot of guys would pay you to do that for their girlfriends.

But how does that make the door not chime with the keys in the ignition?

 

In the Element, there is only a chime (after this mod) when a passenger is in the passenger seat and they remove their seatbelt while in "drive".

 

When keys were thinner... anyone here old enough to remember that? I suspect some of you are... come on... admit it.

...I used to carry a spare key for the car in my wallet along with a key for my residence.

With keys for the modern vehicles being so bulky carrying the spare in my wallet is no longer an option.

I don't like the idea of hiding a key on the outside of the vehicle because that I one thing a thief of convenience will look for and the potential of that key to go missing by whatever means.

Perhaps I should resort to carrying the spare on a gold chain around my neck.

Me being older... I figures I'd forget about the switch and go for months with no door chime and not miss it.

However, I read with some interest the following excerpt from my 2011 Honda Fit Sport (USA version) manual:

"Lockout Prevention
If you forget and leave the key in the
ignition switch, lockout prevention
will not allow you to lock the driver's
door. With any door open and the
key in the ignition switch, locking
with master door lock switch is
disabled. If the driver's door is
closed, the lock tab on the driver's
door is not disabled. Pulling the
driver's lock tab rearward will lock all
doors. If you try to lock an open
driver's door by pulling the lock tab
reward, the driver's door lock tab
pops out and unlocks the driver's
door."

Good to know... and I must remember to experiment with this feature.
I also wonder if this mod would somehow disable that feature.

However, there is no protection for us absent minded folks who may
happen to leave the keys somewhere inside the vehicle OTHER that
the ignition switch and lock the doors behind us with the lock button.

Of course, the would happen when you are in the middle of nowhere
late at night with no one around and out of cell signal reach.

It did happen to me once... left the keys in the trunk and shut the
trunk. Doors of the car were wide open but that doesn't help when
the keys are in a shut trunk. I figured no big deal I can take the back
seat out and access the trunk from there... except my tools were
also all in the trunk. Had to borrow a wrench and screw driver from
a friend up the street to remove the back seat.

Ok, will shut up now... old folks ramble too much.

 

How? I've been wanting to do this!

 

where exactly did you get a push-switch like that? :O radioshack?

 

Radio Shack

 

Thanks for the instructions. No more beep-beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep-beep, etc.

For those paranoid about locking your doors while the keys are in the ignition, relax. it is impossible to lock the doors with the keys in the ignition. This is true for my GE8 with remote key locking, (I don't know if this holds true on base models without).

If you manually press in the door locks while the key is in the ignition, the doors unlock when you close the door. I just tried every possible combination and couldn't lock the doors with the keys in the ignition. Of course I left the window down just in case I was wrong. I'm sure if someone intentionally wanted to do it they could find a way. My daughter was able to do it on her GD, but the keys weren't in the ignition. They were on the seat and she locked the doors manually. (but that's a different story).

The ignition chime is intended as a theft deterrent. It reminds you that you left the keys in the ignition for some dirtbag to come by and steal your car. But look on the bright side, if you left your keys in the ignition, at least the thief won't have to break your window to get in because the doors won't be locked!