Had new keys made

J

Jeff d

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Apr 12, 2021
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Location
Louisiana
I only received one well-worn aftermarket key with this recent 70,000 mile TJ purchase. That key worked fine but l wouldn't stay in the ignition when in on/run/acc positions and caused at least 2 dead batteries for me when other drivers in the family removed the key thinking it was in the off position when it wasn't.

I replaced the ignition cylinder with a Doorman and corresponding wafers in each location to accommodate the key I had but the key could still be removed in any position. This Jeep only has 70k on it but I've found this has happened to every Chrysler product I've owned over the decades around that mileage.

For $15 a local locksmith cut me a fresh, factory-spec, key rather than copy the worn original key. Once that one was found to work perfectly I paid a few bucks more for 3 additional copies. The cuts in the #1 position were terribly worn. Anyway, this is the second time I've replaced a TJ ignition cylinder in an attempt to address this issue (I replaced it on my 2001 as well). In the future I'd probably try the factory-spec key before I ever mess with the ignition cylinder itself. If the factory-spec key is still problematic then I'd try the ignition cylinder replacement only after the key itself.

You can see how worn the older (lower) key is relative to the new factory-spec key (upper).

Keys.PNG
 
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That bottom key looks like mine... I wish I knew where my other keys were, but I am stuck with only the one worn out.

Can the locksmith get the factory spec from the VIN, or did you provide that info? I imagine in SoCal this will cost me $40 at least, but it would be nice to have a new key.
 
Kerndone said:
That bottom key looks like mine... I wish I knew where my other keys were, but I am stuck with only the one worn out.

Can the locksmith get the factory spec from the VIN, or did you provide that info? I imagine in SoCal this will cost me $40 at least, but it would be nice to have a new key.
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They scanned the worn key optically with a computer, verified the numbers for the various cuts then cut a new one to that spec. They didn’t use the VIN at all.
 
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It’s also actually quite easy to pull the ignition cylinder and check the numbers on each wafer if the numbers aren’t worn too bad. Also, do it over a container in case any of the little springs fall out.

I had done this but didn’t provide the numbers to the locksmith. I checked later to confirm them. They managed to come up with the same key cut/ignition wafer numbers based on the scan of the worn key.
 
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This is great information. I bought my 06 TJ from the original owner and she handed me two keys. One was as worn as the top key in the OP's post. The second had never been used.
 
joniki said:
This is great information. I bought my 06 TJ from the original owner and she handed me two keys. One was as worn as the top key in the OP's post. The second had never been used.
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I’d probably make a couple of copies of the new one and then stop using the worn one. For an ‘06 you’ll need to get proper transponder key blanks though. I had to do this for an ‘01 I owned for a couple of years. As long as you have 2 original transponder keys there’s a process the owner can go through to “bless” new key blanks once they’re cut.
 
Jeff d said:
I’d probably make a couple of copies of the new one and then stop using the worn one. For an ‘06 you’ll need to get proper transponder key blanks though. I had to do this for an ‘01 I owned for a couple of years. As long as you have 2 original transponder keys there’s a process the owner can go through to “bless” new key blanks once they’re cut.
Click to expand...

I did. I tossed the worn one and had three keys made from the unused one. I do not have transponder keys.
 
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