Discussion:
PT Cruiser key question
(too old to reply)
Steve Stone
16 years ago
Permalink
Are the keys used for 2006-2009 PT Cruisers all cut the same?
Was wondering if I could reprogram a spare key already programmed for a
2006 for a 2009 model.
bllsht
16 years ago
Permalink
All keys are not cut the same. Wouldn't make much sense.

Once programmed for one vehicle, a key cannot be programmed for
another.
Post by Steve Stone
Are the keys used for 2006-2009 PT Cruisers all cut the same?
Was wondering if I could reprogram a spare key already programmed for a
2006 for a 2009 model.
Ashton Crusher
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Steve Stone
Are the keys used for 2006-2009 PT Cruisers all cut the same?
Was wondering if I could reprogram a spare key already programmed for a
2006 for a 2009 model.
I think it's the same blank and transponder for them. I don't see why
you could not reuse it as a transponder. But the teeth are not likely
going to match your new car if that's what you mean by "cut the same".
Steve Stone
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Ashton Crusher
I think it's the same blank and transponder for them. I don't see why
you could not reuse it as a transponder. But the teeth are not likely
going to match your new car if that's what you mean by "cut the same".
I see there are eBay vendors selling blanks where you supply the
transponder.
Why can't the transponder be recoded?
Only excuse I can see for that is a need for dealers to suck another
$200 from my wallet.
There sure isn't much inside. a single surface mount IC, a coil/antenna,
and a button battery.
Pete E. Kruzer
16 years ago
Permalink
Is the battery replaceable? How long will the Sentry Key work? My 2001
Cruiser uses one.
When I first got it, I went to Sears and had four keys made, for the
wife and daughters and
a spare for the wallet when I locked the keys in the car.
Then when I found out they wouldn't start the car, I threw them out.
After they were in a landfill
I realized that they would open the door and hatch so the one in the
wallet would have sufficed.
Steve
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Pete E. Kruzer
Is the battery replaceable? How long will the Sentry Key work? My 2001
Cruiser uses one.
What battery? The key transponder is either powered by the interrogation
signal from the car, or is just a passive resonant circuit. No battery.
Similar to modern toll road tags, parking garage access tags, RFID price
tags, etc. etc.
wwilson
16 years ago
Permalink
The responder has two batteries in series. I have replaced mine for a
2001 PT. They cost about $4 apiece at my local battery source.
Post by Steve
Post by Pete E. Kruzer
Is the battery replaceable? How long will the Sentry Key work? My 2001
Cruiser uses one.
What battery? The key transponder is either powered by the interrogation
signal from the car, or is just a passive resonant circuit. No battery.
Similar to modern toll road tags, parking garage access tags, RFID price
tags, etc. etc.
--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/
bllsht
16 years ago
Permalink
On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:34:33 -0400, wwilson
Post by wwilson
The responder has two batteries in series. I have replaced mine for a
2001 PT. They cost about $4 apiece at my local battery source.
The batteries are for the RKE. The TRANSPONDER is energized by the
halo around the iginition cylinder.
wwilson
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by bllsht
On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:34:33 -0400, wwilson
Post by wwilson
The responder has two batteries in series. I have replaced mine for a
2001 PT. They cost about $4 apiece at my local battery source.
The batteries are for the RKE. The TRANSPONDER is energized by the
halo around the iginition cylinder.
Thanks for the explalnation. I didn't realize the two parts differed with
respect to needing batteries.
--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/
Steve
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by wwilson
The responder has two batteries in series. I have replaced mine for a
2001 PT. They cost about $4 apiece at my local battery source.
I'm not talking about the remote, I'm talking about the Sentry security
key. Which has no replaceable parts whatsoever.
Post by wwilson
Post by Steve
Post by Pete E. Kruzer
Is the battery replaceable? How long will the Sentry Key work? My 2001
Cruiser uses one.
What battery? The key transponder is either powered by the
interrogation signal from the car, or is just a passive resonant
circuit. No battery. Similar to modern toll road tags, parking garage
access tags, RFID price tags, etc. etc.
Steve Stone
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Steve
I'm not talking about the remote, I'm talking about the Sentry security
key. Which has no replaceable parts whatsoever.
I started the thread.
So we are all on the same page....

Here is a link to an auction for a key without the transponder that is
used in my 2006 PT Cruiser

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110440776561&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT
Steve Stone
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Steve
I'm not talking about the remote, I'm talking about the Sentry security
key. Which has no replaceable parts whatsoever.
I started the thread.
So we are all on the same page....

Here is a link to an auction for a key without the transponder and
remote that is
used in my 2006 PT Cruiser

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110440776561&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT
Ashton Crusher
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Steve
Post by Pete E. Kruzer
Is the battery replaceable? How long will the Sentry Key work? My 2001
Cruiser uses one.
What battery? The key transponder is either powered by the interrogation
signal from the car, or is just a passive resonant circuit. No battery.
Similar to modern toll road tags, parking garage access tags, RFID price
tags, etc. etc.
The current keys include both the transponder, which needs no battery,
and the remote buttons for the keyless entry, and that does need the
batteries. If you buy the simple transponder keys there is no battery
and it's smaller.
Steve
16 years ago
Permalink
...
Smaller- but still stupidly big. I HATE modern car keys with big fat
heads holding transponders or remotes. A simple brass key is SO much
more convenient and so much easier to carry on a keyring.
Pete E. Kruzer
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Steve
Smaller- but still stupidly big. I HATE modern car keys with big fat
heads holding transponders or remotes. A simple brass key is SO much
more convenient and so much easier to carry on a keyring
I'll tell ya what. I'll take the stupidly big key. I offers theft
protection plus
a discount in my auto insurance premiums.

Can you say that for the simple brass key??
Joe Pfeiffer
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Pete E. Kruzer
Post by Steve
Smaller- but still stupidly big. I HATE modern car keys with big fat
heads holding transponders or remotes. A simple brass key is SO much
more convenient and so much easier to carry on a keyring
I'll tell ya what. I'll take the stupidly big key. I offers theft
protection plus
a discount in my auto insurance premiums.
Can you say that for the simple brass key??
Given the actual size of an RFID tag, there's no need for such a
ginormous head on a transponder key.
--
As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should
be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours;
and this we should do freely and generously. (Benjamin Franklin)
Steve
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Pete E. Kruzer
Post by Steve
Smaller- but still stupidly big. I HATE modern car keys with big fat
heads holding transponders or remotes. A simple brass key is SO much
more convenient and so much easier to carry on a keyring
I'll tell ya what. I'll take the stupidly big key. I offers theft
protection plus
a discount in my auto insurance premiums.
Can you say that for the simple brass key??
Doesn't make squat of a difference on my insurance, and auto theft is
just not an issue around here. Especially not our PT cruiser. Gimme a
key that fits in my pocket.

Besides, there's NO reason that a transponder/security key HAS to be as
big as a hockey puck. It could be much smaller, as is the case with the
keyless ignition transponders that fit in a wallet.
Ashton Crusher
16 years ago
Permalink
...
This was what I bought. I don't think it is all that big.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310155533747&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
Steve
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Ashton Crusher
Post by Steve
Smaller- but still stupidly big. I HATE modern car keys with big fat
heads holding transponders or remotes. A simple brass key is SO much
more convenient and so much easier to carry on a keyring.
This was what I bought. I don't think it is all that big.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310155533747&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
Its smaller than the dumb things with the integrated remote keypad, but
compared to THIS:

Failed to load image: http://www.hawleylocksupply.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/Mopar-60's1.jpg

its enormous. And yes, yours is exactly the same as my wife's PT key.
Bill Putney
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Steve
Post by Pete E. Kruzer
Is the battery replaceable? How long will the Sentry Key work? My 2001
Cruiser uses one.
What battery? The key transponder is either powered by the interrogation
signal from the car, or is just a passive resonant circuit. No battery.
Similar to modern toll road tags, parking garage access tags, RFID price
tags, etc. etc.
That's why you will feel your gonads tingle every once in a while for no
apparent reason.
--
Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')
Ashton Crusher
16 years ago
Permalink
On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:08:46 -0700 (PDT), "Pete E. Kruzer"
Post by Pete E. Kruzer
Is the battery replaceable? How long will the Sentry Key work? My 2001
Cruiser uses one.
When I first got it, I went to Sears and had four keys made, for the
wife and daughters and
a spare for the wallet when I locked the keys in the car.
Then when I found out they wouldn't start the car, I threw them out.
After they were in a landfill
I realized that they would open the door and hatch so the one in the
wallet would have sufficed.
What I do is get a transponder key and hide it inside the vehicle and
a non-transponder key and hide it outside the vehicle. If I lock my
keys in I can get in. If I lose my keys I can get in and then get the
other key and start it. If anyone finds my non-transponder key they
will be able to open the door but not start the car. Most likely
having found a key they are not likely to realize they need to
continue hunting for a second key.
bllsht
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Steve Stone
Post by Ashton Crusher
I think it's the same blank and transponder for them. I don't see why
you could not reuse it as a transponder. But the teeth are not likely
going to match your new car if that's what you mean by "cut the same".
I see there are eBay vendors selling blanks where you supply the
transponder.
Why can't the transponder be recoded?
Because they were designed that way. Trying to program a key that's
already programmed to another vehicle will fail. Probably security
reasons.
Post by Steve Stone
Only excuse I can see for that is a need for dealers to suck another
$200 from my wallet.
Dealers don't design these systems. Go whine to the engineers.
Post by Steve Stone
There sure isn't much inside. a single surface mount IC, a coil/antenna,
and a button battery.
Greg Houston
16 years ago
Permalink
...
That's not true for the Chrysler Sentry Keys, which are manufactured by
Strattec for Chrysler. You can program as many cars to a single key as
you wish. However it wouldn't make a lot of sense to do that if you
want to cut the key and use it, since every car (should) have a
different cut. But you could hold up a programmed uncut key near the
ignition switch while you used a non-Sentry key to start the car.

That's one way to get a cheaper remote starter to work--just place a
programmed Sentry Key inside the steering column. But it also
eliminates all security benefits of the Sentry Key.

You can only program eight keys to one car.
Post by bllsht
Post by Steve Stone
Only excuse I can see for that is a need for dealers to suck another
$200 from my wallet.
Dealers don't design these systems. Go whine to the engineers.
Engineers don't set the retail price, dealers do. The Chrysler Sentry
keys are often obtained at a much lower price than the dealership sells
them for from local locksmiths, etc. Try www.amazingkeys.com or even
ebay.

G
bllsht
16 years ago
Permalink
...
I don't know where you got that information, but it's wrong. A key
can only be programmed to one vehicle. The sentry key can only store
the information from one module, and that info cannot be changed once
it has been programmed.
...
Dealers don't prevent changing the info stored in the key, which is
what the OP was whining about.
Wesley
16 years ago
Permalink
Is the transponder (key) programmed for the vehicle, or is the vehicle
programmed to recognize the transponder? It would seem to me that the car
would be more easily reprogrammed than the "key"... Not that the system
designers would necessarily think the same way I do of course...!

Wesley
Post by Ashton Crusher
I think it's the same blank and transponder for them. I don't see why
you could not reuse it as a transponder. But the teeth are not likely
going to match your new car if that's what you mean by "cut the same".
Ashton Crusher
16 years ago
Permalink
TO the best of my knowledge the key transponder is just a transponder
and isn't "programmed", all the programming is done on the car's
computer. Typically they can accept up to 8 transponder codes.
...
bllsht
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Ashton Crusher
TO the best of my knowledge the key transponder is just a transponder
and isn't "programmed", all the programming is done on the car's
computer. Typically they can accept up to 8 transponder codes.
The key does get programmed with info from the vehicle.
bllsht
16 years ago
Permalink
Post by Wesley
Is the transponder (key) programmed for the vehicle, or is the vehicle
programmed to recognize the transponder? It would seem to me that the car
would be more easily reprogrammed than the "key"... Not that the system
designers would necessarily think the same way I do of course...!
Wesley
Both are true. The key is programmed with info from the vehicle, and
the vehicle is programmed with the key's ID.

The key's ID can be erased from the vehicle, but once programmed, the
key cannot be reprogrammed to another vehicle.
Post by Wesley
Post by Ashton Crusher
I think it's the same blank and transponder for them. I don't see why
you could not reuse it as a transponder. But the teeth are not likely
going to match your new car if that's what you mean by "cut the same".
Ashton Crusher
16 years ago
Permalink
On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:37:57 -0700, bllsht
...
What would be the point? I fail to see the logic of it. I'm not
saying you are wrong.
Joe Pfeiffer
16 years ago
Permalink
...
I don't know the technology used in those keys, but there are lots of
write-once memory technologies: they come from the foundry with all the
bits set to 1 (or 0); you can write any bit you want to the other state,
but once written you can't change it back. So you can set a code by
setting a bunch of 1's, and you can wipe the code by setting all the
other 1's. But you can't set a new code.

The clearest example is the original PROM (which is completely obsolete,
but still a good example): comes programmed with all 0's. You set a 1
by putting a big enough current through a junction to quite literally
blow a tiny fuse. Once you've done that you can't set it back to a 0.
--
As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should
be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours;
and this we should do freely and generously. (Benjamin Franklin)
Bill Putney
16 years ago
Permalink
...You set a 1
by putting a big enough current through a junction to quite literally
blow a tiny fuse...
That's done using homotrons.
--
Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')
bllsht
16 years ago
Permalink
...
Wish I could tell ya, but I don't know. Maybe they thought it would
have a negative impact on security of the system.
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