2004 Ford Explorer
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in San Diego

2004 Ford Explorer Remote Head Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

I got a call from a woman parked near Lakeside Proper on a Wednesday afternoon. She had a 2004 Explorer and her only remote head key had gone through the washing machine the night before.

The blade still turned in the ignition, but the remote buttons were completely dead and she wasn't sure if the car would even start. She had somewhere to be and the dealer told her Friday at the earliest.

She wasn't wrong to be nervous. On these Explorers, if the transponder stops communicating, the engine starts and immediately stalls. That's the immobilizer doing its job. She'd gotten the car running once that morning, barely, and was afraid to shut it off.

I pulled up to the school lot where she was waiting. First thing I did was actually start the car to confirm the transponder was still reading. It was. The washing machine had killed the remote circuit but left the transponder alone. Good news.

I cut a fresh remote head key blank to her vehicle, programmed the transponder to the immobilizer using my programmer at the OBD port, and paired the new fob. The whole sequence on a 2004 Explorer has a timed security delay built into the process, so you can't rush it. Total time on-site was about 35 minutes.

She left with a working key, remote and all. The dealer had quoted her a wait through the end of the week and a number she wasn't happy with. She paid a fraction of that and never left the parking lot.

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