1999 Ford Windstar
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in San Diego

1999 Ford Windstar Transponder Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

Over near the Spring Valley Border stretch of Lemon Grove, I got a call from a woman who'd been driving her 1999 Windstar on one key for about two years. Her backup had snapped off in the door lock years earlier and she'd just never gotten around to it. Then one morning the one remaining key stopped starting the van.

She'd already called a Ford dealer. They told her to bring it in, but the next available appointment was over a week out, and they weren't sure the part would even be there by then. She'd also found a locksmith on the internet who told her the job required "dealer-only software." That part was just wrong.

I pulled up to her driveway. The van was sitting right there, not going anywhere. She had no working keys at all, which is what we call an all-keys-lost situation. That rules out the onboard self-program trick, since you need two working keys to run that procedure. I connected through the OBD port with my programmer, cleared the lost key from the system, and enrolled a freshly cut replacement key.

The transponder chip in the new key had to be recognized by the receiver ring around the ignition, so I ran through the verification cycle. Turned the key, watched for the security light behavior on the dash. On these Windstars, if the immobilizer doesn't see the chip it expects, the engine either cranks without starting or starts and dies within a few seconds. When it fired up and held idle without the security light staying on, that was the confirmation.

She mentioned the dealer quote while I was packing up. I just told her she'd saved a good chunk. The van never left her driveway.

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