2009 Jeep Patriot
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in San Diego

2009 Jeep Patriot Remote Head Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

I got a call from a guy in the Lake Poway Area, out near the trailhead side of town. He had a 2009 Jeep Patriot with one key left. The original spare had been in a junk drawer for years, and when he finally went to use it, the remote functions were dead. He assumed the whole thing was gone.

When I got there, I opened the fob on the tailgate. The CR2032 inside looked original, which on a 2009 means it had been in there for somewhere around fifteen years. The contacts had a white film on them, the kind you get from slow battery seep. Swapped the battery, cleaned the contacts, and the lock and unlock buttons came right back.

But the vehicle still would not start with that key.

That told me the transponder side was the problem, not the remote. The chip had not been programmed to this vehicle, which made sense once he explained the spare had been cut at a hardware store years back and never actually tested for starting. It had the right blade cut, but nobody had ever programmed the chip.

I hooked up through the OBD port and enrolled the key. Both functions tested good: remote and ignition. He went from one working key to two, parked in his own driveway, in about forty minutes.

He mentioned the dealer had told him they would need the vehicle for a full day and the cost would be more than he expected. I did not ask what the number was. He saved a good chunk, and he got it done without driving anywhere.

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