2001 Cadillac Escalade
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in Ventura County

2001 Cadillac Escalade MECHANICAL-KEY Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

Got a call from a woman near Bart's Books in Ojai. Her 2001 Escalade started fine that morning, then she came back out with groceries and it cranked, almost caught, and died. Security light stayed lit on the dash. Classic PK3 symptom.

She told me the key was original, 24 years old. The plastic bow was cracked and she'd been holding it together with electrical tape. That kind of wear puts stress on the transponder pellet inside the key head. The chip can shift, crack, or lose contact with the internal antenna coil. At that point, the BCM interrogates the key and gets nothing back, so it kills fuel injector pulse after a couple seconds of cranking.

I pulled up to her Escalade with my Smart Pro, plugged into the OBD-II port under the dash, and ran the PK3 transponder registration. Cut a fresh B102 blank with the ID13 chip seated properly, programmed it to her BCM, and tested. Fired right up, security light flashed and went off the way it should.

She mentioned the dealer told her on the phone it would be a tow-in plus at least two days because they had to "order the key from GM." I had her done in about 25 minutes, right there in the parking lot, for a fraction of what they quoted.

The old key went in her glovebox as a door-and-trunk spare. Still turns locks, just can't start the engine anymore.

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