2004 Chrysler Pt Cruiser
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in Ventura County

2004 Chrysler Pt Cruiser Transponder Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

Guy in the Via Marina neighborhood in Oxnard called me on a Thursday afternoon. His 2004 PT Cruiser was sitting in his apartment carport with the SKIM light blinking solid on the instrument cluster. Key turned, starter cranked, engine caught for about half a second and died. Every time. He'd been trying for two days.

He already called a Chrysler dealer. They told him to tow it in, said it might be the SKIM module, might be the key, might be the ignition lock cylinder. They'd diagnose it first, then order parts if needed. Best case, the following week. He needed the car for work on Monday.

I pulled up to the carport and started with the basics. Connected my programmer to the OBD-II port and read the SKIM. The module was alive and had one key already stored, PIN accessible. His original key's 4D64 transponder tested fine with my T5 reader, signal was clean. The problem was the antenna ring around the ignition cylinder. The connector had green corrosion on two of the pins, just enough to drop the signal below threshold intermittently.

Cleaned the connector, tested the read distance on the antenna ring, and it was picking up the transponder again at full depth. Then I cut and programmed a second Y160-PT transponder key as a spare so he'd never be down to one key again.

Started on both keys, five times each. No hesitation. He drove to work that Monday without a tow bill or a week in a loaner.

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