2005 Ford Ranger
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in Ventura County

2005 Ford Ranger Remote Head Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

Got a call from a woman near the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden in Thousand Oaks. Her 2005 Ranger wouldn't start. She'd been running errands, came back out, key turned fine but the engine cranked for a second and quit. Theft light blinking on the cluster.

She'd already called the Ford dealer. They told her to get it towed in. Earliest opening was late the next day, and the tow alone would eat up half the afternoon.

I pulled up about forty minutes after her call. Popped the key apart on the tailgate, and the housing looked fine, CR2032 had juice, remote buttons worked. But when I tested the transponder signal through my diagnostic setup on the OBD-II port, the PATS module in the PCM wasn't handshaking with the 4D63 chip. The chip had gone intermittent. It happens on these older 80-bit keys when the internal antenna loop gets a hairline crack from years of getting tossed around.

Cut a fresh 164-R8070 blank on my machine in the van, programmed the new 4D63 transponder through the port, and tested it three times cold. Fired right up, theft light off, remotes locking and unlocking clean.

She sat on the curb the whole time watching the van like it was a food truck. When it started, she just said "that's it?" and went quiet for a second. That's the usual reaction.

Whole thing was done in about twenty-five minutes, for a fraction of what the dealer quoted her.

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