2002 Jeep Cherokee
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in Ventura County

2002 Jeep Cherokee Transponder Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

Got a call from a preschool teacher in Camarillo, over near Conejo Mountain Open Space. She had a 2002 Jeep Cherokee and needed a spare key. The dealer had quoted her and she just assumed that was her only path because of the security chip inside the key. Her coworker had used me on a Dodge and passed my number along.

I met her that evening at the laundromat parking lot. Her Cherokee was the last-year XJ body, which runs the Sentry Key system with a SKIM module mounted right on the steering column. The SKIM reads the ID 4D64 transponder through a ring antenna around the ignition cylinder. No remote buttons on this key, just the chip and the blade.

I plugged my Smart Pro into the OBD port and pulled up the SKIM security access. The 2002 XJ does not need a PIN extraction from the PCM like some later Chrysler platforms. The tool talks directly to the SKIM, registers the new transponder code, and the module stores it alongside whatever existing keys are already learned. Cut the Y160 blade on site, programmed the chip, and had her test-start it herself.

Whole thing took maybe 20 minutes. She stood there watching the key turn and the engine catch like she expected it to change its mind. It did not. One visit, done in the parking lot, for a fraction of what the dealer wanted.

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