1997 Lexus LS
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in Ventura County

1997 Lexus LS Transponder Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

A guy near Historic Plaza Park in Oxnard called me about his 1997 Lexus LS 400. He had one key left, and the plastic bow was cracked right through the middle where the 4C transponder chip sits. He said he'd been babying it for months, holding the two halves together when he started the car. Some days it fired right up. Some days it just cranked.

That is exactly how a failing transponder reads. The 4C chip has to sit at the right distance from the ignition ring antenna. A crack in the housing shifts it just enough to get intermittent reads. The immobilizer ECU on these, mounted behind the dash near the steering column, either sees the chip or it does not. No partial credit.

I used my TOY48 Lishi to decode his door lock, reading each wafer position one by one. Cut a fresh blade on site. Then I cloned the 4C transponder data onto a new chip and seated it in a solid key shell. Two keys now, both tested: doors, ignition, start, run, shut off, restart.

He told me he had been parking strategically so he could get a jump if the key failed at the wrong time. Like a jump start would fix a transponder problem. I did not correct him. I just handed him the spare.

He kept his car in his own parking spot the whole time and saved a good chunk over what the Lexus dealer quoted him.

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