What Is Transponder Key?

Perley Lindon
3 min readFeb 16, 2019

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Transponder keys

Close to all modern vehicles in the market today equipped with some type of transponder key. Dodge, Ford, Cadillac, Kia, Hyundai, Jeep, Chevrolet and Nissan and nearly every car manufacturer adopts transponder keys and reading this article will help you know more about them.

What is a Transponder Key?

Simply put, these keys accommodate an RF transmitter inside of them. A computer near the ignition switch of the car contain a receiver. The transponder in the key delivers an extremely low-level signal to the car that can only be recognized when the exact programmed key was inserted to the crater hole.

Why Do Auto manufacturers Use Transponder Keys?

Transponders are employed to put an end to high rates of car theft. The car will not ignite if the immobiliser at the ignition don’t identify the signal from the key. If a duplicated key is used without the exact , the car will not ignite.

Why does this matter to me?

In the good old days, substituting your car key was available at the hardware store, the dealer or even at Walmart, yet this benefit was accessible not only to the owner, but to anyone that got a key cutter could replicate a spare set of key to open a random vehicle and drive away with no permission. In today’s world, re-establishment car transponder keys must be made through a lawful dealership s or lawful locksmith, the key must be compatible and computed to the vehicle and proactively, copying keys became more adjusted and as a aftereffect also way more overpriced.

How Can I Tell If I Have A Transponder Key?

1) Open this website and search your car model, make and year and query for the results.

2) In almost all cases, the plastic beak of the key will be wider than a key with no chip. Another test is to sheathe the plastic head of the key with a few tin foil layers and then attempt to ignite the car. If it don’t ignite, there is a chip present.

3) Another way to know that you have a transponder key is by it’s price. Call your dealer with your vehicle identification number and request for a key replacement cost. If the price is a few buck, chances are strong that it is not a transponder key. If the price above $50, it is most likely that a transponder is present!

Note: There are few exceptions, however they are rare.

What Does This Have To Do With Remote Car Starters?

In their most basic design, a remote starter is “hot wiring” your car in a remarkably precise and controlled way. If the car don’t identify the signal from the key, your remote starter will fail to ignite the car.

How Do You Get Around This?

There are abounding programmers that are available to work around this barrier during remote start. These programmers trick the ECM into thinking that the key is in the ignition key-tunnel. It is important to recognize that this is only happening while a remote starting cycle. This process do not disable the protection that the transponder furnishes, but only working around it while on startup cycle.

Bottom line

Car locksmiths has been setting up remote starters long before transponder keys were available on in the market. Armed with state of the art manufacturers of bypass modules a car lock smith is able to install them correctly.

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