i lost my keys and need help!!!

[poomero]

I need some help getting new keys for my jeep. If anyone knows how to make keys or know a cheap place to do it can you please help me out. its a 1990 xj and the dealership said its too old to look up the key code. Thanks.

[WebDog]

Do you have AAA? I got keys made for my XJ for about $40 at a lock smith, without AAA it would be about $80 - 120.

[wolfpackjeeper]

You could just get new cylinders at a local parts store

[kastein]

If you can pull the latch out of the glovebox I can tell you the half of the code toward the tip of the key, the other 3 pins you're on your own though. Disassembling the lock is pretty simple except for one step (getting the tumbler out of the plastic lock body), after that it requires some care to get the wafers out of the tumbler one at a time but you can read the code for each one right off the side of it after you press them out. The other 3 pins I would suggest using a flashlight and looking into the keyhole on one of the doors while holding the weather seal out of the way. There are only 4 pin depths for each position so you will have a maximum of 64 different combinations to try before you get the right one if you know the last 3 pins, and by using the flashlight trick you can get a good idea of what the pin depths are relative to each other, which cuts it down to anywhere from one to a dozen or so combinations depending on how well you read the pins.

[wolfpackjeeper]

yea, but his is a 1990 I just realized, should it not have a door key and an ignition key? The glove box would use the door key.

[cjsxj87]

Try other GM keys of the era???

[ECKSJAY]

Brick.

[Trail Blazer]

Brick.

i second that. btw, what is a lock? do our XJ's come with those?

[poomero]

i found them. thanks guys. they were at my girlfriends house.

[kastein]

Alright, awesome! Now that you have them back, I suggest making a backup copy of each one (if the door and ignition keys are different like someone said) and storing a set in your room/desk/apartment/whatever. I also keep a flat (non rubber gripped) key for mine in one of the pockets in my wallet so if I lose my keychain I can still get home. Costs all of about a buck and a half per copy at Home Depot, and worth every penny.

[RNMedic]

does your wife know where they were??:nono:


i found them. thanks guys. they were at my girlfriends house.

[PhotographerMike]

I have 3 sets for each of mine.
1) to use
2) stored at the house
3) spare door key zip tied somewhere under the Jeep. Yes it's hard find. Yes you need a knife to get it loose. That's the idea, it's am emergency key.

[wheelinscott]

off topic but it reminds me. i had a friend with a 67 chevy truck and he welded a lock box in his fame to keep a key and whatever else he wanted with it. i laughed so hard when he had me crawl under to check it out.

i tried to get a spare key made at HD and for some reason they dont have a matching key (there was like 3 kinds for jeeps) for mine. mine has a unique groove along the side of it. i think im going to have to go to the dealer. anyone else have this problem?

[hubs97xj]

Not yet, but I'm obsessed with knowing where my keys are at all times. I saw Jeep key blanks in a catalog the other day- Qtec or 4WDH. I'd guess (hope) they are the correct blanks to use. Dealer might be cheaper/easier though.

Edit- Qtec. 4WDH has those stupid rock keys.
http://www.quadratec.com/products/product_search.php?kw=key+blank&submit=Go

[kastein]

Home Depot had mine, though the rubber gripped blanks they have don't fit into my glovebox lock, only the flat plain metal ones. I ended up making a custom key that only opens the glovebox (won't work in doors/ignition.)

[Ghost]

I need some help getting new keys for my jeep. If anyone knows how to make keys or know a cheap place to do it can you please help me out. its a 1990 xj and the dealership said its too old to look up the key code. Thanks.

That I find hard to believe. In the future a good locksmith can do it. They did my 84, but that was a few years ago.

[poomero]

i called a few locksmiths but it was going to be 250 bucks to get them made. I guess the jeep dealerships only go back so far before they dont have the key code on file anymore. its a pain but thats what they told me.

[Ghost]

i called a few locksmiths but it was going to be 250 bucks to get them made. I guess the jeep dealerships only go back so far before they dont have the key code on file anymore. its a pain but thats what they told me.

WOW! I paid $60 and he came out to my shop and peeped in the lock hole with a light and a pick. Punched out my key and then made a second. I guess living in the South does have some advantages.

[Carol.92124]

In the older Jeeps, IIRC I think you can get keys made off GM blanks, but they're weird. I think you end up with a square (rectangle) door lock key, as well as a square ignition.

Of course in the two-key XJs it's the dreaded GM steering column, and you can usually use a flat piece of metal to start it, if you even need that. I've had a couple that actually required their specific key to start, but many would start with anything kind of key-shaped, and some just would start if you grabbed the turn tabs... And you can almost always pull the key out while the rig's running. Now I have a '98, and I don't get to do that anymore =(.

[wolfpackjeeper]

my gm ignition works great. my chrsyler works as mentioned above

[Slip Kid]

If you don't have a key for the doors, brick.

My ignition cylinder broke so I just hotwired it to get home. I wired up a switch and a pushbutton to hotwire it, and I am glad I didn't buy a new ignition. Renix is super easy to hotwire. I'm certainly not gonna post pics, but just look, you'll see, it's like 3 or 4 wires. I figured it out in a few minutes in my work parking lot, and all I had was a boxcutter. Pushbutton start, just like a luxury car :)

If you don't have a key that works to copy, it will take a locksmith to make a new one. My ignition key (if I still have it) is on a GM blank.