Mazda key for '99 Explorer?

[Juanhmi]

So I've been driving my Explorer for a little under three years now, and every time I dig into something, it tries to tell me more about the history of its prior owners. A few family photos, a first generation iPod that still works, packed with Tejano music (I bought the truck in Texas), today, a receipt for money transfer to central Mexico. In the side panel in the back where the jack should've been, there were two jack playing cards instead. I also found a cardboard cutout with lots of calculations written on it (based on the amount of paint and drywall compound everywhere in the back, I know it was a contractor's vehicle for at least awhile, maybe a guy who did framing, etc.). As well as a cardboard cutout with a Mazda part number on it. I think for a water pump.

The original weird quirk though, when I first bought it ($400 in an Austin trailer park), was that it came with a really worn out old Mazda key. I've since been able to make copies of the key, but the old one is still the key I use to start the vehicle. I know Ford and Mazda were friends in the '90s, so I've never thought much of it, but that, combined with the fact that I can just remove the key with the vehicle running and still drive around, seems a bit odd.

I guess what I'm getting at, is if you were *hypothetically* trying to steal an Explorer from this era, would you go about doing it by popping out the stock ignition lock cylinder and throwing one in from a Mazda of a similar year?

 

[Mbrooks420]

It’s probably just a Mazda branded key cut for an explorer. You have PATS keys so you can’t just slap in a different key cylinder.

 

[J_C]

I'm not familiar with Mazda keys of the era but I know they used similiar if not identical PATs setup for a while. If it has the same key blank type and has the PATs chip in it, then it is fairly irrelevant whether it has the mazda name molded into the plastic. As Mbrooks mentioned, the cylinder itself is only a typical mechanical assembly needing keyed to fit the key, does not play a part in the security beyond that.

Around the key cylinder there is a transceiver antenna and electromagnet coil. When you put the key in, the generated magnetic field provides a power source to the chip in the key, which then emits the (permanent) code the chip in the key has. If this code is programmed into the vehicle as one valid for the vehicle, it enables power to the fuel injectors.

I don't know if this injector enabling is only happening when you attempt to start the vehicle or if it is designed such that it would shut the vehicle off while running. I would think shutting it off while running would be dangerous (despite the key not being able to come out unless your cylinder is excessively worn so you should replace that) as well as harder on the electronics to keep having to continually power the key chip and validate it the whole time.

If the key does not have a security chip or it is not programmed into the vehicle, yet it still starts the vehicle, there are only a couple of possibilities why it works. Either there is a 3rd party alarm where someone took the chip from a key and put it in the alarm box so it can send the signal to the computer, or the chip was put in the steering column right next to the antenna, OR this vehicle has been reprogrammed with a tune that gets rid of the PATS security.

If you only have one key with a chip in it, programmed into the vehicle then you can't use the method in the owner's manual to program in more because it requires two already programmed keys (unique chips, a cloned key will not work as it is logically the same key to the system) but then a dealership, many locksmiths, or DIY you can use an app called Forscan (the "pro"? version of it, details on the developer's website) to program in more keys. This should allow you to add keys that aren't so worn and possibly that is enough that they don't pull out of the ignition cylinder, though if the cylinder is worn too, I would keep the weight of the key to a minimum, only the one key, not a pocket full of keys on a keychain adding weight/stress to the cylinder.

Now about trying to steal one, you don't need a cylinder in it at all. The old brute force screwdriver method of breaking the cylinder pins would work fine to unlock the column and turn the ignition switch on, and (at least those for the North American market) the vehicle would crank, fuel pump would run (for this era of PATS at least) but the fuel injectors wouldn't be firing so no way to start the engine.