99 EXPEDITION REMOTE START WITH ONLY 1 KEY

I NEED HELP.... I BOUGHT THIS 1999 EXPEDITION W/ ONLY 1 KEY.

I HAVE THE ALARM INSTALLED AND WORKING BUT I DON'T WANT TO DESTROY MY FACTORY CHIPPED KEY.

I HAVE ALREADY HAD 2 NON-CHIPPED SPARE KEYS CUT.

HELP PLEASE.

you can get a 555F from DEI and it has a transpoder for it if you are trying to do a remote start and will not have to ruin a key or get another key from the dealer..  only one catch though... they are a pain in the ass to mount on the cylinder..  tried one for the first time monday.. for one hour..said screw it and got a 555u (I think U.. the one with the coil that uses a key, I had perviously told the customer that he would lose a key so was no big deal) it worked great.. everytime I would mount the transponder, it would get moved by putting on the shroud and would work..

Anyone had a problem with this?  Any solutions?

Oh yeah.. forgot about the programming with the two keys..

That gumlike stuff.. dum-dum maybe?  that's what we call it.. Window strip caulk is what it is..

I used a 555F and the pellet is a pain in the arse but it works if you get it secured.

BTW the dung is called caulk or strip cailk but we call it Gorilla Snot because ours is black and gooey.. :)

555F is a huge pain in the ass, and as mentioned above, you can't program it without two good keys to start with.

Of course, the best way would be to have the dealer program new keys, but of course that costs money.  I've thought about this before for someone else's car........here, in my opinion, is the simplest way to do this, and still maintain some measure of security:

Plant your one good key (with the chip) in a universal box like the DEI 555U or Audiovox AS-TCBM.  I would normally say to cut the shaft off the key so a thief can't use it if he finds it.......but think twice, since it's your only good key.........at least wait until after you've seen everything work perfectly for at least a few days before you cut it.  As usualy, but the 555U's ring around the key cylinder.

Also, at the key cylinder, find the key sense wire.  I have no idea what its color or location is, but it shouldn't take you too long to find, as there aren't all that many wires there.  This wire will show a ground when you insert the key into the ignition......it's the wire that makes that "bing bing" warning chime come on.

Take the 555U's red wire and attatch it to (fused) constant positive power.

Take the 555U's blue wire, attach it to the remote start's "ground while remote start is on" wire, AND at the same time, attach it to the key sense wire in the car.

When you hit remote start, the 555U will come on and the car will start.  When you insert a legit Ford key into the ignition cylinder, the 555U will come on and allow the car to start.  When a thief cracks open the ignition with a screwdriver and tries to start the car........the key sense wire will not be activated......and therefore neither will the 555U.

Just remember to do a careful job,  because if the 555U or any of your wiring or install fails, the car's not going to start.  In the beginning, maybe consider carrying tools with you just in case.  But if you do it right, you'll never have a problem.

Also, in this situation, I'd recommend that you tie the 555U's red wire into a source that's already fused, rather than having your own one.  For example, find constant power at the cigarette lighter  or behind the radio, and tie the red wire in there--------if the fuse should blow for some reason, you can easily open the fuse box and replace the cigarette lighter fuse------rather than having to dig around under the dash in the middle of the night.