if u have roadside assistance with ur cell phone (At&t) u can get a key and programming for free, i dont know about any other service providers, but i found out that with at&t thier ,rsa, u can get the key and programming for free.

 

unfortunately i have to agree with everyone here I have owned alot of fords and unless you have two pats keys you have to go to the dealer I dont remember who said it but I would also recommend you check around you can save a bundle by price checking the ford dealers in your area I saved about 85 bucks by shopping around

 

Just got my second Key today, Cost me $110, which is substantially less than the other dealers in town quoted. It's a lot of cash, but at least now I have two keys.
Got some replacement remotes off Ebay, and they are excellent.
Now on to the rest of the long list of small issues.

 

Damnit they cost that much??!!!!!. Glad I have roadside and especially that replacement keys is in it that will teach a lot of people not to lose their keys won't it

 

Well, that's Canadian dollars. Stuff up here seems much more expensive.
Still, it's not cheap. Those of you with two working keys, be thankful.

 

In 97 and 98 you can program a second PATS key by using one existing PATS key. Starting in 99 you need 2 existing PATS keys to program in a third. And no, you cannot use to same PATS key twice, the two keys have to be different. If you do not have 2 existing PATS keys, then you're stuck going to the dealer for the programming.



I have a 98 Expedition nd a 98 explorer and had to get keys for both of them. The owners manual has instructions for programming new keys but, as both of these came with only 1 PATS key I had to get a locksmith to program them for me. My local Ford dealership charged $25 for each key and $50 for the programming. My owners manuals both said that you must have 2 pre-programmed keys to program additional spares and the Explorer can only have 4 PATS keys while the expedition can have many more, 16 I think.
The manual also gives instructions for programming new remotes and I have found that late model salvage yards are a good source for used remotes also Ford used car lots usually have a supply of spare remotes but, you may have to know someone there.