I recently have determined the my new acquisition of a 98 Cherokee Sport was shipped with a RKE (Remote Keyless Entry) system in place. A visit to the local dealer with the V.I.N. was all it took.

Since the vehicle seller did not have a remote transmitter, nor knowledge that the vehicle was so equiped, I am now in need of replacing the missing RKE transmitter.

The dealer would be glad to order one @ $50.00, plus the shop cost to program it @ another $50.00.

Have any of the readers gone thru this process by avoiding the dealers price of $100.00 and successfully achieved the same result at a much more reasonable cost?

Also, will the Grand Cherokee memotes operate it's less ornate brother's , the Cherokee's, RKE ?

Thanks,

Webb

 

Sellers on eBay have transmitters listed ALL the time. I bought three transmitters (two for one vehicle and one for another) off of eBay and didn't spend over $40. I was able to program my Monte Carlo's transmitter by myself, the other car needed TECH II....so, I would check eBay.

 

You can get them all day long on Ebay for under $10. The problem is, the dealer has to program them. There is no other way that I have found to program the remotes. (The dealer here charges $50 too)

 

I did find out that the Gtand Cherokee "remote" will not work with the Cherokee. The G.C. remote has three buttons, . . . . the third one being a panic button.

Is there any way for the owner to program his/her own remote without going to the dealership. Mine is a 1998 edition !

 

Try These guys http://www.keylessride.com/default.asp I know lots of ppl who got them there and they even help you program them...Tj

 

O.K. Hear is some first hand experience for the Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) factory system on a '98 Cherokee Sport.

If you have either lost your remote or have purchased that year vehicle and the seller didn't deliver a remote transmitter, you can purchase a used remote from a number of sources as people have said.

However, you will not be able to "program" the used remote to activate your vehicle's system by yourself. The set of instructions which are "going around" on the net, . . . ., you know the ones that say 1) open the drivers side door, 2)insert the ignition key but do not turn it on, 3) move the manual latch on the driver's side door to lock, etc etc.

That set of instructions does not apply to the '98 Cherokee Sport ! These vehicles require that the vehicle be plugged into an OBD II reader and programed that way. It only takes a technician 4 minutes to re-progam the on-board receiver. I had an honest lock-smith re-program my vehicle today while I stood there and watched him, and he charged all of $20.00 He took his lap top computer out to the vehivle, plugged into the OBD-II test plug and within 4 minutes he was finished.

Whereas, the dealership wanted $50.00 to do the same amount of 4 minutes work. I recommend you call around and find the right lock smith who has the program on a lap top. Of course, at the dealership, the vehicle is back in the shop and you are shown into the waiting room for 45 minutes to an hour while everything takes place out of your sight.

Hope this helps !

 

Thanks for summing up the process so detailed.... looking around the site, I found the same info, but not stated this way. Perhaps I'm dense, but just purchasing a 99 Sport I was in the same boat and now I know what to do.

 

Did anyone ever try the OBDII jumper wire programming method? I know lots of other Chrysler/Dogde/GM vehicles can be made to enter programming mode by grounding pin 1 in the OBDII connector.
I'm tempted to try this on my '98 XJ before paying the dealer..