Hello. First Post 2008 Aspen
 

Hello. If anyone here could be so kind as to tell me if the situation I am in is dire or is perhaps easily solved I would be eternally grateful.

Last night after a horrible day spent in the ER with an elderly relative I had to spend the the night out of town. My keys were misplaced in the confusion and it was the wee hours of the morning. Urgent medical devices were in my 2008 Aspen. I had a "key to the door only" that has been in my wallet for years and has never been used.

I knew I would be able to find the keys in the morning and I felt so relieved that I had a way to keep the situation calm and open my door.

It set off the ALARM! I didn't even know I had an alarm! It was almost 2:00 am and I was with an 87 year old relative returning from the hospital.

I tried to use the key in the ignition and something horrible kinda happened and I remembered that I wasn't suppose to do that! An angry neighbor came out and popped my hood and disconnected the battery.

This morning the keys were found right away. (As I knew they would be)

The battery was reconnected. I drove an hour home. No problem.

Then tonight my alarm went off for no reason. All kinds of other things were flashing. ... and there was a clicking sound.
I was afraid the airbag might come out as even the airbag light was flashing. Something was flashing "no bus" ... it was haunted! Craziness!

So I disconnected the battery.

Was this all because I used that emergency key?
Or was it because the battery was disconnected in the middle of an alarm?

Does anyone know a magic trick that will make this all better?

Thanks for any info you may be willing to share.
I will use your search engine and look for similar posts to this and see if this is a common issue.

How could this be as awful as it appears?
Hoping for a miracle ~~~

~~~grace

How stressful! Not entirely sure this will work, but try this.
With the battery connected, use the drivers door lock to lock the vehicle and then use the proper key to unlock the drivers door from the outside.
Sounds as the alarm module has not "reset" by the other methods done.

So I'm guessing your "emergency" key is cut to fit the locks but not programmed to the ignition to disable the alarm. When the neighbor disconnected the battery, he may have jarred some wires loose. Either that or when the battery was reconnected, they weren't connected tightly. It sounds to me like the wires came loose and set the alarm off again. All the lights flashing on the dash is an indication of a dead or bad connection on the battery. FYI, an airbag light flashing will not trip the airbag. This light along with several others on the dash is suppose to "cycle" when you try to start the vehicle. The poor connection on the battery was basically duplicating the action of attempting to connect/disconnect the battery causing everything to go crazy. I recommend that you check your battery connections. Both positive and negative. Make sure they are tight and also no corrosion. Hopefully it's just loose. Hopefully that neighbor didn't just rip them off the battery and damaged the cables.

Try shutting the alarm off using the remote door open button, or start the vehicle with the key that has the sensor.

Hello and Thank You *ALL* so very much to REBEL59, calamity coyote, and BiliTheAxe ~~~

I think maybe I did receive a miracle as I did all that you mentioned and so far so good. Thank you AGAIN!

On the down side today there was a tornado and hail and a deluge of rain so I waited until it was clear before tightening the battery and using the key lock buttons. I can't believe that somehow the sunroof / moonroof? had been opened during the confusion and the car was flooded. NEVER happened before ... NEVER would I leave roof open? ... Inches on floors, seats - SOAKED... When I pulled the roof liner back water all came out on my head. Also when the battery reconnected the back wipers were on and all sorts of other odd things but I can not be sure of why or how?

Maybe the angry neighbor trying to pop the hood at 2:00 am? Y'all know that term "monkey fisted?" That's what comes to mind. (and I LOVE monkeys... but ...)
IDK?

I shop vac'ed and used tons of towels and got things as dry as possible ... but all and all I still count this as a miracle blessing that it SEEMS that everything mechanical is OK.

I bought the car many years ago when it was only a year old and in perfect condition with low miles and I have not had many issues at all. Only a water pump that flew apart and I happened to be very near a garage who helped me almost instantly.

I only ever received one key with a chip that does everything and then that emergency key which I thought opened doors but I had no idea it set off the alarm? That makes NO SENSE to me? What good is that?

Anyway, I consider myself very methodical and organized and never thought I would misplace a key and so did not worry too much bout not having an extra. I now realize how naive that is and am reminded that it is often at the WORST times when things get lost. And I don't know if ALARMS scare off car thieves but I can tell you they absolutely terrify 87 year old frail women and unsuspecting younger women in the middle of the night. I was so embarrassed by that blaring alarm. It took me hours to calm down, (LOL) Funny now but not then. It was just a loud sound? No REAL danger ... But it totally set off my "fight or flight" juices.

I was going to have another key made but I understand from reading that this is going to be very expensive. I saw an option that mentioned mounting the "chip" in to the steering column in the way you would chip your dog or cat. This would allow me to purchase inexpensive emergency keys that would not set off the alarm.

Clearly, I am sure you can tell that I am unfamiliar with with all of this and will have to have a mechanic do this for me. I am however reasonably intelligent and if anyone has any thoughts or ideas I would love to consider them before looking for a mechanic / locksmith / alarm installer. It could keep me from making an expensive mistake.

Also, I did get a recall notice that I think has to do with the airbag but I was nervous to take it in afraid there would be additional charges that I am not in a position to pay at the moment.

I so appreciate any additional help / advice and I promise not to ask you guys any more questions after this. I am just in a very bad "when it rains it pours" cycle of life and after years of not worrying about money or health suddenly I have neither. So little things like expensive keys are molehills that feel like mountains ...for the moment. (This too shall pass.)

It is amazing that there is the internet and places like this that you can just talk to strangers. It really is amazing!

~~~anyway ~~~

Thank you again for ignoring the warnings and "talking to strangers".
You've been SO very helpful.

...and you have alleviated a lot of stress just by the act of communicating with me. I am eternally grateful for your time and kindness.

: )

Thank You
~~~grace

Good to hear the alarm situation seems OK now, BUT very sorry to hear of the weather and unwanted(or needed) interior wash your ride received!
Something you may consider is a "chipped key" that does not have the remote functions on it. The technical name for these thru a dealer is a "fleet key". They are not near as expensive, but still have to be programed(along with the blank being cut) by a dealer or good locksmith.
I had this done with one of my past T&C vans, as it only came with 1 remote fobbed chipped key. Had a plain key made and a "plain chipped key(fleet key) made for it. Don't quote me, but should not cost more than $40.00 at a dealer.
Good wishes to you as you recover from the wild weather you just came through!

I am sure that everyone who comes here regularly would agree, that they would love to have you continue to come here.
Just think about how much you could learn by reading the posts here, and asking questions. What makes places like this work is participation. The more people there are, the better it is for everyone, except maybe the moderators it would keep them busier.
But seriously, any question that you may ask, is likely a question that someone else would have too. If they see your post and any replies it may have gotten, then they hopefully got their answer.

I know how it can be with the money issues. I left work to take care of my mother full time.

On to the questions.
Keys, you can save a little money there. You can find blank, unprogrammed keys that have not been cut, much cheaper on Ebay, and many locksmiths can program the key. Also, I have seen some hardware stores that can do it. Ask around and look at the prices.

On to mounting the key. One warning, the chips in a key can go bad, so having a second chipped key is kind of important. I also have only a single key for my 2007 Chrysler 300C, and I am waiting for that income tax check to get another. Also, insanely there are newer cars that have batteries in the key, that have to be good, or the car won't start. I worked in a garage and had a few people towed because of dead watch batteries in their keys.
Mounting the key will work.

The recall. They cannot charge you for any components involved in the recall. Also, they are required to get your permission before doing any other work, but I've heard of mechanics lying and claiming they did have the ok to do the work. I do not see a reputable dealer doing that, and simply tell them up front, no extra work is to be done.

Take it in, the airbag issue is a safety issue, someones life may depend on it.

As the others have said, additional keys can be purchased cheaper on places like eBay and a local locksmith should be able to cut them cheaper than the dealer.

You can also program additional remote transmitters yourself to the vehicle. You can program up to 8 key fobs to the Aspen. The user manual has a step-by-step process for adding additional transmitters on page 25. However, this process is only to program additional transmitters (remote lock/unlock) to the vehicle. Their is a different process to program the Sentry Key (Chip) to the ignition. This also can be done if you have two working Sentry keys already programmed. Instructions for this is on page 15 of your manual. However, since you only have one key programmed now, you will have to visit the dealer to get additional ones programmed first.

I would not recommend mounting a chipped key to the ignition to bypass this feature. This would allow someone to easily steal the vehicle. Plus it would disable the ability to remotely lock/unlock the doors as the system would think the key was still in the ignition.

I also recommend getting those airbags taken care of. This is a safety recall and the dealer must do it free of charge. I've already had both the drivers and passenger airbag recall done on mine. No hassle from the dealer and no additional charges.

Hello. It appears I may have said something or asked a question that was not allowed. I apologize for not reading up on the rules and etiquette here.

I do not know if there is any sort of forum "inbox" where I may have been contacted by a moderator? I would just like to thank those who helped me again and hopefully I will get more information tomorrow morning at the Chrysler Dealership. As I mentioned in the post from yesterday that did not appear I am taking the car in to have the recall airbag situation repaired.

Thank you all who encouraged me to get that completed. I do not know if I am allowed to post at all so perhaps this too will not appear either? If a moderator reads this please accept my apology and thank you and your members for the help I was given here.

Wishing you all the best.
~~~grace

Hope all is going better there for you! I have been re reading this thread a number of times, and have NOT seen in my opinion of any breech of "forum standards" in fact yours is quite refreshing compared with language and "scripted tone" of many others that have been posted on this site. Not sure what you got private messaged about, but that is in your "court" and need not be posted.
As you can see if you read this, you are still allowed posting privileges and hope to hear from you on how all this current car situation works out for you!