The Official Publication of the NATIONAL LOCKSMITH AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION The 2001 Dodge Stratus by Michael Hyde 08.01 1. This time out we are taking apart a 2001 Dodge Stratus R/T, 2-door hardtop. The 2-door hard top Stratus and the 2-door Chrysler Sebring hardtop both use Mitsubishi locks and electronics. All models have the transponder system. The keyway is the MIT6/X263 type with a chip. Strattec makes the locks and keys for this car, use Strattec keying kit # 704605. Opening 2. The car has cable linkage instead of metal rods. The latch mechanism seems to be almost completely sealed from car opening tools. The weatherstripping is nice and tight and it doesn t seem like an over and under tool (caddy killer) could even get in there. I opened the car with one of those Jack (Jiffy Jack, Ultra Jack, Super Jack, etc...) tools every car opening company seems to have now. I just used an air wedge and the long metal rod that comes with one of those Jack tools. This is a frameless door and take care with the glass. There is a little ledge that is on top of where the door glass sits in when the door is closed. I had to wiggle the glass out of the ledge to get the air wedge in. It wasn t a pretty sight but it did work without damage. There may be others ways to open this car out soon after this article, whatever works the best for you. Issue No.26 Here are the two best websites for Automotive Locksmiths: www.thenationallocksmith.com Chat, Forums, Editorial, Online Store, Tech Support www.laserkey.com Product & Technology Sales, Transponder Information Resources
Ignition 3. The ignition lock has a transponder coil around it and the lock cylinder is the active retainer type. National Locksmith Automobile Association Publisher Marc Goldberg Director Greg Mango Printed in the U.S.A. NLAA, a division of the National Publishing Company Publishers of THE NATIONAL LOCKSMITH 1533 Burgundy Parkway Streamwood, Illinois 60107 Phone 630-837-2044 Fax 630-837-1210 E-mail address: natllock@aol.com Unsolicited manuscripts are accepted, but must include SASE. 2001 National Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Issue No. 26 4. To service the lock you will need to remove the 2-piece plastic shroud on the steering column. There are four screws on the underside and there is 1 screw next to the ignition lock face. 2 Automotive Edge National Locksmith Automobile Association
5. The face of the ignition lock has a transponder coil that can be unsnapped and moved to the side. 6. This is an active retainer ignition. The retainer is at the 9 o clock position. You must have a working key in the On position. Depress the retainer and release. If you do not have a working key you can always impression the lock or drill the cylinder and replace. National Locksmith Automobile Association Issue No. 26 3
7. The ignition lock cylinder looks pretty much like other late model Mitsubishi ignition locks and very similar to Toyota ignition locks. 8. You will need to remove the tru-arc ring on the back of the lock cylinder. 9. The lock cylinder plug has one of those buzzer detents that can fall out and onto the floor before you even notice what happened to it. 4 Automotive Edge National Locksmith Automobile Association
10. The cylinder plug contains all 8 tumblers for a complete key. There is also a tumbler for the Push-to-Lock part of the lock; it does not interfere with picking the lock. Door 11. The door lock is part of the outside handle. To service the lock cylinder you must first remove the inside door panel. National Locksmith Automobile Association Issue No. 26 5
12. On the rear edge of the panel is a screw that must be removed. 13. Inside the trim for the locking button is a screw fastener that has to removed along with the one on the front of the panel. 6 Automotive Edge National Locksmith Automobile Association
13. The door lock and window control panel needs to be lifted up and disconnected. 14. Lift the control panel up from the rear section where it is held with a tension clip. National Locksmith Automobile Association Issue No. 26 7
15. The front section of the control panel does not come out first because of a molded plastic hook. I happened to lift it up from the front and broke the plastic hook as seen in the photo. (There s 30 bucks I ll never see again.) 16. The inside handle door pull has a 10mm bolt and a screw fastener hidden behind it s trim on the top and bottom sections. 17. The rest of the panel is held on with the standard push-in style plastic fasteners. 18. Once the panel is removed you can see the plastic liner. Take care in pulling back the liner as to not rip or stretch it. 8 Automotive Edge National Locksmith Automobile Association
2001 AutoSmart Full Version Price: $95.00 2001 AutoSmart Update Price: $45.00 All the new information on vehicles is here, current up to 2001. Don't hesitate and lose car car jobs unnecessarily. Get your 2001 AutoSmart now and you'll be in the driver's seat for automotive locksmithing! What's new for the 2001 book? FREE Mid-Year updates due out in Summer '01. Updated airbag info grid for EZ reference. All the latest transponder information. All new Strattec info: ignitions, door locks, trunk cylinders and more. All new ASP lock part info with EZ to read footnotes. Jet key applications now integrated throughout the keyblank charts. Gives you every new spec and method to make the first key. The Autosmart also contains Now with FREE Mid-Year Updates! Manufacturer divider tabs for EZ reference. The most accurate keyblank application guide in the world. EZ to read and use Making the first key to almost all cars and trucks, even high security. Code locations, spacing and depths, tumbler charts. Data and specs for almost every car on the road, foreign and domestic. 2001 AutoSmart Is Here! A Must For Every Locksmith! Buy it in the online store! TheNationalLocksmith.com Copy or clip this coupon and send with payment to: The National Locksmith P.O. Box 77-97592 Chicago, IL 60678-7592 Yes! r Send me a new 2001 AutoSmart ($95) plus $5 s/h. Order total is $100. Yes! r Send me the 2001 AutoSmart Update ($45) plus $5 s/h. Order total is $50. * Updates the 1999-2000 AutoSmart or the 2000 AutoSmart only. CHECK PAYMENT METHOD: r Check Charge My r VISA r Discover r Money Order r MasterCard r American Express Foreign & Canada $20 s/h Card # Exp. Date Signature (Required) Your Name Shop Name Address (No P.O. Boxes) City State Zip Code Phone # ( ) OID: 02/01
19. Here s a look at the door lock cylinder looking up at it. As with most Japanese style locks it is held in with a metal ring that fits in a groove in the outside door handle. 20. Disconnect the linkage rod and then move the metal ring enough to slide the lock out. When you get the lock out of the handle you will have more room to get the switch off the back of the lock cylinder. Make sure you mark it so you can reassemble it correctly. 21. It may be helpful to unsnap part of the rubber door weather-stripping to get a better view of the door lock when trying to remove. 10 Automotive Edge National Locksmith Automobile Association
22. The door lock is disassembled pretty easy. There is a C clip holding the tailpiece on and the face cap is reusable. 23.The door lock contains all the tumblers for a complete key 24. Sometimes it can be a real pain to remove some of these reusable face caps. I removed this one by prying up on a ledge where the cap meets the lock cylinder housing and then working the small screwdriver over to one of the dinged parts of the cap. This method will sometime tear the cap a little bit, but is easily fixed with a small hammer after you put the cap back on. Besides the side of the cap is not seen anyways. National Locksmith Automobile Association Issue No. 26 11
Trunk 25. If you have noticed the rear section of this redesigned Stratus now looks like the rear section of an Intrepid also. The trunk lock is located on the passenger (right) side of the lid. 26. The trunk lock cylinder is held in place by a metal horseshoe style clip. This clip is very sharp too! 12 Automotive Edge National Locksmith Automobile Association
27. On the bottom of the lock cylinder is a large opening for the drain hole which you can read the tumblers through. 28. The trunk lock is disassembled pretty easy. There is a C clip holding the tailpiece on. The face cap is not reusable and there is currently not a specific Strattec part number for it yet. I found an ASP Toyota cap that worked great, it is part # P-30-217, a very popular cap. National Locksmith Automobile Association Issue No. 26 13
Glovebox 30. The glove box lock cylinder is also the latch assembly for the glove box. 31. Remove the 2 screws on the inside of the glove box that holds the lock assembly in place. 14 Automotive Edge National Locksmith Automobile Association
32. This is another one of those famous Strattec glove box locks. This one you have to rake the tumblers to pick while applying counter-clockwise turning torque at the 12 o clock position, then depress the very front tumbler (near the keyway entrance) and rotate a quarter turn and slide out the cylinder plug. There is an opening in the top rear of the cylinder housing allowing a small access cavity to the combination tumblers and retainer National Locksmith Automobile Association Issue No. 26 15
Keys 33. Here is a look at the glove box cylinder plug. There are four combination tumblers and a retainer tumbler. Programming 34. The factory key for this car is the Strattec 599450. This key has a transponder chip in it with a MIT6/X263 style keyway. A Strattec 598992 may be substituted; it has the same keyway and transponder chip, but has a Mitsubishi bow on it. 35. There is no on-board programming for this car without the use of a MUT2 tester. It doesn t matter how many factory original keys they have, there is no on-board programming. The MUT2 tester is available from National Auto Lock @ 800-954-5454. The MUT2 tester is required for all Mitsubishi vehicles with a transponder system and the 2001 Dodge Stratus R/T, 2-door hardtop & the 2001 Chrysler Sebring 2- door hardtop. 36. To program the new keys using the MUT2 tester, you must first connect the cable to the car s OBD2 connector port and turn On the tester. 16 Automotive Edge National Locksmith Automobile Association
AutoSmart Advisor Buy the it in the online store! TheNationalLocksmith.com AutoSmart is the most comprehensive and popular automotive locksmith manual in history. Acclaimed expert Michael Hyde again makes history with AutoSmart Advisor software! You ll have instant access to information, and best of all...it s amazingly easy to use! You may never need to read the manual. Contains virtually every car and part known to man up through 2000. Gives all information you need to service the vehicle. Creates instant estimates for all automotive service jobs. Shows available ASP and Strattec part numbers and labor time. Can be user customized with your own service call, labor and tax rates. Because it s from the creator of AutoSmart you get all methods to make the first key, plus: u Code series u Key machine set up information u Tumbler chart u Information on ignition retainers, progressioning, airbags, code locations, key silhouettes, transponders, valet keys, all parts and model notes u Make your own user notes. u Includes NGS programming instructions Take a tour online at www.autosmartadvisor.com AutoSmart Advisor does everything instantly and accurately. Now your computer is the best automotive tool you own! Installation and System requirements: License is granted to run the software on any two computers you own. Installation on additional computers is available for $50 each. Requires 486 or better PC with Windows 95 or better and CD drive. 75 megabytes of hard drive space. Installable from 17 diskettes which you can create from the CD. 16 megabytes of ram. Not network compatible. r YES! Send me the AutoSmart Advisor for $395 (installable on two computers) plus $5 for shipping and handling. Orders must be paid in U.S. funds. r Send me additional licenses for $50 each. r Send me the 21 day full trial AutoSmart Advisor Demo for $10 (credited toward full version purchase) Select payment Method: r VISA r MasterCard r Discover r American Express r Money Order r Check Order Total Card Number Exp. Date Signature (required) Name Shop Name Address (no P.O. boxes) City State Zip Phone E-Mail (optional) Copy or clip this coupon and send with payment to: The National Locksmith P.O. Box 77-97592 Chicago, Illinois 60678-7592
37. From the Main Menu, select System Select and press the Yes button. 38. Use the up and down arrow keys to select Immobilizer and press the Yes button. 39. Make sure you have your key in the ignition and turned to the Run position. 18 Automotive Edge National Locksmith Automobile Association
40. Use the up and down arrow keys to select Special func. and press the Yes button. 41. Select Key ID registr and press the Yes button. 42. Use the arrow keys to enter the pin for this car and press the Yes button. National Locksmith Automobile Association Issue No. 26 19
43. If you are ready to proceed press the Yes button. 44. The key is registered and you can now add additional keys. MAKING FIRST KEY: Remove and decode tumblers in trunk lock to make master key. Program new keys with MUT2 tester. NLAA 1533 Burgundy Parkway Streamwood, Illinois 60107 BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID DAYTONA BEACH, FL PERMIT NO. 447