Key change

I bought a new ignition key cylinder for my 96 for about $40, I think. The locksmith I bought it from took my old key and cut a new key that works in the doors and in the new ignition cylinder**. Then I popped the old ignition cylinder in and all was well. If you did this, whoever took the keys could still unlock the doors, but couldn't turn the ignition. But if you have remote controls, you probably have an alarm, and you have to use the remote to unlock the car anyway. On our other car, we never use the keys in the door. If we tried, the alarm would disable the car for something like 30 minutes or until the remote is used.

Yes, you can reprogram the remotes. Your manual may have instructions, or someone else here may know.

**Apparently, the ignition uses the first few notches on the key, while the doors use the last few notches on the key (or maybe vice versa). This means that either the ignition or the doors can be re-keyed without re-keying the other. It also means that my old keys would still open the doors if necessary. This makes them a pretty good spare key, in case I lock my real key inside.

Yes, my locksmith said he had lots of different ones (I seem to recall a number like thirty or forty) for Fords, and that the Ford dealer in town calls him when he needs them. There are too many for the Ford dealer to keep in stock.

Thanks, I didn't have much luck with locksmiths, they all told me that all they could do was fix the ignition but access to the vehicle could still be gained due to programming issues. I ended up just going through Ford, the cost for keys, ignition and door locks was $175, Labor was $225 and I picked up a new fb on EBAY for $15 shipped. I hate to spend the money when the keys could turn up at any time but we know where they were last seen and they are no longer there. The last thing I want is my wife to come out from work and find someone sitting in her car